February 2026 Controversy at Noon: Are Children’s Writers the Ultimate Freedom Fighters?

We say literary merit is a subjective topic, but do we really think that? Is it a matter of taste or is there criteria that defines why some works are thought to carry more literary weight than others? How do we decide which works deserve literary prizes, or what is included in the CanLit canon? How do we judge the qualifications of who does the judging for said prizes? Does how we define “literary merit” exclude genre fiction or marginalized writers? Since the topic seems to be so subjective, would we say determining literary merit is a community initiative? Join our September panelists as they examine these types of questions on the subject of literary merit and more.

May 2026 Controversy at Noon: Is an online presence vital for today's writers by Writers' Guild of Alberta

2026 Alberta Literary Awards finalists online reading by Writers' Guild of Alberta

November 2025 Controversy at Noon: The Things They Never Told Me About Publishing by Writers' Guild of Alberta

Book banning across the country continues to concern the Canadian literary community, especially in Alberta where certain books are slated to be pulled from school shelves this Fall. What do these types of bans mean for writers and for readers, now and in the coming months? Years? What calls to action might help prevent the banning of books in the future? Join our panelists and experts as they explore the ramifications of banned books and more this August.