Alberta Culture Days
Celebrate arts, culture, heritage, diversity & community spirit!
Contents
Threads That Connect Us: Take-Home Kits for Kids
Spotlight on Alberta Children's Authors
We are grateful to the Government of Alberta for providing Red Deer Public Library with an Alberta Culture Days Pop Up Celebration Site grant, which made our featured event possible!
Deer Writers & Readers Fest
Deer Writers & Readers Fest
Saturday, September 19, 2026
10:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Red Deer Public Library - Downtown Branch
Deer Writers & Readers Fest celebrates Alberta's vibrant literary culture by bringing together readers, writers, editors, and other creative professionals. The event highlights Alberta authors and literary voices, with a particular focus on writers from Central Alberta, while offering accessible opportunities for community members to explore storytelling, publishing, and creative expression.Â
Featured Presenters
Interested in writing, publishing, or the world of books? Join us at Deer Writers & Readers Fest to hear from experienced authors, editors, and publishing professionals as they share their knowledge, insights, and expertise.
See below for presenter and presentation details!
Author’s Tables
Want to share your work with new readers? Take part in our Author’s Tables: a space for event attendees and presenters to display and sell their books throughout the event. There is no fee for the author’s table.Â
How to Apply
If you are interested in having an Author's Table at our event, please fill out this form:Â Author's Table Application
Author Insights: Meet our Featured Presenters
Rosey Kaur Hwang
Presentation: Marketing Without the Ick
Marketing that's fun, doable, and feels like YOU instead of marketing that's performative and exhausting!
Rosey draws on over a decade of professional marketing experience to demystify marketing and make it less daunting. Writers and creatives will learn how to market themselves with confidence, consistency, and integrity, without copying trends or burning out. You’ll leave with a clearer understanding of how marketing works, and ideas we'll generate in real time that you can apply immediately.
This workshop is ideal for writers and creatives who want to show up powerfully online and stop feeling resistance to marketing altogether.Â
Biography
Rosey Kaur Hwang writes binge-worthy contemporary romance novels that are all heart yet unconventional, taking women deeper into the places within themselves that prevent them from living their own fairy tale. Off the page, she guides writers to bring their stories to life and into the world through her Acceleration Coaching and intentional digital marketing. Her debut novel, Everything She Wanted, will be available in bookstores everywhere this fall.Â
Fun Fact! Rosey's book Everything She Wanted made CBC's list of "55 Canadian fiction books we're excited about this fall!, opens a new window"
Website: roseyhwang.com, opens a new window | Instagram: instagram.com/xoroseyhwang, opens a new window
Jessica Renwick
Presentation:Â Connecting With Young Readers
Let’s say you are forty-two, more worried about the cost of living than what the next Minecraft update holds, and have no idea what ‘rizz’ or ‘six seven’ mean. You want to write for kids or teens, which means you need your stories and characters to connect with them. It might seem impossible, but I promise you, it’s not.
Young readers are deeper and have more going on than you might think. And you have one superpower that can help you understand them: you were young once too. Let me help you dust off your youthful mindset and put it to work!Â
Biography
Jessica Renwick dove into the world of writing fiction as a preteen and never looked back. Naturally, this led to a career as a library assistant, and her first middle-grade book, The Book of Chaos, was published in 2018. Her most recent title, Ghosts of Gastown was nominated for a 2025 Snow Willow Award and a 2026 Silver Birch Award with the Forest of Reading.
She lives with her husband, two dogs, and a flock of backyard chickens in Red Deer, Alberta.Â
Website: jessicarenwickauthor.com, opens a new window | Instagram: instagram.com/jessicarenwickauthor | Facebook: facebook.com/JessicaRenwickAuthor, opens a new window
Louise Goodfield
Presentation: Poetry Open Studio
For poets who are curious, developing, or ready to take their next step. This is an open-format workshop, meaning you are invited to bring any questions you have around writing, editing, or submitting poetry. Whether you're wondering how to refine your voice, prepare your work for submission, or navigate the poetry landscape, this session will meet you where you are, offering practical guidance for those interested in sharing their work more widely.Â
Alongside this, there will be an opportunity to explore pathways into self-publishing, including both independent routes and more supported, collaborative approaches. If you’re considering creating a pamphlet or full collection, or simply want to understand what’s possible, this session will offer clarity, encouragement, and direction. Come with questions, leave with inspiration and next steps.
If you would like to submit your questions beforehand, please email a_poetontheroad@outlook.com by Friday, September 18.
Biography
Louise is a bestselling author, award-winning performer, and poet. Books include Plant Your Poetry: 365 Poems and Prompts to Grow Your Writing Habit (one of Canada’s most gifted poetry writing guide), and Plant Your Grief: 100 Poems and Prompts on Loss and Impermanence. Her work has been accepted in numerous publications internationally.
Louise has been facilitating workshops for over 10 years for major organisations and non-profits, as well as independently. She supports writers to get their books out into the world through Your Book Doula and offers daily writing prompts on the Plant Your Poetry Substack, opens a new window.
Substack: apoetontheroad.substack.com, opens a new window | Instagram: instagram.com/a_poetontheroad, opens a new window | Facebook: facebook.com/poetontheroad, opens a new window
Maureen Juma
Presentation: From Idea to Bookshelf: Bringing a Children’s Story to LifeÂ
As an award-winning children's author, Maureen will share her journey of turning ideas, family experience, culture, and imagination into published children's books. A self-published author and recipient of the Best Self-Published Author Award at the Sankofa's Pen Peer Choice Awards for Adventures of Mama: Gardening in the City, Maureen will walk participants through developing a story, working with illustrators, publishing, marketing, and connecting with readers, plus an interactive story-building activity to help attendees discover their own stories.Â
Biography
Maureen Juma is an award-winning children's author and recipient of the Best Self-Published Author Award at the Sankofa's Pen Peer Choice Awards, with nominations for Favourite Picture Book and Favourite Self-Published Book. She is the author of the Adventures of Mama series, including Gardening in the City, Cooking with Friends, and Christmas in Kenya, celebrating culture, family, diversity, nature, and learning through everyday moments.
As a self-published author, Maureen brings hands-on experience in writing, publishing, marketing, and promoting her books through bookstores, libraries, and community events across Alberta, connecting with children, families, and educators through the joy of storytelling together.Â
Website: junninemedia.ca, opens a new window |  Instagram: instagram.com/a_poetontheroad, opens a new window | Facebook: facebook.com/junninemedia, opens a new window
Celebrating Alberta Culture Days in Red Deer
Kiwanis Gallery
Read Alberta Collection
Alberta Culture Days: Get Artsy!
Spotlight on Alberta Authors & Musicians
Read Alberta Collection
Alberta Culture Days: Get Artsy!
Spotlight on Alberta Authors & Musicians
