Menu
I would like to search:
Students

LitCon

A Calgary Youth Literary Arts Festival

Events & Programs / Events / LitCon /

Discover the literary arts from May 5 - May 29

Join Calgary Public Library for LitCon 2025! The literary arts festival is for students in grades K–9. It provides exposure to literary artists and fosters creativity, social connections, and skill development.

These virtual sessions designed for your classroom will inspire students to explore creative processes in writing, drawing, poetry, music, comics, oral storytelling, and more.

LitCon is presented in partnership with Wordfest and AWCs.

LitCon CallOutBack 310x240 copy LitCon CallOutFront 310x370 copy

Register your classroom for a virtual session

In-Person Workshops

In-person workshops are also offered at the Library during LitCon. Teachers can register one class of students in each session — it’s free to attend! 

All supplies for the session will be provided. Transportation is not provided and adequate adult supervision to meet school board requirements must be provided by the school. There is limited availability for each session.  

Register your class by sending an email to litcon@calgarylibrary.ca with your school, grade, and number of students. The School Support Librarian will contact you to confirm registration.

Improve and the Creative Process (Grades 4 – 6)

Nose Hill Library | May 7 | 10:30 am and 1:30 pm
Seton Library | May 21 | 10:30 am and 1:30 pm

Join The Kinkonauts on an improv adventure that will unleash students’ creativity and ability to think outside the box. Skills learned through improv can help students find their voice and become more confident writers and creatives. 

In partnership with The Kinkonauts - Calgary's Improv Lab 

Words of Gratitude — Art from the Heart (Grades 1 – 3)

Saddletowne Library | May 6 | 10:30 am and 1:30 pm
Country Hills Library| May 8 | 10:30 am and 1:30 pm

Language arts and art therapy come together! Students will explore words and phrases that express gratitude, then bring them to life in a hands-on therapeutic art exploration. Their creative creations can be taken home and shared with someone they are grateful for. 

In partnership with CRATE Art Therapy 

Writing Silly Words for Silly Songs (Grades 1 – 3)

Crowfoot Library | May 7 | 10:30 am and 1:30 pm

Writing can be fun! You bring the silly song words, and Julianne and Sara from The Crickettes will bring their ukeleles and kazoos. Write a silly song together! 

In partnership with The Crickettes 

Your Comic-Making Toolbox (Grades 4 – 6)

Fish Creek Library | May 8 | 10:30 am and 1:30 pm
Village Square Library| May 12 | 10:30 am and 1:30 pm

Everybody loves comics! This fun and approachable combination of art and writing will teach students the basics of constructing their very own comic to share their ideas and stories.  

In partnership with Alexandra Writer’s Centre Society, led by Sebastien Ringuette 

Learn about this year's presenters

  • Johnnie Christmas

    Presenting Monday, May 5

    Johnnie Christmas

    Johnnie Christmas is a #1 New York Times bestselling graphic novelist and the author of "Gamerville." and "Swim Team." A graduate of Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, he earned a BFA in Communication Design/Illustration.

  • Yewande

    Presenting Wednesday, May 7

    Yewande Daniel-Ayoade

    Yewande Daniel-Ayoade is a management consultant and children’s book author. Her writing focuses on introducing all children to West African history and culture and draws heavily on her immigrant experience.

  • Tanya

    Presenting Thursday, May 8

    Tanya Lloyd Kyi

    Tanya Lloyd Kyi is the author of more than thirty-five books for middle grade and young adult readers and a lecturer for the UBC School of Creative Writing. Tanya has worked in the past as a graphic designer, an editor, and a dishwasher.

  • KTheChosen

    Presenting Tuesday, May 13

    KTheChosen

    Raised in Zimbabwe and currently based in Calgary, KTheChosen believes in the power of storytelling and uses his voice to share the experiences of those around him.

  • Sebastien

    Presenting Wednesday, May 14

    Sebastien Ringuette

    Sebastien created comics and wrote under the pen name S.R. Ringuette from 2007 – 2017. professional designer, 2D & 3D animator, and videographer working in marketing who enjoys weaving insights from those disciplines into his workshops on cartooning. 

  • Peter

    Presenting Thursday, May 22

    Peter Katsnelson

    Peter Katsnelson is an award-winning author and poet. He enjoys playing card games with his friends, drinking strawberry banana smoothies, and complaining — perhaps to a fault — about what Michael Bay has done to the Transformers franchise.

  • Morgan Black

    Presenting Tuesday, May 27

    Morgan Black

    Morgan Black is a St’át’imc and Secwépemc artist / curator living on Treaty 7 territory. Their work moves through the complexities of queerness, colonization, Indigenous resurgence, and truth-telling.

  • Peter Brown

    Presenting Thursday, May 29

    Peter Brown

    Peter has always loved telling stories. While studying illustration at Art Center College of Design, Peter’s love of both words and pictures led him to take several courses on children’s books, and before long he knew he’d found his calling.

background image: Short Story Dispenser 720x560

Submit your writing to the Short Story Dispenser Contest

Share new skills you learned at LitCon by writing a short story or poem! Send your work to litcon@calgarylibrary.ca by June 15 and if your story or poem or story is selected, it will be featured in our short story dispenser at Central Library. Five entries will be selected. 

Students can submit one of the following: 

  • One-minute story (fiction or poetry) up to 350 words, maximum 2,600 characters including spaces 
  • Three-minute story (fiction or poetry) up to 750 words, maximum 4,800 characters including spaces

The work must be your own original writing, and cannot require a specific line layout or indentation. All submissions must be family-friendly and ready to publish as-is; no editing will be done after submission.