Word! 1

About this event

Curated and hosted by award-winning poet and spoken-word artist Jillian Christmas, Word! is a popular youth-programming series that is being offered three times this year. This session features performers Brandon Wint, fanny kearse and Ayda Niknami.

Wint has presented work across Canada and in Australia, Lithuania, Latvia and Jamaica. Poet and producer kearse brings social-work experience and lived experience as a marginalized person to their artistic activism, while Niknami’s work explores Iranian diasporic subjectivity, love and relational autonomy.

The event is for Grades 8–12, with themes of poetry, spoken word, performance, storytelling and identity. It connects to English Language Arts for Grades 8–9 and Spoken Language for Grades 10–12. Presented by Vancouver Writers Fest on Oct. 20, 2026, at 10:15 a.m. Admission is $12.

The in-person session at Performance Works ends at 11:30 a.m. and costs CAD 12. The organizer lists a separate free digital livestream.

School-group purchases must include tickets for all accompanying adults. General admission welcomes all ages; the listed school grades are recommendations. Tickets are non-refundable. For box-office or access needs call 778-658-0462; Showpass order support 1-844-307-7469. See official festival accessibility information. In-person tickets are sold out; school groups can join the waitlist. No general-admission waitlist is available; subscribe to the newsletter for possible ticket releases. A free digital livestream is offered. Ordinary admission is CAD 12 including taxes and fees. CAD 0 and CAD 6 school-group options are deposits, with the balance still due. Contact: boxoffice@writersfest.bc.ca. Accessibility: https://writersfest.bc.ca/accessibility.