After a devastating 2024 season, a resurrected Kingston WritersFest has announced dates for the return of the literary festival in 2025. The main festival will take place from September 18 to 21. 

A festival launch is planned for July 27, and an opening event will take place in August at the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts in Kingston, Ontario. Festival events, which had been held previously at various venues in the city, will now take place at the Marriott in downtown Kingston. While programming for the festival has yet to be finalized it will include some familiar events such as Carol Off moderating a discussion of current issues and Ben McNally of Ben McNally Books presenting fall book picks. The Writers Studio for authors of every experience will also return with half-day and full-day master classes, as well as 90-minute classes.

The new board of directors is co-chaired by author Merilyn Simonds and broadcaster and writer Eric Friesen. Simonds was the co-founder, along with publishing veteran Jan Walter (also on the current board), of a reimagined Kingston WritersFest in 2009, as well as its founding artistic director and chair of its first board of directors. Friesen previously served as chair of the festival for three years. The board also includes the most recent board chair Julie Leclerc.

In January 2025, Kingston WritersFest announced that due to financial pressures it was closing down after 16 years. By March, following a successful fundraising Angel Campaign coordinated by past and present board members and patrons, the festival’s 2024 financial obligations were met, and a working board coalesced to rescue the event.

Support from individual donors has helped the organization find its feet and Simonds says the board is “grateful to public funders, all of which have been understanding and renewed their commitment to KWF, based on the swift and complete resolution of the deficit and our detailed plans for moving forward.” Partnerships include the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts and the Marriott. “Everyone we have approached has been generous and enthusiastic, eager to participate in this literary restoration project,” Simonds says.

The new board of directors oversees finance and fundraising while planning and producing will be done by a committee. “This represents a return to KWF’s original model of using almost entirely volunteer talent, including Jason Heroux, Sarah Tsiang, Jan Walter, and many more,” says Simonds. The announcment for the festival noted that they are still looking for team members to fill a number of positions and applications are still open to proposals for Writers Studio faculty.

An advisory panel that includes Shelagh Rogers, Armand Ruffo, and Carol Off is serving as a resource for the festival committee.