Earlier this week, artistic director Bill Kennedy announced this summer will be the last for the Scream Literary Festival. In a letter posted on the event’s website, Kennedy explains the decision to put a sock in Scream comes out of the hope of preserving its progressive image in a literary industry that survives through its many compromises.

It’s better to end it well than to watch its contrarian spirit diminish, he adds.

The opening night reading, followed by a wake, will take place in Toronto on July 7, with the event’s Mainstage in High Park scheduled for July 11. After 18 years of indie literary programming that has featured an overwhelming amount of innovative Canadian talent, the festival won’t be going out with a whimper. For this last year, Kennedy asks supporters to help Scream make some noise by putting on independent Scream-themed events during the festival’s run in what they’re calling Wreck our brand: a Scream unFestival. From the website:

It could be a reading, a workshop, a new series, an homage, a critique, a protest or what-have-you. You don’t need our permission “ hell, we’re not going to support it directly “ but do something in a Screamly spirit and we’ll post the info to our site.¦ [N]othing is more in keeping with the origins of the Scream than making an event without money or support, so go and build something that matters to you.