Sat. Nov. 9th & Sun. Nov 10th, 2019
Toronto Reference Library
789 Yonge St. (Bloor-Yonge subway)
Free

Believe it or not, the WordPlay Festival is coming up again fast. And we’re already hatching some exciting plans for the 7th year of the festival that celebrates the most interesting uses of writing and words in contemporary games.

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Looking back, last year started off with a bang with a keynote by Laura Michet on the politics of editing “Where the Water Tastes Like Wine”. It was followed by some great talks and workshops from speakers both local and international, some of whom joined us from as far away as California, the UK, and Brazil. Our guest’s talks covered a gamut of subjects: writing romance about the elderly, using social media as an interactive medium, how to make a game political, and how mowing lawns for a cult can help with your game writing education. WordPlay had all of this, plus an electrifying arcade buzzing with people playing a hand-picked showcase of games on the cutting edge of narrative. WordPlay 2018 is going to be a hard act to follow.

Never fear, we’re up for the challenge! This year we’ll be expanding our festival from one day to TWO full days of programming. Saturday will be focused on workshops and other interactive pursuits, while Sunday will feature our fabulous line-up of speakers. The ever popular game showcase arcade will be running for both days, to give everyone a chance to get their fill of all the games.

We’re thrilled with the new format and we hope that you will be too. But all of that great programming isn’t going to happen by itself. This is where you come in…

Submit a Speaker Application!

Firstly, we’re opening up the submissions for speakers. We want you to submit your talk, panel, workshop, round-table, whatever-you-want-to-call-it. If it deals with the subject of interactive fiction and writing in contemporary games, it’ll be right up our alley. We want to hear about new and innovative ways to combine storytelling, digital media, interactivity, and the craft of writing into potent new forms of creative expression. What experiments are being conducted to change the face of interactive fiction? In what ways are the boundaries being pushed? We want to know!

Interested? Take a look at our WordPlay page at to see what presentations we’ve put on for past WordPlay festivals. Then check out our Speaker Proposal Form below and submit your idea! Don’t delay, the form is only active until September 1, 2019.

Artist fees of $80 CAD will be paid for 1-hour talks and workshops. Limited travel assistance may be provided for international speakers, depending on proposals and available funding (max $500).

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Submit a Showcase Game!

Would you like to submit or suggest a showcase game? What we’re looking for are games with exceptional writing or one that uses writing in an integral way. Please do so via the form below before midnight on August 11, 2019. You can submit your own game, or a game you feel strongly about. No submission fee, Toronto-made, Canadian, and international games are all welcome. We will be selecting between 20-25 games from everything entered through the Game Submission Form below. Game creators with games accepted into the showcase will receive an artist fee of $80 CAD.

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Stay tuned for more announcements coming soon about the showcase jury, workshops and special guests!

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About WordPlay

WordPlay is our free one-day festival celebrating the most interesting uses of writing and words in contemporary games. The festival coincides with the last day of International Games Day @ Your Library Week. Now in our seventh year, we will once again host a curated game showcase, talks by creators about their craft, and ways for the public to try their hand at making games. This year, we are supported by the following organizations: