The Fraser Valley Writers Fest heading back next weekend with a new name that reflects on a returning feature and a previous name of the festival.

The festival aims to connect aspiring writers and students with a lineup of recently published authors.

“It's a public event that is designed both for students and for the general public in Abbotsford and in the Valley in general, to bring a bunch of acclaimed writers onto campus,” says Rob Taylor, coordinator of the Writers Fest, who was a former participant and speaker at the Writer’s Fest when it was previously known as the Literary Fest for the last number of years. This is Taylor’s first time in the coordinator’s role of the festival.

“The festival has come out of a festival that was held in Mission and it goes back 15 years, the tradition, but it's changed its shape and its name over the years,” says Taylor, on the new name. “It links back through this tradition back to the initial Mission Readers and Writers Festival.”

“In some ways it's a new entity, in some ways it's a continuation, but the core structure of what's happening is very similar," he added.

The slight rebrand to the name also refers workshops returning to the festival after a few years hiatus. Bringing back an original tradition of the festival. New modifications and evolutions of the festival will happen each year to reflect on student and community interest.

This year's Writers Fest will have keynote speakers, panelists that will be presenting new materials that have not been heard before. There will be workshops for guests to learn from, and two of the aforementioned acclaimed writers, Darrel J. McLeod and Lorna Crozier, will be the keynote speakers.

“It's pretty rare to have this many writers of the caliber that they are all together in one place,” Taylor says. “All of the writers have a new book out.”

“We want to make sure that anyone who comes into the festival sees some element of their life present up there on the stage. If you're a fiction writer, or you like short stories, if you're an essayist, if you're a poet, whatever your enthusiasm is, there are people up there who are going to be recognizable and give you what you're looking for.”

Ultimately, the event aims to build community around writing and writers in the Valley. The Fraser Valley Writers Fest runs on Nov. 4.

Listen to the full interview with Rob Taylor here: