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The Word On The Street has been renowned for the quality and diversity of its event programming and our 2026 festival promises to offer the best so far. Check out our schedule for Saturday, September 19, 2026!
A powerful call to rethink how we value natural resources—not as commodities to exploit, but as gifts to protect for future generations.
Conservation Confidential is a compelling exploration of the clash between environmental stewardship and human ambition. Drawing on decades as a biologist, Lorne Fitch reflects on the complex dynamics between science, industry, and development. With wit, sharp critique, and heartfelt storytelling, he contrasts the priorities of industries like forestry, mining, and agriculture with the values of conservationists, asking: just because something can be done, should it?
Through personal insights and vivid anecdotes, Fitch examines the moral and ecological consequences of unchecked industrial growth while championing the urgent need for balance and foresight. His essays challenge readers to reconsider what progress truly means in a world where ecological boundaries are rapidly being surpassed.
A call to action and a celebration of nature, Conservation Confidential inspires change by raising awareness, nurturing empathy, and encouraging responsibility toward imperilled species and ecosystems—reminding us to treasure and protect the places we call home.
Lorne Fitch has been a biologist for over 50 years. He has criss-crossed the province, learned the landscape, investigated fish and wildlife populations, and engaged with ranchers, farmers, industry, and bureaucrats over conservation. His insights are the result of much scar tissue. Lorne is a professional biologist, a retired provincial fish and wildlife scientist, and a former adjunct professor at the University of Calgary. He is also the co-founder of the riparian stewardship initiative called Cows and Fish. For his work on conservation he has been part of three Alberta Emerald awards, an Alberta Order of the Bighorn Award, and a Canadian Environmental Gold Award, with additional recognition from the Wildlife Society, the Society for Range Management, the Alberta Society of Professional Biologists, the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, and the Alberta Wilderness Association. His first book with RMB was Streams of Consequence: Dispatches from the Conservation World. Lorne lives in Lethbridge, Alberta.
Award-winning nonfiction writer Carissa Halton breaks the mould with this stunning debut novel.
Annie Jalmer stands uneasily between opposing allegiances in her 1930s Rocky Mountain town. As the radical politics of her family inflame tensions , Annie becomes an unwilling double agent until a violent strike forces her to take a stand.
Revolution Songs is the electrifying debut novel by award-winning writer Carissa Halton, inspired by the little-known story of a Communist union, the rise of the Canadian Ku Klux Klan, and the women who fought on both sides. Set against the charged backdrop of Depression-era politics, Halton weaves a thrilling and timely story that echoes the rising polarization of our own era.
Carissa Halton is an award-winning writer of fiction and creative non-fiction. Her essays have been widely published, and her book, Little Yellow House: Finding Community in a Changing Neighbourhood, was a finalist for the 2019 Edmonton Book Prize. Revolution Songs is her debut novel.
Mary Lynn Cloghesy is a writer and editor from Calgary, Alberta, as well as the founder of the Leadership Literary Lab, a program for aspiring authors. She has been nominated for multiple awards for her novels (in progress), has placed in flash fiction competitions, and has published in various genres. Find her on Substack @wildrosewriter, or via her website : https://marylynncloghesy.com/
