MOTIVE Mystery & Crime Festival 2025 - Toronto International Festival of Authors
June 27th – 29th, 2025
Victoria College, University of Toronto
73 Queen’s Park Crecent, Toronto, ON M5S 1K7
GENERAL INFO
On Friday, June 27th to Sunday June 29, 2025, the Toronto International Festival of Authors is hosting MOTIVE, an annual festival focused on crime and mystery. Taking place at Victoria College, University of Toronto, this three-day weekend festival will celebrate writers from Canada and across the world.
With cozy crime, police procedural, psychological thriller and true crime taking the stage, the Festival will be a weekend of suspense, twists and turns as we uncover the secrets behind some of the world’s most gripping stories. Meet the masters of mystery over the long weekend with criminally good conversations, readings, book signings, workshops and more.
For more details, visit TIFA website
We are pleased to share that Crime Writers of Canada will be participating in MOTIVE by hosting a couple of sessions this year. Here’s what we have lined up:
CWC PAM’s will sell, sign, and discuss their books.
Time: Saturday, June 28th
and Sunday, June 29th from 11:00 am – 5:00 pm
Moderated by Jass Aujla (author of Next Of Twin and Regional Director for Crime Writers of Canada), and joined by panelists C. Fitton (author of Her Dead Boyfriend), Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson (author of The Road to Heaven), Steve Urszenyi (author of Perfect Shot), and Angela Van Breemen (author of Past Life’s Revenge), hear first-hand from debut authors about the unexpected challenges and delights during the first year after publication. This session will be tailored to foster a discussion that not only informs but also inspires and prepares aspiring authors for the realities of the post-publication world.
Time: Saturday, June 28th at 5:30 – 6:30 pm.
Moderated by Lorne Tepperman (author of Deadly Donation and Regional Director for Crime Writers of Canada), will highlight 5-6 authors with new titles released/or releasing in Spring/Summer 2025. This will be an opportunity for new and established authors to highlight and read from their new titles.
- Time: Sunday, June 29th at 4:00 – 5:00 pm.
MEMBER OPPORTUNITIES
Opportunities at this high-profile event are open to all CWC members across Canada. Members will be responsible for their own transportation, parking, and accommodation expenses.
There are three exciting CWC opportunities:
- CWC Author Tent – We are looking for 20 Professional Author Members (PAM’s) to sell, sign, and discuss their books on both Saturday and Sunday (11:00 am – 5:00 pm). The tent will host 20 authors simultaneously. Please note, each author will be responsible for their own transactional requirements when selling books.
- CWC Author Talks – We are looking for 5-6 Professional Author Members (PAM’s) to take to the stage to briefly chat about and read from their latest title.
- CWC Volunteering – We are looking for 2 CWC Author Tent Co-ordinators: responsibilities will include setting up the tent with the provided tables, chairs, linens and CWC banners; welcoming and supporting the authors; and troubleshooting as required.
