Volunteer

THIN AIR would not be possible without our huge brigade of volunteers. We need volunteers for every aspect of our festival from Mainstage events to driving visiting writers to their events. We are always looking for new volunteers who are outgoing, fun, love to read, and just want to give a little something back to their community.

Why volunteer?

Volunteering with THIN AIR gives you the opportunity to help promote the love of the written word as we welcome, host and present interesting authors from Canada and beyond. You can share your love of books and reading and encourage others to enjoy all the festival has to offer. Volunteering allows you access to all ticketed events and is a great way to see the festival on a limited budget. Video Link

Volunteer Positions

Mainstage

The mainstage offers a variety of tasks to choose from: it can be helping out at the box office, selling merchandise or raffle tickets, helping out behind the bar, handing out programs and helping people to their seats as an usher. These are some of the busiest nights for volunteers. We work as a team to ensure that everything gets done and that we still have time to enjoy the show.

Hospitality Suite

Working in the hospitality suite is a great opportunity to help take care of our visiting authors. This is where they will come to get their information, to chat, and get to know Winnipeg. Hospitality suite volunteers will be responsible for ensuring that snacks are stocked, drinks are served, and fostering a friendly and relaxing atmosphere for all of our visitors.

School Stages

The school stages are filled with kids every day. It is our responsibility to let them and their teachers know where to go and to help them have a memorable experience with the authors. School stage volunteers should be comfortable working with children of various ages.

Drivers

Perhaps one of our most vital volunteer positions! We host many out-of-town authors during the festival, all of whom will be staying at the Inn at the Forks. Drivers are responsible for transporting visiting authors to and from the airport and events; a great opportunity to meet and chat with interesting people! Drivers must provide safe and reliable transportation with their own vehicle(s), but hang on to your receipts and keep track of your mileage!

General Event Assistants

We have a wide variety of events around town; anything from a writing Craft workshop to a Haiku Death Match. We always need some support with the set up and clean up, box office, and other tasks depending on the event. As always, you will have the ability to enjoy the show as well as help out with the event. A number of our events are also in French. Si vous parler français, enregistrez-vous pour les évènements de Livres en fête dans le cadre du festival.

How to apply

If you would like to become a volunteer for the Winnipeg International Writers Festival please fill out the online application form.

You may also be asked to participate in an interview. We thank all those who are interested, but we will only contact those applicants we feel may be able to work within our guidelines.

We had a wonderful year of events, and have been blessed to have them staffed by a host of volunteers, without whom THIN AIR simply would not exist! We’d like to take space here to acknowledge and thank each of them by name!

Alison Wong, Alyssa Sherlock, Alyssa Vokey, Amber O’Reilly, Andrea Geary, Andrew Gilarski, Ariel Beynon, Bob Locke, Ciarra O’Reggio, Cindy Singer, Daniela Evenson, Darlene McCulloch, Diane Dwarka, Gina Rhéaume, Hannah El-Giadaa, Heather Emberley, Heenal Nandha, Helen McIvor, Jay Webster, Joan Dennison, Joan Nichol, John Hill, Julia Makarenko, Justin Rempel, Kasey Montagnion, Lindsey Childs, Lucy Todd, Lynne Fairhall, Maureen Arnason, Nahom Hailemariam, Kenneth Clark, Pamela Lockman, Rebecca Cooke, Rhonda Haight, Ritchie Gage, Robin Dwarka, Rosemary Scurfield, Ruth Clare, Shirley Kitchen, Sidhant Sharma, Sylvia Flam, Miriam Flam, Sylvie Côté, Tannis Kelm, Tracy Watkins, Val Marques, Vanessa Matsubara, Lori Cayer, Maclean Boyd, Connie DeCorby, Craig Melanson, Mike Diehl, Barb Schott, Karen San Filippo, Heather Harder, Kim MacRae, Brent San Filippo, Marj Poor, Anne Crawford, Sam Tidd, Sue Stewart, and Steve Kirby.

THANK YOU ALL!

This year, we bid farewell to Satori Diop, a longtime volunteer and supporter of THIN AIR. Her presence at festival events will be dearly missed by staff and volunteers alike. She continues to inspire us to dream big.