The AfterWords Literary Festival, a registered charity, takes place each year in Kjipuktuk/Halifax. The 2023 edition happens October 29 to November 5 in venues around the city and beyond.

The festival was co-founded by Ryan Turner and Stephanie Domet, and in the fall of 2019 its inaugural edition (a four-day festival across six venues with a combination of readings, conversations, panel discussions, workshops, and celebratory events) featured twenty writers from across Canada, the United States, and abroad.  

​In 2020 and 2021, due to COVID-19, the festival went online and presented a similar slate of writers, including New York Times bestselling author Roxane Gay and Booker-nominated novelist Avni Doshi. The festival also hosted widely acclaimed Canadian authors such as Lawrence Hill, Katherena Vermette, Souvankham Thammavongsa, and Sheila Heti. 

​AfterWords 2021 also marked the festival's third year in a row partnering with CBC Radio, which broadcasted festival events, like Shelagh Rogers' conversation with author and comedian Mark Critch, to a national audience. Additionally, 2021 included the festival’s expansion to YA programming and the creation of the annual AfterWords Virtual Writers’ Conference. The 2022 conference and festival happen September 24 to October 2 and feature Jesse Wente, Jody Raybould-Wilson, Kim Stanley Robinson, Amanda Parris, Lawrence Hill, Alexander MacLeod, Chelene Knight, Catherine Bush, and others.

AfterWords Festival activities happen in Mi'kma'ki, on unceded and unsurrendered Mi'kmaw territory.