New national executive director appointed by Word on the Street festival

Word on the Street Canada, which runs the popular annual book and magazine festival in cities across Canada, has appointed Alex Moorshead (right) as its new executive director, according to a posting on Quill & Quire magazine's website.

Moorshead, who was previously festival director for Word on the Street in Toronto, will take over for Colleen O’Neill, who held the executive director title for eight years and will remain involved as a consultant.

This year marks a number of milestones for the national book and magazine festival, held in multiple cities on the last Sunday of September. Halifax and Vancouver will both celebrate 15 years of WOTS, while Toronto will hold its 20th festival.

Replacing Moorshead as director of the Toronto WOTS (the largest of the city components)is Cindy Goldrick, former vice president of events at the Women's Executive Network, whom many in the magazine industry may know as a former executive director of the (then) Canadian Magazine Publishers Association (CMPA) and later worked with Access Canada, the copyright agency.