JUSTWRITE 2024 is SOLD OUT!

See you in the mountains!

When

November 1st-3rd, 2024

Full Weekend

What

Workshop option

Retreat option

Where

Black Cat Guest Ranch

near Hinton, AB

Who

Guest instructors:

Stephen Heatley

Other Guests:

TBA

Our Super Supers:
Tania Gigliotti
Mason Repka

YouthWrite Coordinator:
Gail Sidonie Sobat

JustWrite In the Mountains is open for Registration!!!

Ages 18+
November 1st-3rd, 2024
- Workshop weekend with Stephen Heatley OR your self-directed writing retreat
- LIMITED ENROLLMENT: Black Cat Guest Ranch (near Hinton, AB) has 11 rooms and can accommodate 22 people MAX (double occupancy).
- Once you have registered, you will be sent an email asking for a writing sample. These samples are a necessary part of your registration process.

JustWrite Rates:

Note: If you come alone, and select DOUBLE, you will be paired with someone else signed up for JustWrite, AHS restrictions permitting. If you already know who you are sharing a DOUBLE occupancy room with, please indicate their name when you are registering so we know whom to pair you with.

Note: Single Occupancy is SOLD OUT

1. Workshop Option is $630 per person for SINGLE - SOLD OUT

2. Workshop Option is $525 per person for DOUBLE - SOLD OUT

3. Retreat Option is $540 per person for SINGLE - SOLD OUT

4. Retreat Option is $435 per person for DOUBLE - SOLD OUT

If you choose to pay via PayPal you will be charged a 5% service fee.

Fees include:

A weekend of instruction and writing activities led by highly qualified instructional and supervisory staff (or time by yourself, simply to write!)
Friday JustWine&Cheese
Saturay breakfast, lunch, supper, snacks
Sunday breakfast, lunch
Guest speakers and panel discussions (more details TBA)

Please note: JustWrite may fall under professional development or your wellness benefits. Installment payment options are available - email [email protected] for further details.

An Important Note on Covid-19

YouthWrite Society Canada continues to closely monitor the COVID-19 situation. We are committed to the well-being of our participants and employees. As such, we are adhering to the guidelines and recommendations of Alberta Health Services and the Public Health Agency of Canada.

More information to come on the protocols that will be in place for JustWrite in the Mountains 2024!

Please note

All fees include a $100 non-refundable fee. No refunds will be made if registration is cancelled after October 25, 2024. A full refund will be made in the event an applicant is not accepted into the program. YouthWrite Society Canada reserves the right to cancel courses and restrict enrollment. Courses, instructors and supervisors may be subject to change.

A full refund will be possible in the event an applicant is not accepted into the program or if COVID restrictions require that we cancel or reconfigure JustWrite. YouthWrite Society Canada reserves the right to cancel courses and restrict enrollment. Courses, instructors and supervisors may be subject to change.

Our Wonderful Guest Instructor:

Stephen Heatley

Bio

Stephen Heatley is a theatre director, dramaturge, playwright, sometime actor and teacher. He was part of the original YouthWrite team in 1996, and is delighted with the opportunity to spend some quality time with aspiring writers. Stephen has worked in professional theatre for over 50 years. During his 12 years as Artistic Director of Theatre Network in Edmonton, he directed over 30 world premiere productions. He also spent five years as Associate Artistic Director of the Citadel Theatre. Stephen has been involved with new play development across Western Canada. From 2015 to 2023, he was the Head of the Department of Theatre and Film at the Univeristy of British Columbia where he is currently a faculty member. His most recent productions are Hosanna at UBC, Heels of Glory in London, England and Where We Are at Saskatchewan’s Station Arts Centre.

Course

Get a Life - There are lots of ways to coax a character out of your imagination and on to the page. Explore ways in to the creation of compelling characters, using writing, journaling, and acting techniques to find out what we can about the characters in each of us that are aching to be heard. The goal is that by the end of the weekend, everyone will have written a dramatic monologue…or snappy dialogue…or created a rich character(s).

Our Amazing JustWrite Team:

Your 2023 JustWrite Supers and Director/Coordinator

Tania Gigliotti

Tania (she/her) is the little Hobbit you may have seen previously working in the children's section of bookstores and comic book stores around Edmonton. When she's not working for YouthWrite, she is the Project Manager on the Young People are the Future Project researching youth engagement in living history museums. At YouthWrite, she is Master of Excel and Campfax and also Communications Manager. She's also Gail's Favorite.

Mason Repka

Mason (he/they) is a YouthWrite Communications Manager, working with Gail and Tania behind the scenes to make sure YouthWrite events go swimmingly. Mason loves to teach writing through roleplay, whether it be Live-Action or Table-Top. He has had the pleasure of teaching adults and youth alike the joys of table top gaming and group storytelling through private events, Jube School, and at YouthWrite. He is a professional Game Master, the Director/Coordinator of Dark Ascension LARP, and is returning to defend his title as Gail's favorite.

YouthWrite Director- Coordinator

Gail Sidonie Sobat

is a multi-award-winning teacher and author, with twelve books for children, teens and adults, and a number of educational and academic articles. A Global News Woman of Vision and an Arts and Culture Citation Award recipient, she is the YouthWrite creator/ coordinator, an international presenter, an instructor in the professional writing program at MacEwan University and in the Faculty of Education at U of A. Gail was The Writers’ Union of Canada Regional Representative for Alberta, NWT and Nunavut, and writer in residence with the Metro Edmonton Federation of Libraries.

She has moved forty times in her life from Badlands to Siksika Nation Reserve to hideous suburbs to Istanbul to the Sunshine Coast to her writer’s garret in a century-old temperamental house. She adores all of her Supers & Coordinators equally, and loves YouthWrite like a madwoman!