Winter WordPlay 2024

$230.00 CAD

Winter WordPlay 2024
For Ages 10+ daycamp 12+ overnight
An unforgettable experience for creative writers to spend time with quality instructors and other talented peers discussing ideas and sharing their work.

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$230 Base Price

+ $NaN Camp Experience

+ $NaN Payment Method

+ $NaN Add a donation? (with our thanks!)

+ $NaN Participant Full Legal Name (+ Preferred name)

+ $NaN Birthdate (DAY/MONTH/YEAR)

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+ $0 Price Modifiers

+ $230 Subtotal

Registration is now OPEN. Register soon, this camp fills up!

Thank you and can't wait to wordplay!

Winter WordPlay Overnight Experience 2024!

Ages 12-19
January 26-28, 2024 at Providence Centre (3005 119 St NW, Edmonton)
Drop off 7pm January 26th. Pick up 9:30am January 28th.
$230.00
Price includes: tuition, supplies, meals, snacks, accommodation, evening entertainment.

Winter WordPlay Daycamp Experience 2024!

Ages 10-19
January 27th (9am-9pm) at Providence Centre (3005 119 St NW, Edmonton)
$195.00
Price includes: tuition, supplies, lunch, supper, snacks, evening entertainment

Registration closes January 22, 2024!

Please note that the registration process continues on Campfax. Your order confirmation email that arrives after you register on this page will give you the link and all the info you need.

Winter WordPlay Fees include

A full day of instruction and writing activities led by highly qualified instructional and supervisory staff, Saturday entertainment, meals, and for those staying overnight, accommodations.

Please note

All fees include a $100 non-refundable fee. No refunds will be made if registration is cancelled after January 15, 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.

An Important Note on COVID-19:

YouthWrite Society Canada remains committed to the safety and health of our youth participants and employees. As such, we will adhere to the guidelines and recommendations of Alberta Health Services and the Public Health Agency of Canada. We recognize this is an evolving situation and will make updates on our website as information from Alberta Health Services becomes available.

Guest Instructors & Workshop Description

two great instructors
+ one great weekend (or day)
+ fun and hijinx
= the wordplayfully delightful camp you’ve come to
know as YouthWrite®!!!

With this years special guest instructors: Liam Monaghan and Mark Haroun!

And we have much more in store for you:

Strut your stuff at the Inklings!
Guffaw at the BEEG LEETLE show!
Be wowed by our evening entertainers!
Wordplay because YOU’ve got the write stuff!!!!
Bring along a friend and win a YouthWrite® prize!

Meet Your Instructors!

Mark Haroun

Bio

Mark Haroun is an award-winning screenwriter and playwright. He is currently the Showrunner and Executive Producer of CBC’s one hour family drama Heartland. He has also written for Hallmark’s Ride and Cedar Cove. His plays include Under Cover (Concrete Theatre, Persephone Theatre) and A Giraffe in Paris (Citadel Theatre, Geordie Productions). Both plays won the Elizabeth Sterling Haynes award for Best Production for Young Audiences. Mark was the recipient of a U of A Horizon Award, the Canadian Authors Association’s Emerging Writer Award, and winner of an AMPIA (Rosie) Award for screenwriting.

Course

Rare Birds: Writing Distinctive Characters (and Dialogue) - Whether you’re writing a short story, screenplay, novel or play, explore the tools to create characters that are rare and memorable. Once you’ve breathed life into a
truly distinctive character, explore ways to write dialogue that could only come out of the mouth of your unique literary creation.

Liam Monaghan

Bio

Liam Monaghan is a writer, theatre artist, researcher, and educator. Liam graduated from the M.F.A. Theatre Practice program at U of A, after which he independently produced his thesis script, Strange/Familiar, the 2023 recipient of the Sharon Pollock Playwriting Prize. He’s also published literary non-fiction in The Dalhousie Review, Alberta Views Magazine, and Ploughshares. In addition to his artistic practice, Liam is an academic writing expert and professional educator who currently works as Writing Centre Programs Specialist at MacEwan University. He holds degrees in English literature (B.A. Hons., M.A.) and education (B.Ed.).

Course

Art from the Heart: Writing for Performance - How does personal experience inform artistic creation, and what’s the secret to writing for the stage rather than the page? Explore these two questions through the monologue, and bring your stories to life. Get inside a character’s point of view to understand how playwrights craft exciting texts. Blending fact with fiction, you'll write monologues that draw upon your own experiences of the world. Then perform each other’s monologues, and hear your work brought to life by an actor. Whether you are outgoing or shy, someone who loves the spotlight or who prefers to be behind the scenes, you'll be in a failure-free environment for self-expression and artistic exploration.

Meet Your Coordinator and Supers!

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!

YouthWrite River Valley Coordinator

Marla Albiston

has been involved with YouthWrite for approximately 16 years…she can’t remember the exact number, because she’s been having so much fun! She completed her BEd degree at the U of A, and since then has had the wonderful opportunity to apply her love of education with her passion for movement, teaching Dance at various schools with EPSB. She also works as a freelance dance teacher/choreographer, dances with the local contemporary company ViVA Dance, and performs in aerial circus with Firefly Theatre and Circus. Marla is beyond excited for the magic that once again will be taking place at YouthWrite's Winter WordPlay and to work with Gail who loves her best!

Super Joey Lucius

Joey Lucius is a writer and performer from Edmonton. He is a Canadian Comedy Award Winner and Canadian Screen Award nominee for his work on YTV’s That’s So Weird. He's also been a staple at Edmonton’s Rapid Fire Theatre since 2007. As a writer, Joey is a contributor to the online Beaverton, and is currently developing a project about the Filipino-Canadian experience that received a letter of interest from the CBC. He thinks birds are cool!

He is so excited to be spending this winter weekend with some amazing YouthWriters! Yeet! …Did I use that right? Oh, yes, and Gail - did I mention how delighted I am to be working with Gail?

Joey is also delighted to be wearing his hat as Super Joey for the weekend!

Super Mason Repka

Mason is a writer, creator, game master, and wizard-in-training. They love to teach writing through roleplay, whether live-action or tabletop, and are the director of Dark Ascension LARP. Mason also works as a Communications Manager, Supervisor, and Instructor for YouthWrite and is very excited to be a part of Winter Wordplay this year. Mason looks forward to all the word playful fun and being Gail's favourite!

Communications Manager Tania Gigliotti

Tania is a powerhouse administrator, amazing client services manager, excel wizard, and an adorable little hobbit. She spends her spare time researching youth engagement in living history museums for the Young People are the Future project, as well as reading a lot of good books and eating a lot of good food. She's also Gail's favorite.

For any inquiries about Winter Wordplay, other YouthWrite Programing, or to contact us, email us at info@youthwrite.com

Hope to see you at camp!