YouthWrite Elbow River I Experience 2024
June 30 - July 5, 2024
Day or Overnight Camp For Ages 10-14
An unforgettable experience for creative youth, spending time with quality instructors and other talented peers discussing ideas and sharing their work.
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WhenJune 30th - July 5th, 2024 Full Week |
WhereFCJ centre: 219 19 Ave SW, Calgary, AB T2S 0C8 |
WhoGuest Instructors thus far: Timothy Anderson Hamish Boyd Aaron Coates Cobra Collins Mike Czuba Rachel "Sunflower " Drouillard Fif Fernandes Cecilia Ortiz Luna Miranda Martini Masani St. Rose Spyder Yardley-Jones More TBA soon! Special Guest Presenter: TBA soon! Blue Pencil Café: TBA soon! Our Super Supers: Ayla Chin Jessica Davidson Lead Super Joey Lucius Pearl Nkomo Eli Smart Emily Smith Keltie Squires More amazing Supers TBA! YouthWrite Director-Coordinator: |
Guest Instructors
YOUTHWRITE INSTRUCTORS: THE CREAM OF THE CROP!
Throughout YouthWrite's history, we have prided ourselves on the calibre of our fine instructors. YouthWrite invites superbly talented and reputable instructors who represent the many facets of the performing, visual, musical, dance, film, and written arts. |
MORE AMAZING INSTRUCTORS TBA SOON!
Timothy Anderson
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Hamish Boyd
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Aaron Coates
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Cobra Collins
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Mike Czuba
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Rachel "Sunflower" Drouillard
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Fif Fernandes
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Cecilia Ortiz Luna
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Miranda Martini
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Amanda Torres
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Masani St. Rose
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Spyder Yardley-Jones
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Blue Pencil Café with Cobra Collins
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The Amazing Supers
Handpicked and multi-talented, YouthWrite Supers are the centre of our camps. As artists, teachers and mentors, they bring the X-Factor to YouthWrite.
MORE AMAZING SUPERS TBA SOON!
Ayla ChinAyla Chin is a student at the University of Alberta pursuing a degree in bioinformatics. They are a music instructor who teaches a variety of instruments and genres. They love to write and record music, as well as perform with their band across local venues. Ayla loves to learn and do their own research projects, additionally creating educational resources and activities to share. They are super excited to join Youthwrite this summer and become Gail’s favourite! |
Jessica DavidsonJessica Davidson is a movie theatre manager by day, an avid movie-goer by night, and has spent the majority of her life dreaming of making those movies herself. While studying Film and Video Production at the University of Regina, she found time to work with The Living Skies Student Film Festival, Regina Little Theatre, UR Improv, CJSW radio, and on the 2018 feature SuperGrid. She is excited to be bringing the experience of these many hats, and her experience as a former YouthWriter to camp this summer in her Super debut and as Gail’s soon-to-be favourite! |
Joey Lucius - Lead SuperJoey Lucius is a Canadian Comedy Award-winning performer and has been a staple at Edmonton’s Rapid Fire Theatre since 2007. He’s also a real life certified teacher! 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! And he knows he is Gail’s favourite! |
Pearl NkomoPearl Nkomo (they/them) is a performer and writer who has been involved with writing since Grade 3, and theatre since Grade 5. They were a student at Central Memorial High School in the Performing and Visual Arts program and have since worked on shows in both community and professional theatre. Currently enrolled at SAIT in the journalism program, Pearl is set to graduate in June 2024 and will be attending the University of Calgary in the fall! They are excited to join the YouthWrite team and become Gail (Anna’s) favourite! |
Maia TustonicMaia Tustonic is a journalism and political science student at Carleton University with a passion for shining light on untold stories. A proud alumna of various theatre and choir programs in Calgary, and currently an editor at the Charlatan and the Carleton Global Review, Maia has loved writing, theatre, and singing for as long as she can remember. She is beyond excited to return to YouthWrite for another summer full of imagination and friendship, plus being Gail’s favourite! |
Eli SmartEli Smart (He/They) is a local award-winning director/writer/producer from YYC. He started writing prose at the age of 9 which, in turn, kickstarted his filmmaking and theatre journey, which he began at age 15. Eli’s passion for filmmaking has given them many amazing opportunities, and shown him that the best part about the arts is the community surrounding it. Whether it’s staying up late with your friends trying to finish a project, or sharing ideas while juggling the ones you already have, being in the arts is one of the greatest joys in the world, and Eli is honored to be a part of it!! They are also eager to become Anna’s favourite! |
Emily SmithEmily Smith is so stoked to be joining the YouthWrite team this year! Emily recently graduated from the first MacEwan BFA program and is an actor, playwright, and clown in the Edmonton area. Currently, they are working on a cabaret and writing a musical! When not working in the arts, Emily works in North Edmonton mentoring at-risk youth. Emily's favourite things to write are plays and poems, and some favourite books include A Series of Unfortunate Events, Barkskins, and any play that Sarah Ruhl writes! |
Keltie SquiresKeltie Squires is a graduate of MacEwan’s communications program where she majored in professional communication. She has been involved with the wonderful people at YouthWrite since 2019. She has dabbled as a marketing writer, art model, actor, dancer, social media and marketing manager, and competitive athlete. These days, Keltie is the program director and instructor for multiple martial arts facilities. She is so excited to spend a week with some amazing kids. She knows that deep down, even though it takes her forever to write a bio, she is Gail’s favourite. |
YouthWrite Director- CoordinatorGail Sidonie Sobatis 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! |
Join the FunCome one, come all YouthWriters! Have fun, make new friends, and create great experiences. |
Use your passion for writing and apply for a scholarship from our list of available scholarships & grants.