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YouthWrite River Valley Experience 2022
not available for sale

$635.00 CAD

July 3 - July 8, 2022

Day Camp For Ages 8-13
A unique opportunity for kids to expand their writing horizons. Campers will receive guidance from published authors and learn writing techniques for specific genres.

River Valley Experience 2022

Registration is now closed! CAMP IS FULL!

Day Program with option to stay overnight on Thursday, July 7.

  • Ages 8-13
  • July 3rd - July 8th, 2022
  • 8:30am-4:30pm
  • Bennett Centre, Edmonton, Alberta
  • Tuition - two options
  1. Daycamp only - $635.00
  2. Overnight Camp - $675.00

YouthWrite Fees Include

8 hours of daily instruction/activity led by highly qualified instructional and supervisory staff, supervised lunch and break times. All supplies are provided as are daily lunches and snacks (and Friday breakfast for the Thursday night overnighters). Each participant is required to dress for the weather, bring PPE, indoor and outdoor shoes, and will receive a complimentary copy of YouthWrite: the Magazine.

For those of you new to YouthWrite:

Registration steps continue after registration on this site. After you complete the registration on this site, we ask that you proceed to Campfax, a secure camp database and:

  • fill in important details
  • provide a letter of reference from a teacher/mentor
  • provide the answers to the four YouthWrite questions
  • provide a short sample of writing

You are not fully registered until all steps are completed.


Please note

All fees include $100 non-refundable fee.  No refunds will be made if registration is cancelled after June 22, 2022.

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 camp. YouthWrite Society Canada reserves the right to cancel courses and restrict enrollment. Courses, instructors and supervisors may be subject to change.





When

July 3rd - July 8th, 2022

Full Week

*Early Bird has ended!

Where

Bennett Centre

Edmonton, Alberta

Who

Guest instructors:

Elena (Eli) Belyea

Brad Bucknell

Natasha Deen

Angela Flatekval

Marcus Fung

Kathryn Gwun-Yeen 君妍 Lennon & Jia Jia Yong

Tololwa Mollel

Elsa Robinson

Shima Robinson aka Dwennimmen

Daniel J Schneider

Thomas Trofimuk


Blue Pencil Café Editor:

Timothy Anderson


Our Special Guest Presenter:

Donald McMann


Our Super Supers:

Andraya Diogo

Amanda Erickson

Mark Guerrero

Aajah Sauter

Lead Super Keltie Squires

Mackenzie Trofimuk


Client Services

Tania Gigliotti


River Valley Experience Coordinator

Marla Albiston


YouthWrite Director-Coordinator:
Gail Sidonie Sobat



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. 




 Elena (Eli) Belyea


Bio

Elena (Eli) Belyea, is an arts educator and Artistic Director of Tiny Bear Jaws, a queer playwright, performer, and producer. They were born and raised in Amiskwaciwaskahikan on Treaty 6 territory and have had work produced across Turtle Island and internationally (including Austria, New York, Montreal, Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa, Quebec, and Wells) and received numerous awards. She's also half of queer sketch duo Gender? I Hardly Know Them (on Tiktok + Instagram at @genderihardlyknowthem).


Course

EYE SAY - Hey there, gumshoes! Welcome to Huntsville, where everyone's sleuthing and searching for the next BIG SCOOP! And here's the kicker: we'll leave our every-day selves at the door, and play brand-spanking new characters instead! Will you be an honest-to-goodness truth teller? Or a super-slick paparazzo? Come find out in the legendary EYE SAY! 






 Brad Bucknell


Bio

Brad Bucknell is a sing-songwriter who has been  playing and teaching English in the Edmonton area for many years. He performs regularly as Brad Bucknell and the oHNo Band and has a cd by the same name. This is his sixth time at YouthWrite.


Course

Playing with Words and Music - Ever dream of writing a song? Start by sharing and listening to songs you know and love. Explore how words and music fit with each other. Collaborate with your peers to write, play and sing. Find your inner songsmith and let's make music together! No musical training necessary.




Natasha 2022

 Natasha Deen  Twitter


Bio

Natasha Deen is a Guyanese-Canadian author who's published over forty works for kids, teens, and adults. Her works include In the Key of Nira Ghani, which won the 2020 Amy Mathers Teen Book Award. Natasha’s forthcoming novel, The Signs and Wonders of Tuna Rashad, is a CBC Top 14 Canadian YA books to watch for in spring 2022 and a JLG Gold Standard Selection. When she’s not writing, she teaches Introduction to Children’s Writing with the University of Toronto SCS and spends an inordinate amount of time trying to convince her pets that she’s the boss of the house. Visit Natasha at www.natashadeen.com 


Course

Writing (S)Mash UP! - Is your writing feeling a little weak? Does your description barely have enough strength to lift a page? Then this is the session for you! Using awesome stuff like music, pictures—and even everyday things like colour—we’ll tighten your writing, power up your descriptive core, and hone your story into a lean, mean, writing machine!






 Angela Flatekval


Bio

Angela Flatekval, was lead to YouthWrite via a vast and varied creative life. Do you know anyone who is simply always singing and dancing and telling story after story? I do. It’s Angela!  She's been a dancer of dances, a singer of songs and a player of parts. Developing and re-inventing a creative voice is a lifelong process. It is an honour and an incredible joy for her to be a part of your journey.


Course

Characters: Alive & Kicking - Bring life to the characters you write and play – and figure out what instincts kick-in when their circumstances change – through the unsung hero of all stories: the verbs and movement. Have you ever noticed that Frankenstein stomps, but not the mouse or the princess? The mouse scurries and the princess glides. The way each character moves tells you a lot about who they are. But, wait! What if the princess DID stomp? What if the mouse was gliding and Frankenstein was scurrying? What would that tell you about how they were reacting to the situation in their story? Find out through movement what makes you characters tick… and what makes them kick. Or stomp. Or glide.    





 Marcus Fung


Bio

Marcus Fung, is a Canadian-born Chinese man who's ventured down the road of sharing his love for the inclusive, expressive arts. A long-time children's music and movement educator, and a community drum-circle facilitator, Marcus can often be found in the community facilitating storytelling, song, movement and rhythm. Right now, he enjoys honing his live-looping/beatmaking craft as well as making music for meditation. In his spare time, he trains in self-defence MMA (mixed martial arts and Brazilian ju-jitsu).


Course

Rhythm, Movement, Words, and the Creative Flow - Explore your natural gifts of rhythm, movement, and wordplay to get into a creative flow. Together, create soundscapes using drumming, singing, speaking, rhyming and your bodies together in dynamic ways that you might not have imagined. Celebrate a whole-brain-and-body approach to creating and creativity as well as the community of people you create with. Develop a rhythmic vocabulary and your confidence improvising using instruments, your bodies and your voices. Not just a class for people who feel musical: find the music that lives inside everyone.






 Kathryn Gwun-Yee 君妍 Lennon


Bio

Kathryn Gwun-Yee 君妍 Lennon was born and raised in Edmonton/Amiskwacîwâskahikan, with mixed Hong-Kong Cantonese and Irish ancestry. She is working on a bilingual book of poetry, thanks to support from the Edmonton Arts Council. She is also the co-creator, along with Kyla Pascal, of Hungry Zine. 



 Jia Jia Yong


Bio

Jia Jia Yong - is a musician and writer based in Edmonton. She loves discovering new ways to bring music and stories together. Currently, Jia Jia is collaborating on performances that celebrate cultural heritage by combining music, movement, and storytelling to feature traditional Chinese artforms.


Course

Sources of Inspiration (with Kathryn Gwun-Yee 君妍 Lennon and Jia Jia Yong) - Explore different ways to spark and tap into your creative voice - from live music, to culture, to nature, to history and research. Each day, focus on different prompts and sources of inspiration to write poetry and stretch your creative muscles!






Tololwa M Mollel


Bio

Tololwa M Mollel writes stories and plays for all ages. He has published over 20 books for the young in English and Kiswahili (Swahili), the national language of Tanzania where he was born. He also writes stories to tell and perform. When he isn’t writing, Tololwa, a former actor, performs stories for audiences in schools and communities, at times by himself and at other times with other performers and artists.


Course

Stories Shared and Stories to Share - Experience the power of shared stories! From Tololwa’s stories that he’s written and performed to audiences, drafts he has developed from stories shared with him, be inspired to make your own story you’ll itch to share with an audience. Explore how writing for the purpose of sharing will help you create better narratives that can join the family of stories shared and stories to share.





 Elsa Robinson


Bio

Elsa Robinson (aka Auntie Elsa) is a multimedia visual artist whose art practice includes acrylic painting, sculpture, textiles, and collage. Since 2004, her work has been featured in numerous art exhibits. Elsa’s art addresses themes of identity, family, history, and spirituality. She started her art career as a self-taught artist, and now holds the degree of Master of Fine Arts in Visual Arts. Elsa is also a highly experienced Alberta certified teacher. She combines her love of art and teaching to develop and facilitate art workshops for participants of all ages and abilities.


Course


Colour & Cut and Paste + Paint Your Words - In every piece of writing there are people and places - some real and some imaginary. Enjoy the opportunity to use mixed media images to bring one of your characters to life OR create the world in which your characters live!





 Shima A. Robinson aka Dwennimmen


Bio

Shima A. Robinson aka Dwennimmen is the Artistic Producer of the Edmonton Poetry Festival and Learning and Outreach Manager of Fringe Theatre Adventures, and a U of A master's candidate in Arts in Community Engagement (MACE). Shima is an amiskwaciy- wâskahikan (aka Edmonton)-born poet and spoken-word artist who embodies, with every literary and scholarly effort, the ancient meaning of her chosen pen name, Dwennimmen, an ancient African Adinkra symbol for strength, humility, learning and wisdom.


Course

Poetry, Place, and YOU - How does storytelling connect you to the land? Explore ways to connect to surrounding places, environments and energy/feelings to begin crafting writing rooted in self-recognition and awareness. Discover the meanings we attach to our own name(s). 





Daniel J Schneider


Bio

Daniel J Schneider is a comic artist, illustrator and storyteller hailing from his family's cattle ranch near Edmonton. He holds the honour of being the first Comic shop Artist in Residence at Happy Harbour Comics and has been privileged to be teaching students about how to create comics for the past 9 years. You can find his work in comics such as Gamesworkshop’s “Reforged”, “The Saga of the Jack of Spades”, “Ape Court” and soon the webtoon Sire & Cub.


Course

Storytelling with Pictures - How do we create characters and stories that tell us more than just the words that they speak? Explore all the different ways that both pictures and words come together to create full robust stories in living, breathing worlds. Learn how we use visuals to create iconic characters that can stand the test of time like Darth Vader, Harry Potter or Sailor Moon. Add to your storytelling arsenal with this unique class!






 Thomas Trofimuk 


Bio

Thomas Trofimuk is an Edmonton writer who does not come lightly to the blank page. He has four novels out in the world (The 52nd Poem, Doubting Yourself to the Bone, Waiting for Columbus, and This is All a Lie) and a fifth (The Elephant on Karlův Bridge) coming out in Fall 2022. He’s a long-time teacher at YouthWrite, who's obsessed with fonts, who knows exactly what he’s feeling at all times and wants you to know it, and who's a world-famous-spasmodic-dancer who, without a doubt, trained with the Bolshoi Ballet Company.


Course

Imagine This (or What to do if you wake up at 3 a.m. and there's a five-ton elephant standing in your bedroom)
Spark your creativity with daily prompts, and playing around, and practice. We will, in fact, imagine there is a five-ton elephant standing in our bedroom at three o’clock in the morning, and it smells like peanuts. The question is, what happens next? Will you call the police? Invite the elephant into the kitchen for a snack? Or have a conversation (because it is a talking elephant!!!)?





 

 Blue Pencil Café with Timothy Anderson


Bio

Timothy Anderson, is a writer and performer who is also a professional editor and former book publisher with experience editing poetry, kidlit, genre writing, nonfiction, literary fiction, and works for stage and media. He has an MFA from UBC and teaches editing at MacEwan University - plus, he's a longtime YouthWrite instructor who has a passion for helping you grow as a writer. 


Activity

Blue Pencil Café - Share a piece of writing with our resident editing expert and get constructive feedback on your wordsmithery! Poetry, fiction, dialogue, plots, operas, plays - our Blue Pencil expert can help you with your craft. Sign up is daily at camp.





Our special guest presenter

Donald McMann


Donald McMann has written speeches, magazine articles, technical manuals, entire communications plans. He spent time in public relations, the likely origin of his interest in writing fiction. Since 2001, he has been a full-time faculty member at MacEwan University where today he is an assistant professor in the English department. And he writes short stories. Don lives in Edmonton, Canada with his wife and critic (not to be confused with a critical wife) Elsa Rice, a practicing lawyer.



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.




Andy

Andraya Diogo   


is a stage designer/manager, writer and mediocre skateboarder. As a longtime
camper and member of SWYC (Edmonton's Spoken Word Youth Choir), Andy has spent her years with YouthWrite focusing
on poetry, spoken word and creative nonfiction. Outside of YouthWrite, Andy is a
student at the University of Alberta heading into her third year in BFA Theatre
Production. She’s worked with Citadel Theatre and Freewill Shakespeare, most
notably. Andy can hardly wait to spend her summer with YouthWrite and meet this
year’s campers!





Amanda Erickson

is more than excited to be joining you all for a very wordplayful summer! Amanda is a communications student at MacEwan University pursuing a career in journalism. They are also a member of the YouthWrite office bee team! They are deeply passionate about literature, especially Murakami and Kafka, and enjoy writing the occasional poem. Amanda is also hoping to become a part of the inner circle of Marla’s favourites this summer!




Mark

Mark Guerrero


Mark Guerrero is thrilled to be joining you all for a fun and exciting summer full of imaginative freedom and play! Mark is an actor and singer from Grande Prairie, AB. He is currently a student in the University of Alberta's BFA Acting program. His experience in that program so far has been inspiring, transformative, and has fueled his love for classical text – including Shakespeare, Ibsen, and Chekhov. Before starting his career as an actor, Mark graduated from the University of Alberta with a sociology degree and worked in program evaluation and data analysis. Mark also loves to sing and trains classically as a baritone. He’s uber-excited to be Gail’s favourite.




Keltie

Keltie Squires - Lead Super


Keltie Squires is a professional copywriter and marketer in Edmonton, Alberta. Her journey with YouthWrite started in 2019 as an office bee and Super. She moonlights as a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitor and instructor. She would like to take this time to confirm that the rumors are in fact true – she is Gail's favourite




Keltie Squires

Aajah Sauter


Aajah Sauter is thrilled to be back for yet another year! She's a third-year journalism student at MacEwan University pursuing a career in radio/video journalism and documentary producing. She has a passion for storytelling and amplifying unheard and marginalized voices in her community. Before writing came along, dance was a first love: she's trained in ballet, jazz, and many Hip Hop styles and has been competing for thirteen years. Dance and writing have been incredible creative outlets. Aajah is excited to be back as a Super and surrounded by so many bright and innovative souls!.





Mackenzie Trofimuk

Mackenzie Trofimuk has been involved with YouthWrite for her whole life and is thrilled to be returning for yet another joyous summer! She has filled the roles of camper, office Bee, Super, and was a member of the Spoken Word Youth Choir for the past several years. She is currently living in Toronto, enrolled in first-year at Toronto Metropolitan University. While she is now pursuing studies in fashion, dance was her first love, and she has trained intensively in contemporary, jazz,
ballet, and tap. This summer you can find Mackenzie as a bubbly barista in downtown Toronto. In her free time, she enjoys going on long adventurous walks, working on passion projects, attending lots of live music and drama, and drinking iced matcha lattes. Mackenzie loves all things fueled by creativity and is so excited to dance, write, sing, laugh, and play with you this summer!





Client Services

Tania Gigiliotti

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.





River Valley Experience Coordinator

Marla Albiston

has been involved with YouthWrite for approximately 15 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 this summer and to work with Gail who loves her best!





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!




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