YouthWrite Elbow River II Experience 2023
July 9 - July 14, 2023
Day or Overnight Camp For Ages 15-19
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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WhenJuly 9th - July 14th, 2023 Full Week |
WhereFCJ centre: 219 19 Ave SW, Calgary, AB T2S 0C8 |
WhoGuest instructors thus far: Tomi Ajele Timothy Anderson Heather Camlot Laurel Deedrick-Mayne Kris Demeanor Wally Diefenthaler Rachel "Sunflower" Drouillard MLE Michelle Casten Magbanua Loren Spector Sue-Shane Tsomundo Spyder Yardley-Jones Nicole Zylstra More TBA SOON! Blue-Pencil Café: Timothy Anderson Our Special Guest Presenter: TBA Our Super Supers: Yemariam Abebayehu Cadence De Dios Lead Super Anna Cooley Lead Super Joey Lucius Miranda Martini Aftikhar Mominzada Maia Tustonic YouthWrite Director-Coordinator: |
Guest Instructors
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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!
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Tomi Ajele
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Timothy Anderson
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Heather Camlot
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Laurel Deedrick-Mayne
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Kris Demeanor
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Wally Diefenthaler
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Rachel "Sunflower" Drouillard
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MLE
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Michelle Casten Magbanua
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Loren Spector
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Sue-Shane Tsomondo
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Spyder Yardley-Jones
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Nicole Zylstra
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Blue Pencil Café with Timothy Anderson
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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!
Yemariam AbebayehuYemariam Abebayehu is a YouthWrite alum and member of SWYC (Edmonton's Spoken Word Youth Choir). Her first year at YouthWrite was in 2020, but she feels like she's been a part of YouthWrite for much longer! Yemariam is graduating from the University of Alberta with a BA in Psychology this spring, and is excited to pursue a cross-continental education in Switzerland this fall. Yemariam is *Super* stoked for summer with YouthWrite and for being Gail’s favourite. |
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Anna Cooley - Lead Super
Anna Cooley is an award-winning director, writer, cinematographer, and producer who has been telling stories with compelling characters and strong messages for over 20 years. Her projects push the boundaries of conventional storytelling by identifying unique narratives, collaborating with artists from a diverse range of disciplines, and experimenting with cutting-edge technologies such as virtual reality. Her recently completed projects include The Goats of Monesiglio, Living Without Menace, See Me, Abracadavers Season 2, Garden Shark: there are some things dementia can't touch and sandboxxii.com. Upcoming projects include the feature film FaultlineI and series Scout I and Gender? I Hardly Know Them. Anna has been connected to YouthWrite for 22 years as both a camper and supervisor. She just can't get enough of Gail. And of course, she is Gail's favourite! |
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Cadence De DiosCadence De Dios (they/them) is a poet and spoken word artist residing in Edmonton, Alberta.They have performed for several different local festivals such as The Edmonton Poetry Festival, The Edmonton International Fringe Festival, and The Found Festival. They just think art is neat, whatever form it comes in. But are absolutely enamoured with poetry, dance and playing music. They are excited to help spread the joy of writing at YouthWrite this summer and to be Gail’s favourite. |
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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! |
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Miranda Martini
Miranda is a musician, writer and composer. She co-wrote music for John Ware Reimagined, a musical about the life and impact of Alberta cowboy John Ware. Her face and voice can also be seen and heard in the documentary John Ware Reclaimed. Miranda works as a composer, music director and music dramaturg for theatre, most recently directing music for We’re Gonna Die with Verb Theatre in Calgary. She is currently working on a sci-fi musical. As a former camper, Miranda can’t wait to be back at YouthWrite this year as a Super and Gail’s favourite! |
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Aftikhar MominzadaAftikhar Mominzada is a Finance major at the University of Alberta with specialization in investment banking. He is a skilled musician, proficient in guitar and saxophone, and a second-time seasoned supervisor at YouthWrite. He is excited about meeting the campers and wordplaying with them as well as being Gail’s favourite! |
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Maia Tustonic
is a Journalism and Political Science student at Carleton University with a passion for shining a light on all kinds of untold stories. A proud alumna of StoryBook Theatre’s SSIP and St. Mary’s Theatre and Choir programs, Maia has loved writing, theatre, and singing for as long as she can remember. She is beyond excited to join YouthWrite in creating memories full of imagination and friendship this summer, and so looks forward to becoming Gail’s favourite! |
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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.