2018 WordsWorth Instructors & Courses

We are thrilled to announce the instructors for Wordsworth 2018.

More names and course descriptions will be added as they are confirmed!

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WordsWorth 2018 Instructors

[tabs style=”default”][tab title=”Derek Beaulieu”] Week 2

Derek Beaulieu is the author / editor of 20 collections of poetry, prose and criticism including two volumes of his selected work Please No More Poetry: the poetry of derek beaulieu (2013) and Konzeptuelle Arbeiten (2017). His most recent volume of fiction, a, A Novel was published by Paris’s Jean Boîte Editions. Beaulieu has exhibited his visual work across Canada, the United States and Europe and has won multiple awards for his teaching and dedication to students. Derek Beaulieu was the 2014–2016 Poet Laureate of Calgary, Canada.  [/tab][tab title=”Isaac Bond”]Week 2

Isaac Bond has been touring, teaching, and organizing spoken word since 2012. Born and raised in Saskatoon, he grew up writing and performing. In 2013, he founded Write Out Loud, a collective of spoken word artists that partner with schools and other community based organizations. In 2013 and 2015, he was a member of ensembles for the Victoria Spoken Word Festival. In 2015, he directed the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word. He has taught at various schools and community organizations across Western Canada, and is dedicated to helping people embrace the power their voices have to offer. 

 

(Photo by Ken Greenhorn)

     [/tab][tab title=”Louise Casemore”]Week 3

Louise Casemore is a creator, director, and Sterling Award winning writer/performer originally from Edmonton. She is the Artistic Associate for Calgary’s Ghost River Theatre, Artistic Director of Defiance Theatre, and recipient of the 2017 Enbridge/ATP Playwright’s Award. Through Defiance and as a freelance artist, Louise has been involved in almost 20 world premieres and counting, including her one woman shows OCD, Functional (Found Fest, Ignite Festival), GEMINI (touring 2018/19) and the upcoming cabaret exorcism that is Undressed. Additional credits include The Bereft Project with Charles Netto and Theatre Junction’s TJLabs, teaching playwriting and performance creation with the Writer’s Guild of Alberta, Alberta Playwright’s Network, and ATP Raucous Caucus, and serving as a proud member of Workshop West Playwrights’ Theatre Board of Directors. Defiance Theatre is committed to developing new Canadian theatre and exploring alternatives to conventional storytelling. Louise is a devoted to finding honesty and intimacy wherever she can, and all things strange and unusual.

(Photo by Marc J Chalifoux) [/tab] [tab title=”Marcello Di Cintio”]Week 3

Marcello Di Cintio is the author of four books of documentary literature including Walls: Travels Along the Barricades and, most recently, Pay No Heed to the Rockets: Palestine in the Present Tense. Marcello also writes for magazines such as Swerve, Canadian Geographic, The International New York Times, and Afar. He is a former writer-in-residence with the Calgary Distinguished Writers Program and the Palestine Writing Workshop, and a featured instructor at the Iceland Writers Retreat. Marcello used to be a wrestler, but his wrestling skills don’t make him any better at Death Polo.        

(Photo by Monique de St. Croix)[/tab] [tab title=”Erin Dingle”]Week 3

Erin Dingle is a performance poet from Calgary, Canada. She came second at the Canadian Independent Poetry Slam in 2014 and was part of 5 consecutive Calgary Slam teams!

Erin has spoken at festivals and events across Canada, about issues like cancer, motherhood, mental and emotional health, and sexuality. She is a Type 1 diabetic and a breast cancer survivor. Erin has also dropped vocals for music producers like Inabeathead and Dub Monk, and is a skilled hula hoop dancer. Her most recent chapbook is the parody parenting magazine ‘Yummy Mummy’, published through Blurb. She runs workshops for adults and youth, exploring topics like dynamic poetry, maintaining a regular writing practice, exploring emotion with innovative language and making the most of stage time.

Erin is founding member of the Ink Spot Collective in Calgary, which runs Calgary’s official monthly Poetry Slam. She is also a board member for Single Onion, which is the longest running reading series in Calgary, and a Member-At-Large of Spocan Canada. Find her on Instagram as ‘digitaldingle’, on Facebook as Erin Dingle, or at http://www.digitaldingle.com.

[/tab] [tab title=”Bevin Dooley”]Week 2

Bevin Dooley is a playwright and dramaturg based out of Edmonton. Her plays have been presented at SkirtsAfire, the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival, the Tiger Dublin Fringe Festival, and Script Salon. She was awarded the 2016 Alberta Playwriting Competition’s Novitiate Prize for her play Deadstock. Currently, she is working with playwright Megan Dart and composer Leif Ingebrigtsen as the dramaturg on their new musical, Fossegrim and Nøkk, which will premiere at the 2018 Edmonton Fringe Theatre Festival. In the fall, she will be joining Workshop West Playwrights’ Theatre as one of their playwrights-in-development, to continue work on her play The Drowned, and begin developing a new piece titled Kiddo. When she’s not running through the woods attacking teenagers with cardboard weapons, Bevin holds down a steady gig as Artistic Associate of Alberta Playwrights’ Network.         [/tab][tab title=”Kim Firmston”]Weeks 1 & 2

Kim Firmston is a super fan of all things sci-fi, fantasy, comic, or action related. She loves to write plays and novels as well as dabble in everything else under the sun. She has many YA books published (one translated into French) and a bunch of plays produced all over the globe (mainly by people shorter than herself). Her classes are active, weird, fun experiences. A not to be missed phenomenon.  Her “real job” is as the Youth Program Director of the Alexandra Writers’ Centre Society. Visit her websites,  www.kimfirmston.com, www.boiledcat.com, www.realityisoptional.com. Come for the content, stay for the “do not push” buttons.

[/tab] [tab title=”Richard Kelly Kemick”]Week 3

Richard Kelly Kemick is an award-winning Canadian poet, journalist, and fiction writer. He is the author of Caribou Run, a collection of poetry. Having published widely in all three genres, his work has been included in anthologies in Canada and the United Kingdom. Richard is the recipient of multiple awards including two National Magazine Awards and first place in the 2017 Norma Epstein National Creative Writing Competition.  [/tab] [tab title=”Natalie Lauchlan”]Weeks 2 & 3

Natalie Lauchlan is an emerging artist currently based in the Calgary area. Currently, she spends her days working in Elementary Schools, community programs and Special Educations settings providing arts education. Natalie holds a BFA from the Alberta College of Art + Design in Craft + Emerging Media and is the author of three published works of poetry, most recently a letter from my mother published in partnership with MASSMoCA in 2017. Natalie feels passionately about supporting the arts community in Alberta, through her role on the board of VAA CARFAC and in her efforts with youth outreach, she hopes to continue to support the arts community across the province.  [/tab] [tab title=”Johnny MacRae”]

Week 1

[/tab] [tab title=”Colin Martin”]Week 2

   [/tab] [tab title=”Tim Mikula”]Weeks 1 & 2 

Tim Mikula is a writer, artist, and performer. He primarily draws on his 11 years of experience as a performer and teacher with Edmonton’s award winning Rapid Fire Theatre improv company with whom he has performed across Canada and internationally. His work has been displayed or performed at poetry festivals, art galleries, theatres, churches, forests, and a giant wooden head in a public park and is most often in the pursuit of surprise, joy, and the unexpected through harrowing experimentation and unending failure. [/tab] [tab title=”Erik Mortimer”]Week 2

Erik Mortimer is a musician, composer, improviser and music director based in
Edmonton. He has been recognized with a Sterling award for his music direction, on “The Last Five Years” (Theatre Network), and was nominated on three other occasions for “Peter and the Starcatcher” (Citadel Theatre) “Drat the Cat” (Plain Janes) and “Honk” (Grindstone Theatre). He has composed scores for the musical pantomimes “Sleeping Beauty,” “Robin Hood,” “Jack and the Beanstalk,” and “Cinderella” at Fort Edmonton Park. Recent work includes “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown” (Plain Janes), “Kill Shakespeare” (Thou Art Here Theatre), “What Gives” (Teatro la Quindicina), “Songs of the Martingale,” and “Off Book the Musical”. He has music directed with the Citadel Young Company, Alberta Opera and is rehearsal pianist at Citie Ballet. Erik has had the pleasure to collaborate with some incredible songwriters including Andrea House and Dana Wylie. He performs regularly as a solo pianist, studio musician. He has had the opportunity to work with improv companies including Die-nasty, Rapid Fire and Rocket Sugar Factory and IBugairdini. Erik is a student of all things music and is thrilled to get the chance to bring his experience to some of Alberta’s brightest young minds! Happy Wordsworth!    [/tab] [tab title=”Cathy Ostlere”]Weeks 1 & 2

Cathy Ostlere is an award-winning writer of creative nonfiction and young adult
fiction. Her first book, the memoir, Lost, was shortlisted for the 2009 Edna Staebler
Creative Non-fiction Award. She is a 2012 Governor General Award finalist for her play, Lost: A Memoir. Her second book, Karma, a YA novel-in-verse, has won or been shortlisted for many awards. Cathy’s an avid traveller, hiker, and has uncovered a new passion of genealogical sleuthing for her father’s biological family. She’s recently returned to the typewriter as a tool for exploring new writing. Cathy lives in Calgary and enjoys teaching myth, fairytales, horror, poetry, and the hero’s journey. This is her seventh summer teaching at Wordsworth and is delighted to be back! [/tab] [tab title=”Simon Rose”]Week 3

Simon Rose was born in Derbyshire, England. He graduated from university with a degree in history and has lived in Canada since 1990. He is also a graduate of the Institute of Children’s Literature of West Redding, CT. Simon and his two children, dog, and cat live in Calgary.

Simon’s first novel for middle grade readers, The Alchemist’s Portrait, was published in 2003 followed by The Sorcerer’s Letterbox in 2004, The Clone Conspiracy in 2005, The Emerald Curse in 2006, The Heretic’s Tomb in 2007, The Doomsday Mask in 2009, The Time Camera in 2011, The Sphere of Septimus in 2014, Flashback in 2015, Future Imperfect in 2016, Twisted Fate and the Shadowzone series in 2017, and Parallel Destiny in 2018. Simon is also the author of The Children’s Writer’s Guide, The Working Writer’s Guide, The Time Traveler’s Guide, The Social Media Writer’s Guide, a contributing author to The Complete Guide to Writing Science Fiction Volume One, and has written many non-fiction books.

Simon offers a number of services for writers, including editing, manuscript evaluation, coaching, mentoring, and writing workshops, in addition to copywriting services for the business community. He is an instructor for adults with the University of Calgary and Mount Royal University and offers a variety of online workshops for both children and adults.

Simon offers a wide variety of presentations, workshops and author in residence programs for schools and libraries, covering such topics as the writing process, editing and revision, where ideas come from and how writers turn them into stories, character development, historical fiction and historical research, story structure, the publishing world and more. He works as a creative writing instructor for students throughout the year, at summer camps each July and August, also offers virtual author visits.

Simon is a regular presenter at conferences and festivals, and served as a juror for the Governor General’s Literary Awards for Children’s Literature, the Saskatchewan Book Awards, the Parsec Awards and the Sunburst Awards for Canadian literature of the Fantastic. He is the founder of Children’s Authors and Illustrators on Facebook, and served as the Assistant Regional Advisor for SCBWI Western Canada.

Full details can be found at his website www.simon-rose.com. You may also visit his blog, his channel on YouTube, follow him on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook. 

    [/tab] [tab title=”Lindsey Walker”]Week 3

Lindsey Walker searches for beauty in the darkness in her Edmonton Music Award Album of the year nominated ‘this desolate bliss.’ Apocalyptic, cinematic and achingly sincere, the magnetic intensity of this album explores the wages of regret with palpable hope. An undulating tapestry of dark brooding anthems, infectious rock and sensual hymns, Walker defies lost loves legacy, cobbling a glorious new vision from the ashes. This bold new direction from her acclaimed debut album Our Glory marks an artistic evolution of haunting symphonic power. Lindsey Walker was voted Best of Edmonton Solo Artist by Vue Weekly (2017) and nominated for Female Artist of the Year EMA (2018). On releasing ‘this desolate bliss’ she earned distinction as a Canadian Songwriting competition semi finalist with eerie track St.Petersburg, the simmering Window also drew notice with an Indie Rock Recording of the Year EMA nom. Edmonton based, Winnipeg bred Lindsey roams extensively winning hearts with her raw honesty and soaring vocal dynamism. Since her 2013 EMA nomination as an “Artist to Watch” Walker has played venues from Vancouver to Halifax and gained a national audience of devoted fans. Find her wandering in the night pursuing all that dares to glimmer.

[/tab] [tab title=”David Wilson”]Week 3

David Wilson (B.Mus, M.Mus) is a Singer, Conductor, Voice Teacher, Yoga Instructor, Breath Therapist, and soon-to-be-author. He is recognized across Canada as a leading authority on the use of yoga and breath therapy to aid proper singing and speaking technique. He has conducted in the styles of choir, opera and musical theatre, including RENT. As a singer David sings in both the classical and musical theatre genres, most recently for “Into the Woods”, and at the University of Alberta’s “A Musical Feast”. David currently enjoys teaching voice for Grant MacEwan Theatre Arts, Edmonton Musical Theatre, Cowtown Opera Summer Academy and the University of Alberta. At his Edmonton teaching studio David offers Professional Voice Lessons, Functional Vocal Transformation, Movement Re-Education, Confidence/Empowerment Training, and Body, Breath & Voice Integrative Therapy. He tours regularly, offering workshops to singers, actors, teachers and professionals on vocal power and respiratory health. He is currently working on a DVD/book entitled The Wilson Method for Voice. His website is body-breath-voice.com. David is thrilled to be part of the 2018 WWKK family this summer. [/tab] [tab title=”Paul Zits”]Weeks 1 & 3

Paul Zits received his MA in English from the University of Calgary in 2010. His first book, Massacre Street (University of Alberta Press, 2014), won the Stephan G. Stephansson Award for Poetry at the 2014 Alberta Literary Awards, and was also shortlisted for the Robert Kroetsch Poetry Book Award and the IndieFab Award for Poetry. His second book, Leap-seconds (Insomniac Press, 2017), won the 2016 Robert Kroetsch Award for Innovative Poetry. Zits served two terms as Writer-in-the-Schools at Queen Elizabeth High School in Calgary, teaching creative writing to students in the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program, and is the former Managing Editor of the Calgary-based, experimental literary and arts magazine, filling Station. Zits is currently a teacher with the Calgary Board of Education. This is his sixth year teaching at the WordsWorth Residency.

(Photo by Lily Wong)

[/tab] [/tabs]

WordsWorth 2018 Courses

[tabs style=”default”] [tab title=”Week One”]

Check out these courses, being offered during week one of WordsWorth! (July 15 – 20, ages 11 – 14)

Kim Firmston – World-Building in Genre Fiction: The door creaks, a portal opens, a weird woman in a wild wig whispers, “you aren’t who you think you are.” Colours brighten and BAM! You are in the world of genre fiction. Fantasy! Sci-Fi! Speculative Fiction! Steam Punk and more! Take that pen and build worlds, create believable characters, make interesting and unique props and costumes all within the confines of the written text. Are you ready to grasp the goblet and take the challenge? Are you the chosen one? Come and find out.

Johnny MacRae – Team Piece! Collaborative Writing & Performance: Although writing is normally considered a lonely art form, in Team Piece! we’ll explore the possibilities of creating and performing pieces of writing together, through the lens of group poems, or “team pieces” as they’re known in the poetry slam world.  Over the week, we’ll explore various ways an individual poem can be transformed into a multi-voiced performance, as well as how two or more writers can create a single poem from scratch – together!  Whether you dabble in poetry or live, breathe and eat it, this may well be the most fun you’ll ever have writing anything.

Tim Mikula – Impulse:  Create characters, write poems, tell stories and perform scenes, all without scripts, plans, or someone hiding in a bush dictating lines to you in a hushed whisper. Surprise yourself and others with all the brilliant and ridiculous things that exist in the human brain, lurking just beneath the surface.

Cathy Ostlere – Road to the Interior — Japanese Writing: A tanka is lyrical and dreamy. A haiku is a moment of experience. A haibun is the story of how one came to have that experience. 

Using three Japanese writing forms – haiku, tanka and haibun – this class will explore the natural and imaginary worlds by making observations, developing our senses, and becoming attentive to simplicity (wabi), solitude (sabi) and impermanence (mujo). We will start our class with a Japanese myth or fairy tale to more deeply understand the vast imagination of this culture. Then we will enter the natural world through walking and listening and writing near the river or deep in the forest.

Paul Zits – Sunshine Wardrobe, with Ryan Gosling: 

My poetry will welcome you with open arms, as when a louse by its embraces cuts off the root of a hair.
— Comte de Lautreamont 

Do you want to write a poem as beautiful as a chance meeting on a dissecting table of a sewing machine and an umbrella? Make your words shimmer like the twinkle of glowing plankton disturbed by charging sperm whales? Then this class is for you! You will learn the fundamental techniques of the craft of poetry and have the chance to create fold-ins from fashion magazines, cut-ups from celebrity gossip columns, and collages made from the contents of Ryan Gosling’s interview with GQ.

[/tab] [tab title=”Week Two”]

Here are the courses being offered during week 2! (July 22 – 27, ages 15 – 19)

Derek Beaulieu – Poetic Book-binding and risk-taking: In this course we will learn how to make out own book (notebooks, small books of poetry) and discuss and create the edges of what it means to write poetry: work that explores the edges of meaning, the edges of writing and the edges of our expectation.

Isaac Bond – Reasons of Rhythm: In this course we will look closely at the cadences of various styles of performance poetry, developing skills through vocal exercises, writing prompts, and group discussion. We will consider a plethora of material as we explore our own powers of articulation and discover each other’s voices.

Bevin Dooley – From the Page Up: Building a Play: What is a play? That’s entirely up to the playwright. However, there are some components that go into every play. In this class, we’ll be digging deep into the essentials, learning how to weigh them out and weave them together in varying configurations to build whatever type of play you envision.

Kim Firmston – Radio Plays: The crackle of an old radio, haunting music of a by gone era, then a gunshot! A scream! Footsteps and … your radio play is well on its way. Learn to build scripts, make characters, create your own sound effects, and take part in the glorious art of recording in this old timey genre become new again with the emergence of pod casting. With radio plays you can go anywhere, do anything, be anyone all in the comfort of the recording studio. What will you make?

Natalie Lauchlan –Text as Textile – Writer’s Intro to Spinning and Weaving: Inspired by the Japanese art of Shifu, or woven paper, writers will explore the relationship between cloth and word, text as textile. Throughout the week writers will spin their own threads and create their own text-based weavings and tapestries.

Colin Martin – Faking it and Making it… Real: Sci-Fi and Fantasy have always been interested in making up worlds where they can address the big problems of real life. In this class, we’re going to make up a world, populate it, and use fiction (lies! lies!) to Keep it Real. I assure you, only the news will be Fake. I’m kidding. We’ll fake everything except the truth.

Tim Mikula – Impulse:  Create characters, write poems, tell stories and perform scenes, all without scripts, plans, or someone hiding in a bush dictating lines to you in a hushed whisper. Surprise yourself and others with all the brilliant and ridiculous things that exist in the human brain, lurking just beneath the surface.

Erik Mortimer – Songwriting and Scoring: In this course we will be jumping into the exciting world of song writing and scoring! We will explore and get introduced to different musical forms and styles and learn effective ways of integrating that music into to our text. If you’ve ever wanted to turn your text into music or turn your written text into a performance involving music, this course is for you.

Cathy Ostlere – Road to the Interior — Japanese Writing: A tanka is lyrical and dreamy. A haiku is a moment of experience. A haibun is the story of how one came to have that experience. 

Using three Japanese writing forms – haiku, tanka and haibun – this class will explore the natural and imaginary worlds by making observations, developing our senses, and becoming attentive to simplicity (wabi), solitude (sabi) and impermanence (mujo). We will start our class with a Japanese myth or fairy tale to more deeply understand the vast imagination of this culture. Then we will enter the natural world through walking and listening and writing near the river or deep in the forest.

[/tab] [tab title=”Week Three”]

Here are the courses being offered during week 3! (July 29 – August 3, ages 14 – 19)

Louise Casemore – Monologue Magic: Embrace the magical power of performance! This course will look at the basics of playwrighting and an introduction to live performance, to unlock the expressive potential in moving from page to stage. Suited to first timers who have never performed their writing to seasoned pros who love to be in front of a crowd, we will work together to create short performance pieces that highlight the things YOU want to explore – encouraging writers to graduate ideas from inside the mind to outside the body in a safe and supported environment.

Marcello Di Cintio – Writing Wrongs: How do we craft stories that are both beautiful and “important”? How can we be both artists and activists? How can our personal stories serve the public good? In this nonfiction workshop, we will explore the human rights and social justice issues that stir our passions and respond to them on the page. 

Erin Dingle – Buzzfeeding Your Creative Story: Do you want to write and perform work that stands out and speaks your truth louder than the scream of high-speed social media? Join Erin Dingle to explore how we can express our identities and emotions with the most effective symbols. Use buzzfeed style quizzes, prompts and activities to unlock new, captivating, unique imagery and narratives within your own writing. Tell your story concretely, specifically and loud enough to shout down all those tired clichés that make modern eyes and ears check out.

Richard Kelly Kemick – Wild Writing: From horseback riding to fly fishing, from swimming with the whales to running with the wolves, we all have great stories that concern the great animal kingdom. Whether you’re interested in a short story about talking elk or a poem filled with moths, this course will provide writers with the time and space to explore the themes of animals in their writing. Daily sessions will provide useful discussion and encouragement, while writers enjoy the beauty, peace, and inspiration of the spectacular surroundings that only Wordsworth has access to. All genres welcome.

Natalie Lauchlan – Subversive Stitch: Inspired by the rich history of embroidery and it’s power to subvert the main stream, writers will use the history of rebellious needlesmiths to create embroidered patches for personal expression and the rallying of likeminded individuals. A week full of patchwork towards a future of denim jackets, backpacks, or world domination.

Simon Rose – Super Stuff!: Learn about the history of superheroes in comic books and movies from their beginnings in the 1940s up to the present day. In these sessions, we explore the superhero genre, before participants create their own hero, complete with costumes, powers, secret identity, headquarters and archenemies. Students are also encouraged to draw their creation and write a short story about the superhero. 

Lindsey Walker – Unleash your creative / weird / musical side: Songwriting isn’t just for musicians that want to be the next pop star, it is for everyone. Whether it is a heartfelt song, a silly tune or a theme song for your favourite video game, you will unleash it using fun techniques to get your writing muscles trained! We will be playing games and using other creative pursuits to activate our songwriting brains and create catchy songs. No musical experience necessary, just a love for music will do! There will also be a plethora of musical instruments in the classroom to try out and help with the creative process. 

David Wilson – Body, Breath & Voice for Creativity: Trust in Self + Imagination + Flow + Tenacity = Creativity. Experiences generate ideas, therefore writing is a full-body activity. In this class we will explore how NOT TO THINK, and how specific activities affect our craft. Utilizing artistic, somatic, physical disciplines such as movement re-education, breathwork, meditation, drama games, yoga and vocal empowerment, we discover increased confidence, power, awareness, inspiration and joy.

Paul Zits – The most-liked poems: 

My poetry will welcome you with open arms, as when a louse by its embraces cuts off the root of a hair.

— Comte de Lautreamont

Do you want to write a poem as beautiful as a chance meeting on a dissecting table of a sewing machine and an umbrella? Make your work shimmer like the twinkle of glowing plankton disturbed by charging sperm whales? Then this class is for you! Students will build on the fundamental techniques of the craft of poetry and learn — through cut-up, collage, and constraint-based writing — to write poems that are as Rupi Kaur-unlike as possible. 

WordsWorth 2018 Creative Team

[tabs style=”default”] [tab title=”Colin Matty”] Colin Matty (Camp Director) is a playwright, poet, performer, and enthusiast of wordplay in all its forms. He first began his journey with WordsWorth and the Writers’ Guild in 2011, and has since come to appreciate the incredible passion and power of the community of young writers it brings together. While not scheming ways to make the experiences at camp even more magical, Colin runs his best ideas through a typewriter and gives them to strangers on the street. This is his third year as camp Director, and he hopes this year’s WordsWorth will be the freshest yet! (Photo Credit: Cory Johnn Photography)         [/tab]  [tab title=”Henry Greyson”] Henry Greyson is an artist, writer, and animator currently doing freelance animation and art. He graduated from the Centre for Arts and Technology in animation, and has been working in the field since. In addition he’s a pretty decent improviser, storyteller, spoon player and gives pretty alright high fives.

[/tab] [tab title=”Samantha Jeffrey”]Samantha Jeffery is an Edmonton-born theatre artist with a BFA in acting. She has taught at WordsWorth twice, as well as at Drink the Wild Air, focusing on conflict, stage combat, and character creation. Sam works professionally as an actor & fight choreographer, and has also had the pleasure of teaching theatre to youth all over Alberta. It’s her absolute pleasure to join the hallowed ranks of the creative team!

[/tab] [tab title=”Gabriel Richardson”] Gabriel Richardson is an Edmonton born actor, singer, and improvisor. He recently graduated from The National Theatre School of Canada in acting and is very excited to be returning to WordsWorth for his 3rd year!            [/tab] [tab title=”Jess Tollestrup”]

       [/tab] [tab title=”Pieter van Staalduinen”] Pieter van Staalduinen is, among other things, a muggle still waiting for his Hogwarts letter. When not carefully scanning the skies for messenger owls, Pieter can be found rock climbing, teaching, reading, and writing poetry and a novel. Notably, he completely eschews traditionally mandatory skills like eating, sleeping, and breathing; no one is entirely sure how, and all he’ll say is that they’re an inefficient use of time. Although this is his first summer with WordsWorth, he’s certain he’s heard enough stories from campers to have lived at least one extra season vicariously.             [/tab] [tab title=”Em Williamson”]Em Williamson is a writer of bizarre and nonsensical fiction and poetry who frequently attends and features at spoken word events all across Calgary. She got her start in poetry and loves it dearly, but is currently editing her first novel and hopes to have it published within the next year. Em was previously a camper at WordsWorth, and considers her experience at the camp to be a pivotal part of her development as a writer – and now, she is hoping to give back to the camp at least a fraction of what she got out of it as she enters her second year on the Creative Team. Let the writing begin! [/tab] [/tabs]

WordsWorth 2018 Creative Team

[tabs style=”default”] [tab title=”Colin Matty”] Colin Matty (Camp Director) is a playwright, poet, performer, and enthusiast of wordplay in all its forms. He first began his journey with WordsWorth and the Writers’ Guild in 2011, and has since come to appreciate the incredible passion and power of the community of young writers it brings together. While not scheming ways to make the experiences at camp even more magical, Colin runs his best ideas through a typewriter and gives them to strangers on the street. This is his third year as camp Director, and he hopes this year’s WordsWorth will be the freshest yet! (Photo Credit: Cory Johnn Photography)         [/tab]  [tab title=”Henry Greyson”] Henry Greyson is an artist, writer, and animator currently doing freelance animation and art. He graduated from the Centre for Arts and Technology in animation, and has been working in the field since. In addition he’s a pretty decent improviser, storyteller, spoon player and gives pretty alright high fives.

[/tab] [tab title=”Samantha Jeffrey”]Samantha Jeffery is an Edmonton-born theatre artist with a BFA in acting. She has taught at WordsWorth twice, as well as at Drink the Wild Air, focusing on conflict, stage combat, and character creation. Sam works professionally as an actor & fight choreographer, and has also had the pleasure of teaching theatre to youth all over Alberta. It’s her absolute pleasure to join the hallowed ranks of the creative team!

[/tab] [tab title=”Gabriel Richardson”] Gabriel Richardson is an Edmonton born actor, singer, and improvisor. He recently graduated from The National Theatre School of Canada in acting and is very excited to be returning to WordsWorth for his 3rd year!            [/tab] [tab title=”Jess Tollestrup”]

       [/tab] [tab title=”Pieter van Staalduinen”] Pieter van Staalduinen is, among other things, a muggle still waiting for his Hogwarts letter. When not carefully scanning the skies for messenger owls, Pieter can be found rock climbing, teaching, reading, and writing poetry and a novel. Notably, he completely eschews traditionally mandatory skills like eating, sleeping, and breathing; no one is entirely sure how, and all he’ll say is that they’re an inefficient use of time. Although this is his first summer with WordsWorth, he’s certain he’s heard enough stories from campers to have lived at least one extra season vicariously.             [/tab] [tab title=”Em Williamson”]Em Williamson is a writer of bizarre and nonsensical fiction and poetry who frequently attends and features at spoken word events all across Calgary. She got her start in poetry and loves it dearly, but is currently editing her first novel and hopes to have it published within the next year. Em was previously a camper at WordsWorth, and considers her experience at the camp to be a pivotal part of her development as a writer – and now, she is hoping to give back to the camp at least a fraction of what she got out of it as she enters her second year on the Creative Team. Let the writing begin! [/tab] [/tabs]