The Canadian Book Camp

August 10-14, 2009 at Vancouver Public Library
Got the Write Stuff?

Calling all aspiring writers and book lovers! Sharpen your pencils, stretch your typing fingers, and spark your imagination at the Canadian Book Camp!

This unique day Camp lets youth with a passion for reading and writing connect with well-known authors and illustrators. Each morning features a new keynote speaker from the Canadian literary world. After lunch, campers experience a variety of different creative workshops. In this energetic, literary environment, campers are divided into two age groups:  11-13 and 14+.

Our inclusive program welcomes youth who want to try creative writing for the first time, aspiring authors with mountains of manuscripts, and everyone in between!

The 2009 Canadian Book Camp Was a Huge Success!

The Canadian Book Camp and the Vancouver Public Library would like to thank all our campers, volunteers, presenters and sponsors for making the ninth annual Canadian Book Camp better than ever! We had an absolute blast and we hope to see you at  the 2010 Camp which will take place from Monday, August 9 to Friday, August 13, 2010.

 Check out photos of the 2009 Camp, at www.flickr.com/photos/vancouverpubliclibrary/sets/72157622012356804.

  

For Ages 11-13 and 14+
Where:	Central Library 350 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC
When:	Monday, August 10 to Friday, August 14, 2009 (Mon-Thu: 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m., Friday: 9:00 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Cost:	$200.00 Early Bird Rate until May 15, 2009 - includes FREE book in Camper bag! $225.00 after May 15, 2009 Registration fee includes a copy of the 2009 Book Camp Anthology   - Registration Full -

To register for the Canadian Book Camp, please download our Book Camp Registration Form[PDF].

If you would like to learn about volunteering opportunities please download our Call for Volunteers [PDF]. Interested volunteers should download and submit the Book Camp Volunteer Application Form [PDF].

For more information please contact the Book Camp Coordinator at 604-331-4093 or email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Get Inspired by Our Keynote Speakers:

	Monday, August 10, 2009: Mark Forsythe Host of CBC’s BC Almanac, Mark joined CBC Vancouver in 1990 where he hosted The Afternoon Show for five years. Mark released the British Columbia Almanac with net proceeds directed to B.C. Children's Hospital. The B.C. Almanac Book of Greatest British Columbians followed with colleague Greg Dickson, as well as a book about the 150th anniversary of the B.C. Gold Rush and creation of the colony. Mark was co-winner of a Webster Award for a documentary on native/non-native relationships and has been nominated on two other occasions. Mark also teaches Writing for the Media at BCIT.
	Tuesday, August 11, 2009: Meomi MEOMI is the pen name for Vicki Wong (Vancouver, Canada) and Michael Murphy (Los Angeles, California) the authors and illustrators behind the Octonauts children's picture book series. Meomi enjoys sitting around in the attic making up stories, drinking tea and drawing strange creatures. Sometimes they even do work creating illustrations and animations for such clients as Google, Monterey Bay Aquarium, CBC4Kids, Hasbro, and Nick Jr. Meomi's artwork has been featured in numerous illustration and design books, while their characters have appeared on clothing, toys, and magazines worldwide. Recently, they designed the mascots for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic games. You can find Meomi on the web at www.meomi.com and www.octonauts.com
	Wednesday, August 12, 2009: Cynthia Nugent Cynthia Nugent has had over 25 solo exhibitions of paintings and automata in public and commercial galleries. Her art can be found in private and corporate collections in N. America, Japan and England. She is also an award-winning children's book author and illustrator, most recently winning the Time to Read: BC Achievement Foundation Award for Early Literacy for The Aunts Come Marching. Stephen Hume wrote in the Vancouver Sun that she is "one of the best illustrators in North America".  She has published 9 books as illustrator or author. Her first book, Mister Got to Go, is now considered a Canadian classic. Her 2004 novel Francesca and the Magic Bike received rave reviews and numerous award nominations. Check out her website at www.cynthianugent.com.  (photo by Noel MacDonald)
	Thursday, August 13, 2009: John Wilson Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, John Wilson grew up on the Isle of Skye and outside Glasgow without the slightest idea that he would ever write books. After a degree in Geology from St. Andrews University, he worked in Zimbabwe and Alberta before taking up writing full-time and moving out to Vancouver Island in 1991. John has used a long-standing fascination with history to craft seventeen novels and six non-fiction books for kids, teens and adults. John firmly believes that the past must have been just as exciting, confusing and complex to those who lived through it as our world is to us. His tales involve dinosaurs, lost Arctic explorers, socialist coal miners and boys caught up in the First and Second World Wars. More information can be found on John's blog at: johnwilson-author.blogspot.com
	Friday, August 14, 2009: Kit Pearson Kit Pearson was born in Edmonton, Alberta in 1947 and grew up there and in Vancouver, B.C.  She received her B.A. from the University of Alberta, her M.L.S. from the University of British Columbia and her M.A. from the Simmons College Center for the Study of Children’s Literature in Boston.  She worked for ten years as a children’s librarian in Ontario and B.C., and is now a full-time writer living in Victoria. Her books have been published in Canada in English and French, in the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the Netherlands, Germany, Great Britain, China and Korea. She has won fourteen awards for her writing, including the Vicky Metcalf Award for her body of work in 1998.

Write With Our Workshop Leaders:

 

		Tanya Lloyd Kyi This Ain't Your Grandma's Lasagna: New Ways to Layer Creative Non-Fiction Tanya Lloyd Kyi grew up in Creston, B.C. She began her writing career as a high school poet, producing pages and pages of work that her mother loved and her best friend religiously archived (possibly for a future blackmailing scheme). Tanya enrolled in creative writing at the University of Victoria, intending to specialize in poetry. She soon found herself out of place among talented but pale people dressed all in black, who seemed to exist entirely on coffee. She elected to specialize in non-fiction instead. After completing her degree, she worked as a graphic designer for several years before deciding to write full-time. She now lives in Vancouver, B.C., with her husband, Min, who claims to be the world’s only Burmese occupational therapist. They have a four-year-old daughter and a two-year-old son. Tanya blogs about her reading and writing life at tanyalloydkyi.blogspot.com.
		Christopher Millin That Kid's Got Character! Exploring Memorable Characters in Children's Literature and the Methods by Which They Were Created Since Christopher Millin first put pen to paper he has considered himself a writer. It wasn’t until he fell into a deep, dark hole and met a strange man named R.E. Flex that Christopher actually became a writer. Mr. Flex told Christopher an amazing and frightening collection of stories to pass the time while they waited for someone to come and rescue them. Christopher vowed that if they ever got out of the hole he would write all of Mr. Flex's stories down and share them with the world.The King of Arugula (Thistledown Press, 2007) is the first story in this collection and is Christopher's first book. When he's not trying to recall Mr. Flex's words, he helps publish a children's literature magazine called Crow Toes Quarterly (www.crowtoesquarterly.com). Christopher was born on a horse farm in Edmonton, but now lives in Richmond, BC, with two cats that refuse to wear saddles. You can find Chris on the web at www.christophermillin.com.
		Pandora's Collective-Path to Poetry "Promoting the arts that inspire the world to take notice of itself" is the ambitious mandate of this poetry writing duo composed of Sita Carboni and Bonnie Nish. Since 2002, the pair has been exploring the power of writing collectively in elementary and secondary schools across the Lower Mainland. Their workshops are very hands on and inclusive allowing for writers of all levels. They have been featured poets at Word on the Street, The North Shore Writers' Festival and have conducted poetry workshops for the Vancouver, Richmond, and West Vancouver public libraries, the YWCA's summer camp and The West Coast Poetry Festival. As well they organize and run the Summer Dream Literary Arts Festival every summer in Stanley Park. Check out their website at www.pandorascollective.com.
		Kathryn E. Shoemaker Illustration and Graphic Novels Kathryn E. Shoemaker is the illustrator of thirty-seven books for children, among them the graphic novel version of Irene N. Watts’ Good Bye Marianne, A Telling Time by Irene N. Watts, My Animal Friends by R. David Stephens, Floyd Flamingo and His Flock of Friends by Tiffany Stone, Jenny’s  Neighbours by Richard Thompson and Los Ninos Alfabeticos. Currently she is working on the graphic novelization of Irene N. Watts’ Remember Me and her own graphic novel, Crowgirl and Her Amazing Adventure Scrapbook.
		Kari-Lynn Winters Keep Them Laughing: Writing Funny Fiction Kari-Lynn Winters is a picture book author, poet, and performer. She enjoys being in the classroom in any capacity, as a presenter, a teacher, or as a student. She currently attends the University of British Columbia as a Ph.D. candidate and instructor in the Language and Literacy Department.  Orca Book Publishers published Kari-Lynn's first picture book, Jeffrey and Sloth (2007) - a tale about a boy who has writer's block and the imaginary creature he creates to help him write his story. Seven other picture books have been accepted for publication. You can find more information about Kari at her website www.kariwinters.com.

 

	James Heneghan Being There James Heneghan, an Irish Canadian came to Vancouver, BC from Liverpool, England and worked for many years as a Fingerprint & Photography Technician in the Vancouver Police Crime Laboratory. He has four children and two grandchildren. He has been writing books for young people  for over twenty years. Many of his books are award winners (three-time winner of the Sheila A. Egoff Award) and appear on the American Library Association’s lists of Best Books for Young Adults, the New York Library lists of Best Books, the Junior Library Guild list, the VOYA Top Shelf Pick list. Wish Me Luck was nominated for a Governor General’s Award. Further information on James Heneghan may be found at www.jamesheneghan.com.
	Ivan Coyote Real Life Writing Ivan Coyote was born and raised in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. An award-winning author of four collections of short stories and a renowned performer, Ivan’s first love is live storytelling, and over the last twelve years she has become an audience favourite at music, poetry, spoken word and writer's festivals from Anchorage to Amsterdam. The Globe and Mail called Ivan "a natural-born storyteller" and Quill & Quire Magazine says Ivan has a "distinctive and persuasive voice, a flawless sense of pacing, and an impeccable sense of story." Ivan is a columnist for Xtra West magazine, writes regularly for The Georgia Straight and CBC Radio, and pops up in periodicals all across the continent. Her first novel, Bow Grip, was released in the fall of 2006, and was recently awarded the Relit award for best fiction and named by the American Library Association as a Stonewall honour book in literature. Ivan is currently at work on her second novel. Check out her website at www.ivanecoyote.com
	Shelley Hrdlitschka Phenomenal Fiction! Shelley discovered her love for children's literature while teaching elementary school in the eighties. Then while on a parenting leave, she began writing children's stories. It took ten years, but she eventually decided to focus on juvenile and young adult fiction and is now the author of eight novels, all published with Orca Book Publishers. Shelley lives in North Vancouver with her three daughters and their menagerie of pets. When she's not writing she can be found hiking, snowshoeing, practising yoga or hidden away with a book and some good music. Check out her website at: www.members.shaw.ca/shelleyhrdlitschka.
	Julie Burtinshaw Showing Up at the Page! Julie was born in Vancouver and has lived in many different cities and towns both inside and outside of Canada. She has been an avid reader since childhood and began to keep journals and diaries from the moment she could hold a pen in her hand. Julie is an award winning author of five books for young adults. Her latest novel, The Perfect Cut, is included in the Canadian Children's Book Centre, Best Books for Teens 2009 list. She has read and facilitated writer's workshops in high schools across Canada where her highly interactive and lively workshops have helped to foster a love of both reading and writing to young adults everywhere. Julie also works as an online editor for suite101.com. When she is not writing or editing, you are most likely to find Julie out in English Bay in her kayak. To find out more about Julie, visit her personal blog at: www.burtinshaw.wordpress.com.

More Information on The Canadian Book Camp:

Who should come:

We all know kids who keep diaries, write and illustrate their own imaginative stories, create homemade novels and feverishly devour works by their favourite authors at school and at home. The Canadian Book Camp was created just for such young bibliophiles to encourage them to become life-long readers and writers.  At the Canadian Book Camp, young people spend a whole week writing, reading and in conversation with some of Canada’s best young adult authors and experts in almost every aspect of the writing field.  The goal of the Canadian Book Camp is to connect children and teens who have a passion for reading and writing with well-known authors and illustrators in a fun, creative workshop environment where they can develop their skills.  This camp is for enthusiastic readers and eager writers who love writing, who have questions to ask and who want their work recognized – people who feel the need to read and write.

How the Canadian Book Camp started:

When the Canadian Book Camp started 9 years ago, it was the first of its kind in Canada. It was founded in Vancouver in 2000 through a partnership with Vancouver Public Library, Simon Fraser University’s Master of Publishing Program, publishers, authors, illustrators and literacy advocates with the aim of connecting book-loving kids to Canadian writer mentors. Since 2001 the camp has been a project of the Vancouver Public Library.

Why is it the best camp for young readers:

Book Camp exposes young readers and writers to a variety of authors, books, writing tools and members of the publishing industry while giving them opportunities to express themselves through the written word. Relying on a core group of experts and authors, Book Camp offers interactive sessions designed to piquethe young people’s interests and works-in-progress. It also provides a wealth of resources to allow them to continue pursuing their individual projects outside Book Camp itself.  Programming exposes campers to a range of author opinions and genres while providing strategies that foster imaginative expression of their unique visions.  Book Camp is inclusive, non-competitive, inspired, fun and youth-centered while respecting the campers’ goals and work.

How the Canadian Book Camp works:

The Canadian Book Camp is held annually at the Central Library for five days in August and emphasizes book making from brainstorming to designand editing to illustration, so that participants experience a process akin to that of a professional publisher.  The 70 to 100 youth who attend the camp are divided into two age groups, 11-13 and 14 plus.  Each day’s activities run from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. with a different Canadian writer featured as the keynote speaker in the morning session for the whole camp. In previous years, keynote speakers and workshop leaders have included Caroline Adderson, Kit Pearson, Sarah Ellis, Richard Van Camp, Norma Charles, Andrea Spaulding, Nikki Tate and Pamela Porter. The remainder of the morning consists of workshops and activities including time to work on writing and reading with counsellors. After lunch, campers rotate among specialized interactive workshops. Last year, campers participated in workshops including Lee Edward Fodi’s "Thinking Inside the Box: Opening the Magic Vessel to Creativity" and Diane Haynes’ "Inspiration Studio: Tap Into Your Own Powerhouse of Inspiration!"

Connection to the Library:

The Book Camp promotes the importance of the Library as a resource for writers to the campers in a variety of ways. During the week,campers are taken on a library tour highlighting the writing and research resources available at the Central Library. They also receive training in online research and resources with a librarian.  Finally, they attend book talk sessions by the Children’s and Teen Librarians to hear about the best books for kids and teens.  

Anthology and Gala:

At the end of the week, each camper has created work for inclusion in an anthology that is published and distributed by the Library. On the last evening of Book Camp, the Library hosts a Gala to celebrate the young writers achievements and allow them to read from their works at an open mike event to an audience of parents and family, authors and other participants.  The evening provides well-earned recognition and praise, encouraging the young writers to continue exploring the written word.

The Canadian Book Camp acknowledges the generosity of the following sponsors: