Nature / Writing

Sunday March 27, 2011 Just this morning I learned that today is World Theatre Day. To celebrate, I'm publicly announcing my ridiculous plan to write three plays in one month. April is when Script Frenzy takes place, inviting writers at any level to try to write 100 script pages in a single month. There's no fee to participate and no judging of your results - all it takes to "win" Script Frenzy is to be one of the many people to reach the goal. I've twice "won" NaNoWriMo , the partner challenge involving writing a novel during November, and really enjoyed the rush to finish. I first wanted to try the same thing with a screenplay years ago* and even registered at the Script Frenzy website, but the timing has never been right, with other projects mid-way through as March was ending. The (Almost) Perfect Time to Frenzy This March, I'm wrapping up months of research for a new play. Originally I planned to have written a first draft long before...

Saturday March 26, 2011 [UPDATE: It may be useful to browse these old listings as many programs are annual, but for more current contests and competitions, head to the Youth Opportunities page .] Every Saturday I post about current youth opportunities that are open to submissions from Ontario residents, which naturally includes a lot of contests and competitions open to youth across Canada and the US. Please note I'm not attesting to the legitimacy or quality of anything listed here - read the fine print carefully and make your own judgement call, especially if a submission fee or creative rights are involved! This week I saw an amazing video (via @alanfriesen ) about eight students who created their own "school within a school", pursuing independent projects while studying traditional high school subjects in a more personal way. It's fifteen minutes long, but The Independent Project is well worth it. (I love that it all started because student Sam Levin was co...

Saturday March 19, 2011 [UPDATE: It may be useful to browse these old listings as many programs are annual, but for more current contests and competitions, head to the Youth Opportunities page .] **Every Saturday I post about current youth opportunities that are open to submissions from Ontario residents, which naturally includes a lot of contests and competitions open to youth across Canada and the US. Please note I'm not attesting to the legitimacy or quality of anything listed here - read the fine print carefully and make your own judgement call, especially if a submission fee or creative rights are involved!** One thing I haven't been able to mention as an opportunity open to Canadian teens is the  Poetry in Voice Poetry Recitation Contest for Canadian High Schools , since in its first year it was only open to 12 Ontario schools as part of a pilot program.  But the plan is to open the program to all schools in Ontario and Quebec in 2012, then across the co...

Saturday March 12, 2011 [UPDATE: It may be useful to browse these old listings as many programs are annual, but for more current contests and competitions, head to the Youth Opportunities page .] **Every Saturday I post about current youth opportunities that are open to submissions from Ontario residents, which naturally includes a lot of contests and competitions open to youth across Canada and the US. Please note I'm not attesting to the legitimacy or quality of anything listed here - read the fine print carefully and make your own judgement call, especially if a submission fee or creative rights are involved!** Among this week's youth opportunities is a call for young spoken word artists to take part in the Raising Voices Festival this summer, which reminded me just how much I love Shane Koyczan. You probably heard him perform at the opening of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, but here's a YouTube video of one of my favourites. This week's opportunit...

Sunday March 6, 2011 [UPDATE: It may be useful to browse these old listings as many programs are annual, but for more current contests and competitions, head to the Youth Opportunities page .] **Every Saturday , urm... Every weekend I post about current youth opportunities that are open to submissions from Ontario residents, which naturally includes a lot of contests and competitions open to youth across Canada and the US. Please note I'm not attesting to the legitimacy or quality of anything listed here - read the fine print carefully and make your own judgement call, especially if a submission fee or creative rights are involved!** Apologies for the minor delay (I'm starting to think I should call this a weekend round-up rather than a Saturday round-up). I only have two new opportunities for youth this week, but they're both pretty good ones, ready to reward great ideas. Have at 'em! Great Questions of Canada Essay Competition • Open to Canadian high sch...