Registration for MASC Young Authors & Illustrators Festival

Write Like a Superhero (Grades 4-6)

This masterclass is for comic book fans and graphic novel readers who want to write their own comics or graphic novels. Award-winning writer J. Torres (Batman, Stealing Home, Teen Titans Go) will take you behind-the-scenes and show you how comic books are made and teach you how plot, format, and write a comic book script. Through writing exercises as well as interactive and fun activities like Readers Theatre and Comics Quickfire, this class will help you get started on the road to writing your own Marvel-like masterpiece or the next great graphic novel.

Writing Dystopic Fiction (Grades 4-6)

In this two-part workshop, you’ll go through some examples of great dystopic fiction and then break it down into three working sections: plot/setting, characters, and story arcs. Each working sections starts with a 15 minute discussion about the phase of writing followed by guided writing time. In the afternoon, you’ll discuss how a story arc is built and move through the characters in the story.

PLUS, a bonus, mini “Funny Pages” workshop in the afternoon, in which you’ll learn more about writing comedy and get to try your hand at creating your very own comedic character!

Discover your writing voice (Grades 6-8)

You are a unique individual, with your own personal way of expressing yourself. Writers call that your writing “voice.” But it takes work to develop that voice and discover how to connect it with the stories you want to tell.

This two-part workshop is geared toward an exploration of words on a physical and personal level. In Part One, we’ll explore how written words come from sounds made by your body. We’ll connect our word choices to the sound of words with exercises that focus on waking up creative impulses and recognizing the power and specificity of language to develop your writer’s voice.

In Part Two, we’ll explore the role of personal memory as a writing tool. Memories are made of small moments that are unique and meaningful to you. Working with some of your own memory moments, we’ll explore ways that they can spark ideas to form a base for creating stories and springboard you into larger writing projects.

Engage Your Readers (Grades 6-8)

This masterclass is suited for creative fiction writers who want to learn how to create interesting and emotionally engaging stories. We will learn the main elements of storytelling--- developing rich characters, interesting plots, fascinating settings, and meaningful themes. Participants will be expected to write individually and work in small groups where they will learn to give and receive positive and constructive feedback. By the end of the day, participants should be aware of some effective writing habits and routines and will have a sense of how to develop a writing project.

Make your art come to life! (Grades 6-8)

Kevin Sylvester has written and illustrated more than thirty books for kids, and he’s used a variety of styles and materials. He’ll share some basic tips about how to make your work seem more active, alive and fun to draw.

He’ll also discuss… materials, digital vs. analog, shape, colour and character design.

Students are encouraged, but NOT required, to come to the class with some examples of their own work… but you are required to bring lots of questions. There are a thousand things we could discuss about art, techniques, materials and so on.

Cranky Comics! (Grades 4-6)

Katherine shares her experiences creating her popular comic book series, Cranky Chicken, in this interactive workshop. Find out where she gets her ideas and how they develop into characters that amble across the page. Through a range of fun illustration techniques and games, participants will learn all about drawing expressive characters, developing a character’s story, and how to capture all this and more on the page. You'll leave with characters and the first pages of your own comic book!