EVENT DETAILS
Word up!
Welcome to Markham Teen Arts Council’s WordUp! 2023 writing contest! Have a passion for writing? Do you have a story you’re itching to tell, or maybe you want to show off your writing skills and grab a reward along the way? Look no further!
Prizes
1st Place
$100.00
2nd Place
$60.00
Meet The Judges
CARLEY THORNE - Creative Writing
Carley Thorne is a comedian, writer, and content creator from Toronto, Ontario. Her Youtube channel uncarley focuses on literature and has amassed millions of views. She has helped develop projects for CBC, Channel 4, and Hulu, and was the star of CBC's Street Cents reboot in 2022.
- Performed with Second City Toronto
- Recipient of Central Florida Sketchfest's Best of the Fest Award
- Nominated for Broadway World's Best Independant Comedy Show in 2020
Meg Freer - Poetry
Meg Freer grew up in Montana, and now lives in Kingston, Ontario, where she teaches piano, writes, and freelances as a proofreader and copyeditor. She holds two music degrees and a Graduate Certificate in Creative Writing with Distinction from Humber School of Writers, and is a member of the Ontario Poetry Society and the League of Canadian Poets. She proofreads for Arc Poetry and is a first reader of poetry submissions to The Sunlight Press. Her publications include two poetry chapbooks, as well as award-winning prose, photos, and poems that have appeared in many literary journals in North America and abroad.
Missy Marston - Creative Writing
Missy Marston's first novel, The Love Monster, was the winner of the Ottawa Book Award, a finalist for the CBC Bookie Awards, and for the Scotiabank Giller Prize Readers' Choice. Her second novel, Bad Ideas, was a Together We Read Canada selection and the winner of Markham Reads! The book, which is about daredevils and romance in '70s smalltown Ontario has recently been translated and published in German by Goya Verlag. Missy has appeared at literary festivals and events across Canada and her writing has been featured in Geist Magazine, Arc Poetry Magazine, and the Short Story Advent Calendar. She lives in Ottawa with the artist, Peter Shmelzer, and the two small dogs with which they have replaced their grown children.
Lilian Allen - Poetry
Carley Thorne is a comedian, writer, and content creator from Toronto, Ontario. Her Youtube channel uncarley focuses on literature and has amassed millions of views. She has helped develop projects for CBC, Channel 4, and Hulu, and was the star of CBC's Street Cents reboot in 2022.
- Performed with Second City Toronto
- Recipient of Central Florida Sketchfest's Best of the Fest Award
- Nominated for Broadway World's Best Independant Comedy Show in 2020
Dwayne Morgan - Poetry
Dwayne Morgan began his career in the spoken word in 1993. Affectionally called the
Godfather of Canadian spoken word by his peers, Morgan is the author of 14 published
and 10 audio collections of his work. Morgan is a 2022 winner of the Toronto Arts
Foundation Celebration of Cultural Life award, 2016 finalist for the Premier’s Award for
Excellence in the Arts and a 2013 inductee into the Scarborough Walk of Fame. To date
Morgan has shared his work in 18 countries internationally.
Vanessa Shields - Poetry
Shields has made her home, her family and her work life flourish in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Her passion for writing was discovered at a very young age through the vein of writing in a journal. Her first book, Laughing Through A Second Pregnancy – A Memoir, was published by Black Moss Press in 2011 to rave reviews. In April 2013, Shields edited a poetry anthology entitled, Whisky Sour City (Black Moss Press). I Am That Woman (Black Moss Press), her first book of poetry, was published in January 2014, and had its third printing in 2015. Look At Her (Black Moss Press) launched in September 2016, and went into its second printing in December 2016.