Young Authors’ Conference Inspires the Next Generation of Storytellers

Related Photos

• 
  Emelia Willson & Ashlee Crawford
• 
• 

Story provided by Chelsea Isenor, Director of Communications and Board Administration

As part of the 2022–2027 District Strategic Plan, the Kamloops-Thompson School District remains committed to fostering foundational literacy and nurturing a passion for multiliteracies, including reading, writing, and artistic expression. One of the flagship events that supports this goal is the annual Young Authors’ Conference.

Now in its 46th year, the Young Authors’ Conference is a beloved tradition that connects passionate young writers with published authors, offering them learning experiences, mentorship, and inspiration.

The 2025 Young Authors’ Conference launched on Friday, February 14 with the virtual event, ‘For the Love of Writing’. This online kickoff brought together elementary and secondary students across the District for interactive Zoom workshops on comedic writing, character building, horror writing, crafting the unexpected, and more. These engaging sessions helped students tap into their creative voices in a fun and accessible format and ultimately prepared them to create their stories to submit to this year’s conference. 

On Friday, May 2, 2025, the excitement continued in person as 350 students from Grades 4–12 gathered at Thompson Rivers University for the main conference day filled with interactive and engaging workshops. This year’s lineup of workshop leaders featured acclaimed authors and facilitators such as Lee Edward Fodi, Kel-c Jules, James McCann, Tamara Vukusic, Andrew Buckley, Marty Chan, Tanya Lloyd Kyi, Emily Seo, Sean Campbell, Finnian Burnett, kc dyer, and Miranda Krogstad. Workshop topics ranged from building strong characters and plot twists, to integrating music and memory in writing, crafting compelling murder mysteries, and exploring storytelling through acting.

The impact on student learning was evident throughout the day. Participants left energized and equipped with new techniques and creative tools. Here’s what some of them had to say:

• Erin (Grade 10, Sa-Hali Secondary): “I like that I interacted personally with professional writers. I also like how positive Finnian was. They were very complimentary and supportive when we were sharing our writing.”
• Grady (Grade 5, AE Perry Elementary): “The authors are exciting. They write fun stories and make it even funner in workshops.”
• Magoli (Grade 7, Marion Schilling Elementary): “Marty helped us make our stories more interesting and better. He taught us HACK, which means to think about a character's hope, ambition, conflict, and key to unlocking their problem.”
• Angel (Grade 7, Marion Schilling Elementary): “I enjoyed two truths and a lie with Marty Chan. It was about how to make something fictional believable.”
• Eva (Grade 5, RLC Elementary): “I like how the conference is open to people and it's about learning new things. It's a massive opportunity to learn new writing techniques.”
• Maebh (Grade 4, RLC Elementary): “I learned you can listen to music and you can think of a memory and turn it into a book.”

In addition to the workshops, the Marg Van Dusen Awards celebrated outstanding student writing. This year saw an increase in Honourable Mentions, highlighting the growing quality of submissions across grade levels.

This year’s recipient of the Marg Van Dusen Elementary Award was Emelia Willson (Grade 7, Juniper Ridge Elementary) for her work, Until the End. When asked about her Young Authors experience, Emelia shared, “It was really fun getting to experience all the different ways of writing. I learned that the more emotions that you give your characters, the more people will connect with them. Winning this award was one of the best moments of my life.”

Students who earned Honourable Mentions in the Elementary division included:

• Sofia Martin (Grade 4, Ralph Bell Elementary): “The Fire” and “The Lockdown”
• Alora Roszmann (Grade 4, Rayleigh Elementary): The Apple Tree (The Beginning Excerpt)
• Rebecca Abate (Grade 5, Aberdeen Elementary): Declined
• Joel Key (Grade 5, St. Ann’s Academy): The Ancient Beast of Tokyo
• Ariya Dhaliwal (Grade 6, AE Perry Elementary): Rani’s New Beginning
• Brooklyn Waight (Grade 6, South Sa-Hali Elementary): The Tales of Kiki and Nakobi
• Elliette Brookes (Grade 7, South Sa-Hali Elementary): The Secret Six

This year’s recipient of the Marg Van Dusen Secondary Award was Ashlee Crawford (Grade 12, Westsyde Secondary) for her work, Alike. Ashlee, who has been attending the Young Authors Conference since Grade 4 and also won the Marg Van Dusen Award last year, shared, “This is a really big part of the year for me because I love to write. I'm actually going to be publishing my first book this year which is really exciting. I love coming to Young Authors to meet new, like-minded people and to meet experienced authors and learn more about how to write, compare my writing to others, and get good feedback. It is a great experience and you get to meet lots of new people and learn lots of new things.”

Students who earned Honourable Mentions in the Secondary division included:

• Chichi McDonald (Grade 8, South Kamloops Secondary): Fleeting Shadows
• Irene Ogbuehi (Grade 8, Brocklehurst Secondary): The Dandelion
• Jaylan Mueck (Grade 9, Brocklehurst Secondary): The Shadow Beast
• Kaitlyn Turner (Grade 9, Kamloops Christian School): A Beautiful Day
• Asher Earle (Grade 10, Westsyde Secondary): And We’re Live
• Chace McLellan (Grade 10, Sa-Hali Secondary): Lost in the Flood
• Ava Rieger (Grade 11, South Kamloops Secondary): Serpentis Invitus
• Emma Rugolo (Grade 11, St. Ann’s Academy): Crimson Tears
• Jocelyn Hagan (Grade 12, Valleyview Secondary): Child of the Lamb
• Heather Hebert (Grade 12, Kamloops Christian School): Above

As these students return to their schools, they carry not only new writing tools and ideas, but also the confidence that their words matter—and that their stories deserve to be told.