Novelist and playwright Gail Nyoka usually writes for young people. She has lived in various places in Ontario including Toronto, Hamilton, Lakefield and Ottawa, where she received a BA in Communications from the University of Ottawa. Gail grew up in England and Wales and was born in Trinidad.
PUBLICATIONS:
Mella and the N’anga: An African Tale. Editor, Rhea Tregabov; Toronto ON. Sumach Press, 2005
Mella Mella. In the anthology Prepare to Embark: Six Theatrical Voyages for Young Audiences, Editors Shirley Barrie and Emil Sher. Playwrights Canada Press, 2002
AWARDS:
Chalmers Canadian Play Award: Theatre for Young Audiences, 2006
Honourable Mention, (Juvenile, Young Adult Fiction) IBBY Book Awards, 2006
Shortlisted for the Carl Brandon Society Parallax Award, 2006
For Grades 4-7. Readings from my novel and play. Discussion on the difference between writing a play and writing a novel. Discussion of how I came to write the story and a tie-in with a short, basic history of the African continent.
Q & A period.
Workshop Description:
1)THE POWER OF STORY
For Grades 8-12. This workshop encourages students to rethink the stories in their lives and their family history, to think new thoughts, and to write about them powerfully.
During the workshop, students are given examples from existing books that illustrate how different authors have deconstructed and reconstructed their lives through words. Following the examples, the students write short scenes of their own. The students are asked to use various words in new and unusual ways.
Finally, students use the previous exercises to put together a story taken from an event either in their own life, or from their family history.
2)CREATE A PLAY. Over three, 1-hour sessions, students create a script for, and perform a play.
