Gail Sidonie Sobat facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Gail Sidonie Sobat
Sobat in 2012
Born	Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Genre	Young adult fiction

Gail Sidonie Sobat (born January 3) is a Canadian writer, teacher, singer, and performer. She is best known for starting and running YouthWrite, a special writing camp for young people. This camp is a non-profit group that helps kids learn to write. Gail Sobat writes poetry and stories for both young adults and grown-ups. Her work often explores interesting and sometimes challenging topics. In 2015, she was a writer-in-residence for the Metro Edmonton Federation of Libraries. She also started the Spoken Word Youth Choir in Edmonton.

Gail Sidonie Sobat's Early Life

Gail Sobat was born in Calgary, Alberta. Her parents were from Ukrainian-Canadian and Serb-Canadian families. Her Ukrainian grandfather was a miner who faced difficulties because of his beliefs. Her parents also held similar views throughout their lives.

Gail spent her early years in Drumheller and Shouldice. She also lived near the Blackfoot Indian Reservation, which is now called Siksika Nation, close to Gleichen. She went to kindergarten at the Old Sun Residential School. Later, she attended school in St. Paul, near the Saddle Lake Cree Nation. Her father worked with Indian Affairs. Gail Sobat studied at the University of Alberta. She earned degrees in Education and Arts, and a master's degree in English. For her master's, she focused on Children's Literature, especially fantasy stories.

What Gail Sobat Writes About

Gail Sobat's first story, "Today She Was in Curlers," was published in Edges Literary Magazine in 1986. She has written many books, especially for young adults.

Some of her popular young adult novels include:

• Jamie's Got a Gun (a graphic novel with pictures by Spyder Yardley-Jones)
• Not With A Bang
• Ingamald
• A Winter's Tale
• A Glass Darkly
• Gravity Journal
• Chance to Dance for You

She also wrote a picture book called In the Graveyard, which was also illustrated by Spyder Yardley-Jones. Gail Sobat has published two poetry books, "How the Light is Spent" and Aortic Caprice. For adult readers, she wrote the novel The Book of Mary.

Gail Sobat's Career and Teaching

Gail Sobat has taught students in middle schools, high schools, and universities. She helped create the Legacy Project, a high school program. This program aimed to help Indigenous and non-Indigenous students understand each other better. For their work on this project, Gail and her co-creators were finalists for a special teaching award.

YouthWrite Camp for Young Writers

In 1996, Gail Sobat started YouthWrite. This is a special camp for young writers that covers many different creative areas. At YouthWrite, kids can take classes in traditional poetry and fiction. But they can also explore other fun ways to use words, like:

• Drumming and words
• Movement and words
• Playwriting
• Journalism
• Illustration
• Writing for radio
• Screenwriting
• Songwriting

The YouthWrite camp happens every January and July. Gail Sobat leads the camp with a team of supervisors and many professional writers and artists. In 2015, she also started JustWrite, a similar writing camp for adults.

Teaching and Public Speaking

Gail Sobat has been a professor at the University of Alberta. She was also the Writer-in-Residence at the University of Alberta Bookstore in 2007. This means she was a writer who worked at the university for a time. She has also been a Writer-in-Residence at Queen's University. Gail has taught in other countries too, like in Istanbul, Turkey. Today, she teaches creative writing and communication at MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta.

Spoken Word Youth Choir

Gail Sobat also started the Spoken Word Youth Choir. This group first performed in September 2007. They were part of The Roar Spoken Word Festival in Edmonton. Later that year, the choir performed at the Edmonton Creative Cities Conference. They also performed at the Edmonton Cultural Capital Gala. The choir has performed at many events and venues. This includes the CANWRITE – Canadian Authors Association National Conference in 2008. In 2010, they performed at the Calgary International Spoken Word Festival. Gail Sobat has performed by herself and with the Spoken Word Youth Choir in many places. These include cities across Canada and in other countries like Qatar, the United States, Switzerland, Finland, and Vietnam.

Awards and Recognition

Gail Sidonie Sobat has received many awards for her writing and her work with young people. Some of her awards include:

• Global TV Woman of Vision (2016–2017)
• Whistler Independent Book Awards Finalist for "How the Light is Spent" (2016)
• CAA Fred Kerner Award Finalist for Jamie's Got a Gun (2016)
• Moonbeam Award (Silver) for Jamie’s Got a Gun (2014)
• Top Ten Best Graphic Novels of 2014 by Foreword Reviews for Jamie’s Got a Gun (2014)
• R. Ross Annett Award for Children's Literature, nomination for Not With a Bang (2014)
• Orillia Public Library's Battle of the Books nomination for Gravity Journal (2014)
• Edmonton Public Library's 2013 Alberta Readers' Choice long list nomination for Not With a Bang
• Ontario Library Association's White Pine 2012 Honour Book for Chance to Dance for You
• Moonbeam Award for Chance to Dance for You (2011)
• Stellar Award nomination for Gravity Journal (2011)
• Moonbeam Gold Award (IPPY) for Gravity Journal (2009)
• Canadian Children's Book Centre Best Book for Gravity Journal (2009)
• Ontario Library Association's White Pine Honour Book for Gravity Journal (2009)
• Canadian Authors Association Exporting Alberta Award nomination (2009)
• R. Ross Annett Award for Children's Literature, nomination for A Glass Darkly (2008)
• Canadian Children's Book Centre Choice Award for A Glass Darkly (2007)
• Gold IPPY (Independent Publisher Book Awards) for The Book of Mary (2007)
• Ontario Library Association's White Pine Award, nomination for A Winter’s Tale (2005)
• Canadian Children's Book Centre Choice Award for A Winter’s Tale (2005)
• Canadian Children's Book Centre Choice Award for Ingamald (2004)
• Jon Whyte Essay Competition, Honourable Mention, Writers' Guild of Alberta (2003)
• Arts Award for Career Development, Alberta Heritage Scholarship (2002)
• English Language Arts Council Award (2000)
• Governor General's Award for Excellence in Teaching (Finalist, Co-recipient) (1996)
• The Writer's Block Short Story Competition, First Prize (1994)
• Kalamalka New Writers Competition, poetry manuscript finalist (1994)
• Hope Writers' Guild Poetry Contest, First Prize (1993)
• Canadian Authors Association Short Story Competition, Honorable Mention (1993)