First Up

Emily Urquhart

Emily Urquhart sits in a stairwell, facing forward,with her hands resting on her knees.

Photography by Andrew Trant

Emily Urquhart, Artsci카지노 게임 컬렉션™99, landed her first job at a summer camp. An introvert by nature, at camp she was able to hone the observation skills needed for compelling writing as well as develop confidence to speak in public, something that comes in handy on book tours. This summer, she went back to camp to lead a braille creative writing workshop at CNIB Lake Joe, a summer camp for visually impaired children. Her most recent book, Ordinary Wonder Tales, made the shortlist for the . When she카지노 게임 컬렉션™s not at camp or writing, she teaches creative writing and science communication at the 카지노게임사이트 of Waterloo.


I started working at Camp Waabanaki, a YMCA camp near Huntsville, Ont., when I was 15. I did every job they had there. I was still working at camp when I was studying at Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션™s, and it wasn카지노 게임 컬렉션™t until the summer between second and third year that I stopped. I카지노 게임 컬렉션™ve never considered my camp experience as having any influence on my writing, but of course it has, and it actually makes its way into some of the stories that I카지노 게임 컬렉션™ve written. It all became fodder for future writing: The observation of other people, interpersonal conversations, even all the stuff that you have to deal with on a 24-hour basis because you카지노 게임 컬렉션™re living with people.

I카지노 게임 컬렉션™m quite an introvert, so I look back on that time 카지노 게임 컬렉션“ and it was really my favourite, most special time of my life 카지노 게임 컬렉션“ but I do wonder how I got through it. I distanced myself sometimes and was more of an observer because that카지노 게임 컬렉션™s a more comfortable role for me to be in anyway. Certainly, summer camp was where I first became confident speaking in front of a crowd, which I have to do as a writer and a teacher and is not something that I relish.

As a teenager, it gives you this huge responsibility and I think, when it came to university, it카지노 게임 컬렉션™s partly why I had no problem moving out on my own and spending time away from my parents. I also was never homesick, and I think that was largely in part from having lived all those summers at camp. And it카지노 게임 컬렉션™s funny, I don카지노 게임 컬렉션™t remember reading to the kids, but I read the whole time I was at camp: I have never in my life 카지노 게임 컬렉션“ no matter what카지노 게임 컬렉션™s happening 카지노 게임 컬렉션“ ever, ever, ever been without a book. I just can카지노 게임 컬렉션™t imagine it when people say, 카지노 게임 컬렉션œOh, I haven카지노 게임 컬렉션™t been reading lately,카지노 게임 컬렉션 because I just think it카지노 게임 컬렉션™s like they카지노 게임 컬렉션™re saying they haven카지노 게임 컬렉션™t been breathing.

And now it카지노 게임 컬렉션™s gone full circle, because I was asked to run a braille creative writing workshop in August at for kids between the ages of six and 18. I drew a lot on my experiences as a camp counsellor from when I was a teenager, and even more so than my work right now teaching creative writing. My daughter is visually impaired, but my son isn카지노 게임 컬렉션™t, and what카지노 게임 컬렉션™s lovely about CNIB Lake Joe is that, for its children카지노 게임 컬렉션™s programming, they include the siblings of the visually impaired kids. You카지노 게임 컬렉션™re growing these advocates and allies and it really gives the fully sighted kids a much better understanding of their siblings카지노 게임 컬렉션™ lives and their siblings카지노 게임 컬렉션™ social lives, too. 

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