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HOWL is a creative writing contest for Regina high school students initiated in 2006 by Colleen Murphy, the first Playwright in Residence at the University of Regina. Aside from working on her own projects and being available to theatre and film students for consultations, part of her mandate as Playwright in Residence was to reach out to the community. She felt that nothing was more important than encouraging young people to express themselves through language, and to encourage them to think seriously about pursuing creative writing. 

In 2011, HOWL was revived by the University of Regina, First Nations University, and Luther and Campion Colleges, with playwright and dramaturg Yvette Nolan spearheading the project.

Like Colleen, Yvette believes there is nothing more important than empowering young people to write.  Currently the Writer In Residence at the Saskatoon Public Library, she sees a steady stream of writers, established and emerging, who find the very act of writing so rewarding that they carve time out of dayjobs and childrearing to write, to share their writing, to meet and talk about writing. 

Yvette believes profoundly in the power of theatre to change the world, and so this iteration of HOWL is going to focus on writing for the voice, writing for the stage. 

In addition to playwriting, screenwriting or writing for radio, HOWL will still accept submissions of poetry, short fiction, and non-fiction, if the submitter is interested in transforming the work into a play.

Once again, the prizes include a two-hour session with the project leader on the student’s work, the opportunity to work with actors on the development of the work, books, and a showcase opportunity at the Saskatchewan Playwrights Centre Spring Festival in May (details tbc).