Royal West Academy students capture Diverse Minds contest

Two students at Royal West Academy in Montreal West were big winners in B’nai Brith Canada’s 2020 Diverse Minds Creative Writing Competition in Montreal.

The English first-place co-winners were Grade 10 Royal West students Liem Yip and Gabriel Morin.  They co-authored The Eggnapper, a book about the need to be kind and understanding to people and refrain from making assumptions about others. The winning books, selected by a panel of celebrity judges, have been professionally published and are slated to be distributed free of charge to elementary schools and public libraries in Montreal.

"Every student who participated in this contest is a winner in my book,” said Adriana Glikman, National Program Coordinator of B’nai Brith Canada. “We were thrilled to see so much talent in the Greater Montreal Area and we are excited about what the future holds in store for this very important writing competition.”

The students received cheques of $500 each as did the school and teacher Gloria Koyounian. Last month there was a virtual presentation of the winners. You can see it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QlHxaiNQ2A&feature=youtu.be.

Diverse Minds is designed to encourage the values of diversity and inclusion in Canada through the mediums of storytelling and illustration. This first competition in Montreal was held in both of Canada’s official languages. High school students were invited to write and illustrate books geared toward elementary school students, entered as submissions for a chance to win cash prizes for themselves and for their schools and teachers. Each entry promoted these important values in a unique and creative way.   

About The Student Authors

NDG resident Liem Yip has always loved both drawing and writing short stories. He was excited to enter Diverse Minds despite his busy high school career. He has been writing various short stories since fourth grade and entered one in the Ya Writer’s Contest in which he managed to place in the top five. Liem also loves to draw and always doodles on any available paper.  

Gabriel Morin moved to Beaconsfield at the age of five and began his formal education. Throughout his childhood he loved drama and trying new sports, such as swimming, rugby and hiking. At age 11 he was accepted into Royal West Academy. Travelling with his family across all continents twice a year, he was fortunate to hike on adventure trips such as Iceland and Tanzania. During his first year of high school Gabriel  made many new friends and reinvigorated his fondness for rugby. Creative writing  is one of the many ways Gabriel exposes his extraordinary imagination.