As everyone knows, the Triangle is a hotbed for literary energy and successful writers. What is less well known is that children coming of age in our area have the chance to try their hand at the art and craft of writing itself.
Every summer for 24 years, 60 young people in Grades 4 through 8 gather at N.C. State University for the Young Writers’ Workshop (YWW). The non-residential camp offers daily afternoon sessions for two weeks. During these sessions, children explore their interests in poetry, fiction, science fiction/fantasy, playwriting and creative non-fiction under the guidance of published North Carolina writers.
Many of the kids are non-native English speakers who come from such countries as China, Japan, Pakistan and South Korea. They are passionate about their observations, character sketches, memoirs and descriptions. Each student publishes two creative pieces in the anthology compiled by the camp’s end.
When these young folk show up on campus for YWW during the middle two weeks of June each year, something magical happens inside the classrooms. The enchantment is this: The children are focused, imaginative and collaborative, engaged in the processes of an art form which is enriching to themselves and others. The YWW for rising fourth through eighth graders runs weekday afternoons, 1:30-4 p.m., June 11-22.
For older writers, N.C. State will also offer a high school level expansion of its creative writing camp, the Teen Writers’ Workshop, which will run as a pilot program June 24-29, from 1:30-4 p.m.
For applications and more information, visit www.chass.ncsu.edu/youngwriters or contact Program Director Daun Daemon at ddaemon@unity.ncsu.edu.
