Summer Sessions 2012!

Welcome to another exciting summer with Richmond Young Writers!

Session 1: June 18-22  

10 am- 1pm, FICTION with Bird Cox, ages 11-13

2 - 5 pm, CREATIVE WRITING SAMPLER with Valley Haggard, ages 8-10 FULL!

Session 2: June 25-29

10 am- 1 pm, ZOMBIES & ALIENS vs. WEREWOLVES & VAMPIRES with Julie Geen,
ages 11-13

2-5 pm, CREATIVE NONFICTION with Valley Haggard, ages 14-17

Session 3: July 9-13

10 am- 1 pm, SCREENWRITING with Bird Cox, ages 14-17

2-5 pm, POETRY & PROSE with Valley Haggard, ages 11-13

Session 4: July 16-20

10 am- 1 pm, FICTION with Bird Cox, ages 14-17

2-5 pm, CREATIVE WRITING SAMPLER with Valley Haggard, ages 11-13

Session 5: July 23-27

10 am-1 pm, CREATIVE WRITING SAMPLER with Bird Cox, ages 11-13

2-5 pm, MAGICAL CREATURES with Julie Geen, ages 8-10   FULL!


*Scroll down for additional information about each workshop and guest writer!*

THE WRITING WEEK:  Each week, young writers will explore the craft and fun of creative writing through a variety of imagination-stimulating prompts, journaling, brainstorming, people-watching and more. On Wednesdays, a professional writer will guest teach a special 2.5-hour workshop.

PUBLICATION & READING! Each session will culminate in both a blog with samples of each student's writing and a reading of works-in-progress at the Byrd Theatre on Friday afternoons from 4:30-5pm. All students who have participated in that week's workshop are invited and encouraged to participate. Friends and family are encouraged to attend!

PLEASE BRING: Please bring a water bottle and a journal. Pens, pencils, spare journals and paper and a light snack will be provided during each session of camp. If your child gets extra hungry, please pack an extra snack!

LOCATION:  Camp will be held in the upstairs art gallery of Chop Suey Books, located at 2913 West Cary Street in Carytown, directly across the street from the Byrd Theatre. Get directions to Chop Suey!

REGISTRATION PART ONE:  Please fill out the online student registration form on the top right of the screen.

REGISTRATION PART TWO--PAYMENT: Each session of camp is $150. Payments may be made online through Paypal or by sending a check to Richmond Young Writers/ 1202 Hillside Avenue/ Richmond, VA 23229. All checks should be made out to Richmond Young Writers. Cancellation requests must be submitted two weeks prior to the class start date in order to receive a full refund. Cancellation requests received less than two weeks before the class start date will receive a credit towards a future class.

SCHOLARSHIPS: Full and partial scholarships are available on a first-come/first-served basis! Students who wish to be considered for scholarships should send a paragraph in their own words about why they like to write to richmondyoungwriters@gmail.com.

QUESTIONS? COMMENTS? Please email richmondyoungwriters@gmail.com, Valley Haggard at valleyhaggard@gmail.com or call Valley Haggard at 804-822-1680. 

Session 1: June 18-22

Session 1-A
10 am- 1 pm
Fiction with Bird Cox
Ages 11-13

Mind power. Visions. Creatures. Humanity. Fiction is not just writing down a string of words that convey a basic message; it's exploring the corners of your brain, having imaginary conversations, creating a world and every last detail in it. This session’s challenge will be plumbing the depths of our imaginations to create a long-form, chapter-based writing project-but don’t worry, we’ll stop to refuel with lots of fun short-form exercises along the way.

Guest Writer: Jaime Turko

Once Jaime Turko realized that her creative voice resonated most intensely through the vehicle of the written word, she traveled back through time to revisit past experiences and estranged characters to find the hidden magic that was locked away in ordinary nostalgia. Utilizing memories as the anchor for her fiction, she tells tales of bizarre coincidences and fateful circumstances by weaving together sharp-witted humor and undeniable sadness.  She recently completed her first novel and is currently working on a collection of short stories.  A VCU alumna, Jaime could joyously reflect for hours on her numerous careers and personal reinventions.

TO REGISTER, PLEASE FILL OUT THE STUDENT INFORMATION FORM 

ON THE TOP RIGHT OF THE SCREEN BEFORE VISITING PAYPAL!

Session 1-B-- FULL!
2 pm- 5 pm
Creative Writing Sampler with Valley Haggard
Ages 8-10


Writing is a project that requires deep creativity, and that's what we'll be accessing in this class through mindbending prose/poetry exercises, discussions, games and fiery short-form storytelling. We'll write together and alone, silently and out loud, at desks and in secret nooks and crannies. Want to channel the wild, brilliant writer within? The creative writing sampler is for you!

Guest Writer: Gigi Amateau

Gigi Amateau is the author of two young adult novels and the middle grade novel, Chancey of the Maury River. Her new book, Come August, Come Freedom, will be released from Candlewick Press in September 2012.  www.gigiamateau.com

TO REGISTER, PLEASE FILL OUT THE STUDENT INFORMATION FORM 

ON THE TOP RIGHT OF THE SCREEN BEFORE VISITING PAYPAL!

Session 2: June 25-29

Session 2-A
10 am- 1 pm
Zombies and Aliens vs. Werewolves and Vampires with Julie Geen
Ages 11-13

Or maybe you want to write about aliens, Dark Lords or the creatures from your nightmares! Whatever your choice, you will create your own tales from the dark side and write your way to safety. Lift off the lid of your subconscious and see what comes out of the corners of your mind.

Guest Writer: Phil Ford

Phil Ford is the co-editor and a contributing writer of Richmond Macabre : Nightmares from the River City. A writer, columnist, and musician, his work has appeared in ThroTTle Magazine, Richmond Magazine, and Carbon 14 Magazine. He also DJs the Friday Breakfast Blend 6-8am on WRIR 97.3, Richmond Independent Radio. 

TO REGISTER, PLEASE FILL OUT THE STUDENT INFORMATION FORM 

ON THE TOP RIGHT OF THE SCREEN BEFORE VISITING PAYPAL!

Session 2-B
2 pm- 5 pm
Creative Nonfiction with Valley Haggard
Ages 14-17

Memoirs, rants, essays, and diary entries tend to revolve around life in the first person. Join me for a series of creative nonfiction prompts and exercises designed to get you - or keep you - on the write path. We'll discuss the idea that "truth is stranger than fiction" as well as the craft and art of the first person narrative. We'll explore how to access the right side of the brain, blast through writer's block and get all of our words, thoughts and ideas on the page. Possible side effects may include: inspiration, mixed metaphors and the urge to write with stronger and more intense frequency.

Guest Writer: Anne Soffee

Anne Thomas Soffee earned her MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1995. She has published two books of memoir, Snake Hips: Belly Dancing and How I Found True Love (Chicago Review Press: 2002) and Nerd Girl Rocks Paradise City (Chicago Review Press: 2005). She currently writes a column and blog for Richmond Magazine and has a short story in Akashic Books’ forthcoming Richmond Noir anthology. The New York Times calls her “funny, trashy and smart,” which pretty much says all there is to say. http://www.annesoffee.com/

TO REGISTER, PLEASE FILL OUT THE STUDENT INFORMATION FORM 

ON THE TOP RIGHT OF THE SCREEN BEFORE VISITING PAYPAL!

Session 3: July 9-13

Session 3-A
10 am- 1 pm
Screenwriting with Bird Cox
Ages 14-17

Got a good story that you can imagine coming to life on the screen? Learn the basics of screenwriting--format, act structure, dialogue and more--and get started on a screenplay that you can submit to competitions, act out with friends or film yourself! Participants will familiarize themselves with the most malleable of professional writing genres while developing a screenplay or teleplay concept.

Guest Writer: Joey Tran


Multi-award winning independent filmmaker, Joey Tran, champions story structure simplicity above all else. Self-taught, and, subsequently, self-disciplined over a decade of learning by failure–including live, on-stage improv comedy–he is a self-declared authority on what not to do.

TO REGISTER, PLEASE FILL OUT THE STUDENT INFORMATION FORM 

ON THE TOP RIGHT OF THE SCREEN BEFORE VISITING PAYPAL!

Session 3-B
2 pm- 5 pm
Poetry & Prose with Valley Haggard
Ages 11-13

In this cross-genre workshop we’ll experience the joy of writing both poetic prose and narrative poems. We’ll try our hand at everything from flash fiction to haiku; creative journal entries to ballads; freestyle poems to six word memoirs.  We’ll explore what makes writing fun and unique to each of us, whether our final products are long, short or somewhere betwixt and between.

Guest Writer: Darren Morris

Darren Morris is a writer who thinks that poetry is one of the most important non-things one can do in life. He also currently babysits a non-desk at Style Weekly as the books editor. His poems have appeared in  Best New Poets 2006 and 2008, the American Poetry Review, Tongue: A Journal of Writing and Art, The Southern Review and Blackbird

TO REGISTER, PLEASE FILL OUT THE STUDENT INFORMATION FORM 
ON THE TOP RIGHT OF THE SCREEN BEFORE VISITING PAYPAL!

Session 4: July 16-20

Session 4-A


10 am- 1 pm
Fiction with Bird Cox
Ages 14-17

Mind power. Visions. Creatures. Humanity. Fiction is not just writing down a string of words that convey a basic message; it's exploring the corners of your brain, having imaginary conversations, creating a world and every last detail in it. This session’s challenge will be plumbing the depths of our imaginations to create a long-form, chapter-based writing project-but don’t worry, we’ll stop to refuel with lots of fun short-form exercises along the way.

Guest Writer:  Kristen-Paige Madonia

Kristen-Paige Madonia is the author of Fingerprints of You, a young adult novel that will be published in August by Simon & Schuster. Her short fiction has appeared in various publications including Upstreet, New Orleans Review, American Fiction: Best Previously Unpublished Short Stories by Emerging Writers, and Sycamore Review, and she has received awards or fellowships from the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, the Vermont Studio Center, the Juniper Summer Writing Institute, Virginia Center for Creative Arts, Hedgebrook Writers’ Retreat, Millay Colony for the Arts, the Key West Literary Seminar, and the Studios of Key West. She was a finalist for the 2011 Virginia Commission for the Arts Fellowship in Fiction, and in 2010 she was awarded the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival Prize. She currently lives in Charlottesville, Virginia where she teaches creative writing and is at work on her second novel. For more information, visit http://kristenpaigemadonia.com/ .

TO REGISTER, PLEASE FILL OUT THE STUDENT INFORMATION FORM 

ON THE TOP RIGHT OF THE SCREEN BEFORE VISITING PAYPAL!

Session 4-B
2 pm- 5 pm
Creative Writing Sampler with Valley Haggard
Ages 11-13

Writing is a project that requires deep creativity, and that's what we'll be accessing in this class through mindbending prose/poetry exercises, discussions, games and fiery short-form storytelling. We'll write together and alone, silently and out loud, at desks and in secret nooks and crannies. Want to channel the wild, brilliant writer within? The creative writing sampler is for you!

Guest Writer: Kristen-Paige Madonia

TO REGISTER, PLEASE FILL OUT THE STUDENT INFORMATION FORM 

ON THE TOP RIGHT OF THE SCREEN BEFORE VISITING PAYPAL!

Session 5: July 23-27

Session 5-A
10 am- 1 pm
Creative Writing Sampler with Bird Cox
Ages 11-13

Writing is a project that requires deep creativity, and that's what we'll be accessing in this class through mindbending prose/poetry exercises, discussions, games and fiery short-form storytelling. We'll write together and alone, silently and out loud, at desks and in secret nooks and crannies. Want to channel the wild, brilliant writer within? The creative writing sampler is for you!

Guest Writer: Noah Scalin

 

Noah Scalin is an artist/designer who decided to make a skull every day for a year. He succeeded – and his project won a Webby Award, got him invited to be on the Martha Stewart Show, and become the subject of his first book, oddly enough named Skulls. He’s since written two other books inspired by his experiences: 365: A Daily Creativity Journal and Unstuck: 52 Ways to Get (and Keep) Your Creativity Flowing at Home, at Work & in Your Studio. And he still loves skulls!  http://noahscalin.com/

TO REGISTER, PLEASE FILL OUT THE STUDENT INFORMATION FORM 

ON THE TOP RIGHT OF THE SCREEN BEFORE VISITING PAYPAL!

Session 5-B FULL!
2 pm- 5 pm
Magical Creatures with Julie Geen
Ages 8-10

Dragons, Unicorns, Faeries, Wizards and Wonder! Create your own world with your own fantastical creatures. We will go a little wild making our own worlds out of words and populating them with creatures from our imaginations. 

Guest Writer: Meg Medina

Meg Medina is a Milk-Dud addicted Latina who writes libros for kids of all ages. She's the author of Milagros: Girl from Away (Henry Holt Books 2008); Tía Isa Wants a Car (Candlewick Press 2011) and The Girl Who Could Silence the Wind (Candlewick, 2012).  http://megmedina.com/

TO REGISTER, PLEASE FILL OUT THE STUDENT INFORMATION FORM 

ON THE TOP RIGHT OF THE SCREEN BEFORE VISITING PAYPAL!