Brush Up on Your Writing at YWC

Micah Wyatt in Laramie informs me that the dates have been set for the 2007 Young Writers Camp at the scenic Thorne-Rider Youth Camp near Story.

Writers (ages 15-18) will gather June 16-23 at the camp. Instructors/mentors/chaperones will be the same as last summer. Micah, a writer and YWC alumnus, returns as director. Danica Wyatt, a fine essayist, physicist, and Micah's sister, will be there, as will poet Jesse Loesberg from San Franscisco.

Guest teachers are wont to drop in. Last June, I joined the teachers and students for some mysterious homemade stir fry and we sat around the fire pit on a balmy evening and discussed short story writing. Everyone read a sample of his/her work.

Here's where I have to admit that my son, Kevin Shay, is a YWC alumnus. He says he'd love to come back as a visiting writer and may someday because he's a pretty good writer (I'm biased) and is working towards a career as a high school language arts teacher. As we speak, he's taking courses at Pima County Community College in Tucson, a place he enjoys very much in the winter months but not so much in July.

Sign up for the 2007 camp by going to the Young Writers Camp web site and downloading the printable application. It's open to teen writers who live in WYO and elsewhere.

Labels: poets, students, writers, writing conferences, Wyoming

- posted by Michael Shay @ 12:01 PM 0 comments

 
Deadline Extended for Poetry Out Loud

The Wyoming Arts Council (WAC) invites teachers in grades 9-12 to sign up their classes for this spring's Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest. The National Endowment for the Arts, the nation’s largest arts' funder, and the Poetry Foundation, the nation’s largest literary organization, have joined with the WAC to bring Poetry Out Loud to high schools across America.

Poetry Out Loud builds on the recent resurgence of poetry as an oral art form, as demonstrated by the slam poetry movement and the immense popularity of rap music. The program encourages the nation’s youth to learn about great poetry through memorization and performance, which help students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and internalize our rich literary heritage.

Last year, 11 schools from throughout Wyoming participated in the program. Kamaria Stephens from Cheyenne East High School won the state finals and represented Wyoming at the national finals in Washington, D.C.

Share this information with high school drama, speech and language arts teachers. Please respond by Feb. 21. FMI: Marcia Dunsmore, Poetry Out Loud Coordinator, 307-746-4110.

Labels: contests, poetry, Poetry Out Loud, students, University of Wyoming

- posted by Michael Shay @ 2:04 PM 0 comments