Unfortunate News

We're sorry to announce that the Penn State Young Writers' Workshop has been canceled for 2010.

We hope to be back next summer and hope to see you then!

A Poem in Your Pocket

T.S. Eliot called April "the cruellest month," but on a day like today, with cherry blossoms drifting in the sunny-warm air, it's pretty hard to agree!

Around here April is "National Poetry Month," and has been since its inauguration by the Academy of American Poets in 1996: 

"National Poetry Month is now held every April, when publishers, booksellers, literary organizations, libraries, schools and poets around the country band together to celebrate poetry and its vital place in American culture. Thousands of businesses and non-profit organizations participate through readings, festivals, book displays, workshops, and other events." (http://www.poets.org/page.php/prmID/41)

One of the neatest things we've seen in connection with National Poetry Month is the "Poem in Your Pocket Day," that has been celebrated in NYC since 2002 with open readings in public places like coffee houses, parks, and even workplaces.

"The idea is simple: select a poem you love during National Poetry Month then carry it with you to share with co-workers, family, and friends on April 29, 2010."

We love the idea of keeping poetry that close to you. You never know when you might need it!

For more information on National Poetry Month and on Poem in Your Pocket Day, visit The Academy of American Poets website.

And while you're there, don't forget to pick up a poem for your pocket!

It's Raining, it's Pouring...

Penn State Young Writers' Workshop Alum

KIERYN NICHOLAS

will be speaking about her new novel, 

RAIN

at Schlow Memorial Library 

in downtown State College,PA

on  

Saturday, April 10th 

10:30 AM

Join us to hear this dynamic and talented young writer talk about her creative process and what's up next for her!

Write it!

This just in…

So you have learned a little bit about the Young Writer’s Workshop, and now it’s time to put your creative juices to work! We hope to bring you one new writing prompt per week so you can get some practice before putting your skills to good use in the classroom. Think of this as a mental warm up for two weeks of fun and writing!

This week’s prompt is:

What is the most boring day you ever had? Write about that day, but try to make it sound exciting!

Be as creative as you want. Happy writing!

Hunger Mountain Prize for Young Writers

What is the Hunger Mountain Prize for Young Writers?

An annual contest for high school students. A chance for your fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction to be read by Hunger Mountain editors and guest judges!

What will the winners receive?

Three first place winners receives $250 and publication!
Three runners-up receive $100 each.
There will be a first place winner and runner up in each category: fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry.

Who can enter the contest?

Any high school student with a piece of poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction.

Who is this year’s judge?

The 2010 judge is M.T. Anderson, National Book Award winner and New York Times bestselling author of The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation; Burger Wuss; and Feed.

When is the deadline?

The postmark deadline is April 30.

Is there an entry fee?

Yes. The entry fee is $10.

What kind of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction is acceptable?

We accept all forms of poetry, and poets may enter up to three poems in one entry packet.
Fiction can be experimental of traditional.
Creative nonfiction can be a personal essay or a mini-memoir.

What are the guidelines?

• $10 entry fee. Make checks payable to “Hunger Mountain”
• Entries must be postmarked by April 30th
• Writing must be original, written in English, and previously unpublished
• Submissions should be under 8000 words.
• Poets may submit up to three poems per entry.
• Your name and address should not appear anywhere on the manuscript itself.
• Instead, enclose a standard index card with essay title and your name, address, phone number, and email address
• Enclose an SASE for notification of winners or plan on checking www.hungermtn.org for winners on a regular basis.
• Entries must be typed, double-spaced, and on one side of the paper only. Use Times New Roman font, and please don’t staple!
• Once submitted, entries cannot be altered
• Multiple entries allowed—but each entry must include a separate entry fee
• No entries will be returned
• Email hungermtn@vermontcollege.edu if questions arise

Send Fiction Entries to:
Prize for Young Writers
Hunger Mountain
Vermont College of Fine Arts
36 College Street
Montpelier, VT 05602
Include a check for $10.00 payable to “Hunger Mountain.”

Apply Now for the Summer 2010 Workshop!

Our website has been updated and to include the program application and all other relevant information for the summer 2010 workshop!

Please visit http://outreach.psu.edu/programs/young-writers/index.html, have a look around and be sure to contact us with any questions.

See you in July!

NCTE/Norman Mailer Writing Award

The Norman Mailer Writers Colony and the National Council of Teachers of English will jointly sponsor the 2010 Norman Mailer High School and College Writing Awards.

Writing Category: Nonfiction
Norman Mailer produced extraordinary works in many genres, including the category of this year’s award: nonfiction. Students may submit work in any of the many subgenres of nonfiction: memoir or autobiography, essay, literary journalism, profiles of people or places, and so on. Whatever its type, the best work will be true material presented with compelling literary merit.

Winners
One winner in each category will receive a cash award and will be an honored guest at the Colony’s National Award Ceremony in New York City on October 19, 2010. Winners will be notified by mid-September.

Finalists, Semifinalists
Four finalists in each category will be awarded trophies.
Sixteen semifinalists in each category will be awarded certificates.

High School Competition is open to all high school students. Students may submit one or more pieces of writing, maximum 10 single-spaced pages, endorsed by a teacher and released by a parent or guardian. Winner will receive the following:
• Cash award of $5,000
• *Travel and lodging to attend the Colony’s National Award Ceremony

DEADLINE
Entries accepted April 1–April 28, 2010, Noon CST

*Funding for travel is limited to the continental United States, Alaska, and Hawaii. Canadian and other foreign students are eligible to enter. Outside of the US, a $500.00 USD payment toward travel will be allowed. Hotel will be paid as with students in the United States.

Submission Guidelines:
Entries will be accepted online only and may include one or more pieces of writing. Submissions will be judged as a whole, not as individual writings. Maximum of 10 single-spaced pages for high school and maximum of 15 single-spaced pages for college entries. Quality is far more important than quantity.

Formatting Guidelines
The writing you upload must include a title, your name, and page numbers within your file. Please use a plain, common, and easily readable font, such as Times New Roman, 11- or 12-point. Accepted file types: .pdf, .doc, .docx, and .txt (maximum file size: 8 megabytes).



Judging
Submissions will be read by national panels of teachers and writers of creative nonfiction. They will be judged by how well they achieve several qualities, including the artful treatment of true subject matter; originality; quality of insight, voice, and style; artful arrangement of elements and materials; and overall aesthetic, emotional, or intellectual effect. Finalists selected through this process will be submitted to a distinguished author (or panel of authors) selected by the Norman Mailer Writers Colony, who will choose the winning writers.

How to Apply
Online application form. Links available April 1. (CHECK THIS BLOG FOR UPDATE!)


Contact Information
Email your questions to nmw@ncte.org

Beauty is Truth, Truth Beauty

So you want to be a poet?

The Penn State Young Writer’s Workshop is for you! The Summer 2010 Workshop will offer a one-week course that will acquaint you with poetry writing and reading. Want to know more? Course instructor Leah Huizar describes the course this way:

“In the course of our time together, we'll practice some key elements of poetry-making, such as concrete language, imagery, rhythm and word choice. We'll coming together to explore the unique ways that poetry works and distinguishes itself from other compelling literary and artistic forms. We'll take every opportunity to enjoy a range of poetic styles in our own writing, and in the writing of established and contemporary poets. Expect to read, write, workshop and have fun!

This poetry course also gathers for its inspiration the dynamic visual art collection at the Palmer Museum of Art on the University Park Campus. From portraits to pottery, the Palmer's many exhibits will offer our class vivid images, textures, history and narratives to explore through our work in poetry.”

One of the types of poetry you will explore is ekphrastic poetry.

Wondering what that is?

Simply put, ekphrastic poetry is poetry written in response to visual art. One famous example of ekphrastic poetry is “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” by John Keats.

Below is the final stanza of this timeless poem, featuring several famous lines that you may have already read:

“O Attic shape! Fair attitude! with brede
Of marble men and maidens overwrought,
With forest branches and the trodden weed;
Thou, silent form, dost tease us out of thought
As doth eternity: Cold Pastoral!
When old age shall this generation waste,
Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe
Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say'st,
"Beauty is truth, truth beauty," - that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.”


We hope to see you in Summer 2010 for some fun with poetry and art!

Write What You Know

As an up-and-coming writer (or the parent of an up-and-coming writer), you might be asking yourself, “What topics can I expect to write about at the Young Writers' Workshop?”

The answer to this question is limitless! During the Workshop, you will have the opportunity to participate in workshops focusing on fiction writing, poetry writing, and comic writing!

Perhaps you are interested in writing about a favorite activity. Danielle Feffer, workshop participant from summer 2009, describes swimming in a personal essay:

“Swimming” (excerpt)
By Danielle Feffer


“Swimming is my love, my escape. I always go to the pool when I’m stressed or upset.It’s just me and my lane—the world is a much simpler place. I forget my roommate bailed on me and that our rent is due in a few days. I forget I have to bus tables and load dishwashers with my aggravating coworkers. I forget I have a mountain of studying to do for finals, or else I flunk out of college. When I swim, everything just fades away, and all that matters is the placement of my hands in the water, and the steady kick of my feet as I cross the pool time after time after time…

I walk towards the locker room and start thinking again. My homework, my job, and my roommate all weigh heavily on my mind, but the problems don’t seem quite so overwhelming anymore. I can handle them.

I leave the pool, with a sense of calm and satisfaction permeating the air around me.After my intense workout, I feel confident, and ready to take on anything.”


Join your fellow young writers this summer and explore your creativity like Danielle!

Young Writer as Published Novelist!

Kieryn Ziegler, one of our talented young writers, came to the workshop last summer with an amazing bit of news to share: her novel, Rain, was under contract with a publisher!

Did we mention Kieryn is fourteen? 

As of just a few weeks ago, Rain  (Echelon Press) is available in eBook format on Amazon, and will be available in print later this year!

To say that we are proud of Kieryn would be an understatement! And to celebrate her success, we asked her a few questions about her amazing ride.




1. When did you start writing? Why do you keep writing?

I started writing around…four, I think. I found some old journals of mine with stories dated circa 1999. So I wrote my first story last millennium!

I keep writing because I constantly get new ideas. It’s like I jammed the Idea Machine’s switch in the on position. If I don’t write, they get stuck in my head and eventually might come pouring out my ears, which…would be a very bizarre sight.
 
2. What are your favorite books/authors? Why?

I’ll start off with the cliché and say, the Harry Potter series! And beyond that, I really like the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare, the Heir Trilogy by Cinda Williams Chima, and the Hunger Games and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. Robert Ludlum and Catherine Coulter are my favorite action thriller novelists. Also I still like Nancy Drew books.

My favorite things about these books are the characters. (Except for the action thriller books—the mystery plots are my favorite parts of those.) Not that the plots aren’t interesting and suspenseful, but for me even if a book had the most interesting plot imaginable, if the characters were boring or flat or cliché, then I would put it down.

3. Can you tell us a little about how the book deal came to be?

The book deal came to be through faith, trust, and pixie dust!

…Erm, not really. I actually attended the Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group “Write Stuff” conference (which I am going to again this year) and while I was there I met Karen Syed. Karen is president and CEO of Echelon Press, and she requested to read my manuscript. A few months later, I had a contract!
 
4. What does it feel like to be a published novelist?

Great! would be my initial reaction. And it is great. Being published has been one of my goals for years. But at the same time it also feels like my life sped up and is moving at 100 miles per hour. I constantly have something to be doing, and while it’s all exciting, I don’t have as much time to write.

5. What are you working on now? What's your next project?

Currently I am writing a futuristic dystopia novel that I’m very excited about.
 
6. What advice would you offer to young aspiring writers?

I’d say simply; if you want to write—then write. Finish that story! And then you’ll be amazed where it can go.

For more information about Kieryn and Rain, visit her website. 


Congratulations, Kieryn! Now get back to writing. ;) 

2010 Program Dates!

The Penn State Young Writers Workshop

July 11-25, 2010

We are working on updating the program website, but in the meantime, please contact Kathy Karchner at ksk6@outreach.psu.edu for information about tuition and how to apply.

For information about the program as a whole, please contact Sheila Squillante (sks172@psu.edu) or Camille-Yvette Welsch (cnw109@psu.edu), program directors.

Or, leave a comment on this blog and a way to reach you and someone will get back to you soon!

And tell your friends!

Book Launch--Daryl Gregory's The Devil's Alphabet

Daryl Gregory, local sci-fi writer and crowd-pleasing guest of the Young Writers' Workshop, invites you to a reading and book signing for his second book, The Devil's Alphabet, which was named by Publisher's Weekly as a top 5 Sci-Fi/Fantasy book of the year!


Friday, January 22

6:30 pm

Barnes & Noble
State College, PA

Penn State Young Writers' Workshop 2009: A Pictorial Retrospective

We asked last summer's participants to give us some of the highlights of their experience in the workshop. Here are some of their answers, sprinkled with a few pictures from their time together!

Q: What did you most enjoy about your time in the Penn State Young Writers' Workshop?

A:
That I could write things I wanted to write in an environment that not only supported me, but helped me improve my skills.--Vincent

Being around other people who were interested in writing and wouldn’t say, “Wait, you actually like writing? What’s wrong with you??--Kieryn

The creative energy that jolts through you when you realize you’re not the only weirdo writer in State College. I miss the writing atmosphere, and the other students so much!--Julianne

The people I met and the time I spent with them!--Danielle

"Hi, I'm Danielle and I swim!"

Waiting for class...

Fiction Class with Professor Kellermann

"You have to kill the dog."
--Professor Paul Kellermann

Q: What did you learn in fiction class?

A:
One piece of advice: “You have to kill the dog.” In other words, the character has to make a decision that will lead to a resolution. If the character doesn’t make this, he doesn’t change, and the story is pointless.—Julianne In fiction I feel I really improved not only my own writing but the ability to critique others’ writing as well.—Kieryn


Q: What did you particularly enjoy about your fiction class?

A:
I liked the feedback that everyone was giving for our workshops – they were highly intelligent and relevant.—Vincent My workshop was fabulous, I really enjoyed it.I enjoyed the discussions about the pieces we read, and being very nitpicky, like we were disassembling the pieces and building them back up the way we think would make them better. --Kieryn

Danielle, Kieryn and Julianne in Fiction workshop

Is this what he means by "concrete imagery?"

Poetry Writing Nights at Webster's Bookstore Cafe

Q: What did you learn in your two poetry evenings?

A:
Everything. I’d never actually written any poetry, though I’d read some, and I loved learning that a) it’s not that hard, and b) I actually love it. The worksheet on poetry clichés and the ‘bad poem’ about the train really helped me know what to avoid. Honestly, I loved poetry nights (and Webster’s)!--Julianne That poetry shouldn’t be hard to understand, that there are some words we can never use, that poems have to turn somehow. We learned that we can write 10 line poems in 5 minutes, we learned about prose poems, we learned about collage poems. --Danielle

Websters makes very good cookies! --Kieryn


Q: What did you particularly enjoy about the poetry evenings?

A:
I enjoyed the atmosphere of the bookstore and being FORCED to write poems. Otherwise I might not have actually done them or tried as hard. I also liked reading ‘real’ poetry aloud.--Julianne

They were at Websters, and I like Websters a lot. They were also really informal, and it helped to get out of the classroom setting. --Danielle

The professors were funny and informative.--Vincent

I liked that we could discuss our poems with everyone right after we wrote them.--Kieryn


Sci-Fi Writing with Professor Whitney

Q: What did you learn in your Sci-Fi Writing class?

A:
That sci-fi isn’t all about robots and monsters and outer space, but social commentaries.--Vincent

We learned about different types of science fiction, we read a bunch of excerpts, we talked a little bit about whether or not to choose first or third person. --Danielle

That I need to read Philip K. Dick--Julianne

Vincent and Nicole work on their drafts

Q: What did you particularly enjoy about your sci-fi class?

A:

The amount of in-class writing time.--Danielle

I loved writing a sci-fi story…or at least starting one!--Kieryn

Vincent gets some feedback from Professor Whitney

Q: What did you like about the interns?

A:
I loved the interns! I felt like they were my parents by the end of it.—Julianne

What didn’t I enjoy? I loved Lauren and Jason!!--Kieryn


Q: What did you like about the cafeteria?

A:
The wide variety of choices, the option to have healthy food like salad and fruit, the creamery ice cream, the cappuccino machines.-Danielle

The cafeteria rocked. I’m starving now, and ice cream without 13 ounces of M&Ms is naked. --Julianne

Q: How did you feel about writing nights?

A:
I would love more writing nights! They were great chances to get out the words my fingers had been itching to type all day.--Kieryn


Q: What did you think about living in the dorms?

A:
The dorms were nice, and my roommate and other campers were awesome, and I loved my intern! So the dorms were fun!--Kieryn


Q: How did you feel about your public reading?

A:
I enjoyed it. One of the things I loved about the camp was I had to toughen up. By the end of the week, I was eager to share my work, and it felt like one big family party when we gathered with the parents.--Julianne

celebrating after the final reading!

left to right:
Lauren Wheeler & Jason Sears (interns), Vincent Holden, Danielle Feffer, Nicole Soll,
Julianne McCobin, Kieryn Zeigler
back row: Camille-Yvette Welsch & Sheila Squillante, program directors

Any final comments?

I’m so glad this camp was offered, I really had a great time!--Danielle