Students, led by CCWN’s team of instructors, will learn about four genres, fiction, poetry, narrative nonfiction and graphics, to create stories, poems, essays and comics.
CCWN Director Erin Hill, professor of practice, secondary and English education at Wittenberg, said the vision is to provide a literary community for young and adolescent writers in the county.
“If you like to write, no matter the genre, Champion City Write Now is where you will find your people. We want to help you connect with each other, and we want to celebrate you and your writing,” she said.
This camp was created out of Hill’s, who has a background as an essayist and former high school creative writing teacher, experience of assembling a student editorial team of writers while at Tippecanoe High School. She and poet-colleague Aimee Noel created “Inferno,” a literary journal of student writing, where they hosted off-campus literary events for young writers. After each event, Hill said the students would ask when they can do it again.
“I’m really passionate about helping student writers understand not only what their voice is and what they want to do, but also the container that they want to say it in,” Hill said.
The team said they know students want to connect with other writers and publish their work, so they are excited to provide that opportunity for young people in the county. Hill said the five-year plan is to eventually expand to a four-week camp for grades three through 12.
“Even though writing can feel like a solitary act, we want to create a space for people to do that together and bounce ideas off each other. We realize we’re all a team even when we create independently. The vision is that we will be creative coaches for the week,” Hill said. “Our whole team feels so strongly about helping students find their voices and empowering them to do the writing they want to do and to help them find their readers.”
The CCWN instructors, who are all published authors, include Hill; Andy Graff, associate professor of English and director of the creative writing program; Marlo Star, assistant professor of English; and Nora Hickey, who has worked as an instructor at Colorado State University, Santa Fe University of Art and Design and Columbus College of Art and Design;
Graff will teach the fiction workshop on Monday, Star will teach the poetry workshop on Tuesday, Hickey will teach the graphics and comic workshop on Wednesday, and Hill will teach the creative and nonfiction workshop on Thursday.
The camp will end with a celebration and showcase on Friday of students reading their best work at a free public event for friends and family, and all participants will publish their selected pieces in a printed CCWN Anthology.
To be eligible to participate in the camp, applicants must be enrolled in a school district in Clark County or be a resident of Clark County if enrolled in an online or home school. Applicants should submit a short writing sample of their best work in their preferred genre of fiction, poetry, nonfiction, graphic work or comics.
The registration fee is $100 and includes on-campus meals, instruction and materials. Students can also apply for partial need-based fee reduction if eligible. Accepted students must pay a $50 nonrefundable deposit no later than June 10, and participants are responsible for their own transportation to and from the campus each day.
Applications are due by May 15, but will be considered on a rolling basis until all 25 spots are filled. Candidates will be notified of their acceptance by June 1. For more information or to apply, visit www.wittenberg.edu/academics/education/champion-city-write-now. For questions, contact Hill at hille3@wittenberg.edu.
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