SUMMER 2025!

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We’ve got LOTS of cool writing opportunities on the calendar this summer, from one-day fun days to week-long vision quests.

Locations for our summer programming include Quarry, the Poe Museum, Studio Two Three, the Main Branch of the public library, and the VMFA! Be sure to note where your selections are taking place.

AGES 9-12

So you're a writer, and you love it ALL: fiction, poetry, journaling, whatever interesting, weird stuff you can do with words! Or you're not SURE if you love it all, but you're really into the idea of giving it a shot. Either way, this camp is for YOU, because we're going to make sampling lots of styles fun. We'll write, read, chat, play games, and share in the excitement of fresh creative work!

AGES 12-15

Over the course of a three hour workshop, students will be taught the technical form and rules of screenwriting, as well as the story elements of a feature film. Students will demonstrate this knowledge by writing a one scene screenplay, encompassing the elements of a full screenplay including three act structure, conflict and resolution, and character growth. Screenplays will come from a variety of prompts that encourage students to write about conflicts and challenges they have overcome in their own lives.

Ekphrastic writing is simply a fancy way of saying “writing about art.” In this class, we’ll look at famous art from different eras and use them as inspiration for our own creativity.

If you’re ever in a writing rut or want to start writing but don’t know how, ekphrastic writing is a great place to start! Take inspiration from other artists around you and try your hand at your own creations.

Outline:

Day One: studying and writing about early forms of art—African and Asian

Day Two: studying and writing about The Renaissance

Day Three: studying and writing about Japanese Woodblock prints

Day Four: studying and writing about European Impressionism

Day Five: studying and writing about modern art in America

Materials needed: notebook and writing utensils

Learn about the amazing women who’ve shaped literature! In this class, we’ll study the lives and work of Sylvia Plath, Emily Dickinson, Anne Sexton, Audre Lorde, and Gwendolyn Brooks. We will garner inspiration from these famous women writers and create our own poems based off of their work!

Outline:

Day One: Sylvia Plath

Day Two: Emily Dickinson

Day Three: Anne Sexton

Day Four: Audre Lorde

Day Five: Gwendolyn Brooks

Materials needed: notebook and writing utensil

AGES 15-18

What is confessional poetry?

For most contemporary critics, confessional poetry marked a revolution in poetic style as well as specific subject matter and the relationship between a poem’s speaker and self. Confessional poets wrote in direct, colloquial speech rhythms and used images that reflected intense psychological experiences, often culled from childhood or battles with mental illness or breakdown. They tended to utilize sequences, emphasizing connections between poems. They grounded their work in actual events, referred to real persons, and refused any metaphorical transformation of intimate details into universal symbols. -from The Poetry Foundation

Poems we will study:

Day One: Sylvia Plath, Morning Song

Day Two: Robert Lowell, Skunk Hour

Day Three: W.D. Snodgrass Heart’s Needle

Day Four: Adrienne Rich, Diving into the Wreck

Day Five: Anne Sexton, Her Kind

Materials needed: notebook and writing utensil, reading materials provided