Summer Workshop for Young Writers

Summer Workshop for Young Writers

The Walker Percy Center for Writing and Publishing at Loyola University New Orleans offers a creative writing workshop for Orleans Parish high school students in the 9th, 10th and 11th grades. The workshop is a two-week immersion in the world of creative writing that provides a supportive environment for aspiring young writers.

Workshop topics

The youth summer writing program holds classes on the following topics:

The Story of You: Writing Creative Non-fiction

Is truth stranger than fiction? In this workshop, we will compare elements of fiction and non-fiction and discuss where the two forms meet. We'll ask, “How much can we embellish?” “How far can we push the ‘truth’?” We’ll use conventions of fiction to create dynamic and

colorful non-fiction prose. If your English teacher ever told you to “write what you know,” here’s your chance to do it. Maybe you’ll even discover a few things about yourself that you didn’t know. 

Finding Yourself in Contemporary Poetry

When you think poetry, do you think line breaks, meter, and rhyme? Do you think it doesn't sound like you, and so you have trouble connecting to it? This class will change your mind. The world of contemporary poetry is full of risk, play, and exciting language that sounds like things you'd say—only weirder. Through readings of contemporary poetry and in-class writing exercises, you will learn to create poems that are an accurate depiction of yourself and the complexities of being a young adult in today's world.

About the program

During the program, students have the opportunity to take tours of local places of interest such as the New Orleans Museum of Art and the Audubon Zoo. They use these outings as ways to gather inspiration for their writing.

All workshops are taught by working published writers and editors, and with groups limited to 10-15. Each participant receives individual attention. Two Loyola faculty members started this program: Chris Chambers, Assistant Professor of English, and Director of the program, Robert Bell.  For more information, email Robert Bell at rcbell@loyno.edu.

Tuition is $200 for a session; the program runs from 9 a.m. to noon weekdays from June 6 - June 17, 2011.

Full scholarships are available, including public transportation expenses. Along with your application, submit a 250-word essay explaining your financial need.    

Complete an application for the Summer Workshop for Young Writers

View the flyer for the Summer Workshop for Young Writers »