Young Adult Writers Program (YAWP): Writing from Found Objects: Finding Inspiration Around You!

*Note: Parents/guardians must complete this permission form online if your teen is under 18.* Unlike previous forms, you only need to fill this out ONE TIME, not for every class. If you cannot remember whether you have already filled it out, please email [email protected] and we will check for you!

If you do not complete the form, registrations could be voided and the cancellation policy will apply. If the student is 18, simply let us know at [email protected]

Class Description: Have you ever found an old photograph at a flea market and wondered: who are these people, and what is their story? That’s how Ransom Riggs wrote Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, structuring the plotline entirely around found photographs. Using Miss Peregrine as our model, this course will be all about looking for inspiration for your writing in the objects that surround you, creating narratives out of things that already exist. We will look at an array of items––old photographs, video footage, antique maps, even junk and trash––and find the stories and poems hidden within. You’re welcome to bring in your own items, but objects will be provided––you just need to find their story. We will even take a trip to the antiques store next to GrubStreet for inspiration! This course will also explore the relationship between images and words, looking at examples such as Brian Selznick’s Wonderstruck and Tom Phillips’s A Humument. A great course for those who are visual artists in addition to writers.


Takeaways:
Through a series of fun writing exercises based on different objects, you will leave the class with the beginnings of several short pieces of writing (fiction or nonfiction, poetry or prose, it’s up to you) and better strategies for how to not wait around for inspiration but how to (as Jack London says) “go after it with a club.”

Stick around after YAWP for a Teen Writing Fellowship info session and submit-a-thon! You can learn more about GrubStreet's summer writing fellowship for teens and spend some time working on your application! If you're interested, be sure to sign up here so we can get a sense of numbers. 

Who Should Register?
For writers ages 13 - 18 ONLY. Writing notebooks are available, but feel free to bring your own.

Remember, parents/guardians must also complete this permission form online before the start of the class. Otherwise, registrations could be voided and the cancellation policy will apply. If the student is 18, simply let us know at [email protected]

*If you are registering on behalf of your teen, add their email information in the “For a Friend or Child?” field on the right-hand side of the screen before you check out. This will send them a direct link and reminder to create their own profile with GrubStreet. 
(After adding the class to your cart, click "Checkout" and click “Add” next to “For a Friend or Child?” on the right-hand side to fill in their email. This is an easy way of linking the class to your child and encourages them to create their own account.)