Class Description
Junot Díaz tells aspiring writers: “The whole culture is telling you to hurry, while the art tells you to take your time. Always listen to the art.” Before the summer ends, we’ll spend a relaxed but challenging week in that dreamy, “half-known” world where we invent stories. We’ll mostly write fiction, but also venture into nonfiction and poetry. Writing exercises, games, and collaborative activities will help you push the limits of language and envision new worlds. You’ll find inspiration in discussions about work by published authors. Walks around the neighborhood will activate your powers of observation. Together we’ll create a supportive space where you can also workshop (exchange group feedback on) each others’ work. You’ll also learn about revision strategies to strengthen your writing. Our week will also include a workshop on making zines—underground, do-it-yourself publications—to get your stories out into the world. We’ll also talk about other publication opportunities.
What to bring: A notebook, a pen or pencil, a laptop if you prefer writing on one. (If you forget, we also have plenty of notebooks/pens around!) Earbuds if you like listening to music while writing. One of your favorite books. Bring a lunch or money to buy lunch nearby. What to know: Depending on the weather, we may venture out into the neighborhood for walks and outdoor writing time. For writers age 13-18 ONLY.
SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITIES:
GrubStreet is happy to be able to offer a limited number of full scholarships for our teen writing camps. To apply for a scholarship, please click the "APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIP" link above, and complete the online form describing why you want to take the teen writing camp and detailing your financial need. Please wait to hear from our Scholarship commiittee before registering for the class, as scholarships cannot be applied retroactively. The deadline to apply for this scholarship is Friday, August 4th at 5pm.
*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.
Thanks to the excellent literary citizenship of our donors, scholarships are available for all GrubStreet classes. To apply, click the gray "APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIP" button. In order to be considered for a scholarship, you must complete your application at least one week before the start date of a class. Please await our scholarship committee's decision before registering for the class. We cannot hold spots in classes, so the sooner you apply, the better. Scholarships cannot be applied retroactively.
For more detailed information about GrubStreet scholarships, including how to contribute to scholarship funds for other students, click here.
This class will take place using Zoom videoconferencing. After registering, a yellow Resources tab will appear in this section containing a link to join class. Please note that you will need to be logged into view the Resources tab.
Zoom Participation:
In our experience, the intimate nature of a writing workshop benefits from on-camera participation. Students are of course welcome to turn their camera off whenever they need to, but it is a community norm for cameras to be on most of the time. You can learn more about using Zoom here.
Zoom Accessibility:
You can enable closed captioning at any time during the meeting by clicking the CC button at the bottom of the screen. If you'd like to access the transcript after class, please make sure to let your instructor ahead of time that you'd like a copy.