(BURLINGTON, VERMONT) (03/11/2011)(readMedia)-- The 2011 Champlain College Young Writers' Conference will be held May 20- 22 at Champlain College. The conference offers dedicated high school-age writers a chance to meet others who share their passion for telling the stories of their lives and provides an opportunity to study the craft of writing with some of New England's most celebrated authors and teachers.

The residential weekend on the Champlain College campus will feature more than 10 hours of intensive workshops in fiction, poetry, songwriting, creative nonfiction, script writing, and performance theatre; exchange and critique manuscripts; listen to faculty readings; attend craft sessions; and sharing work with the CCYW community.

A recent student described his Young Writers experience like this: "I love the total immersion into writing: thinking about writing, talking about writing, sharing writing." Another added, "I'm beyond glad I came. The people I met were brilliant, and it was fun to experience a college-type weekend."

The keynote speaker on Friday is Vermont author Howard Frank Mosher, a celebrated novelist and memoirist who has earned numerous awards, including: The National Endowment of the Arts Fellowship, the American Academy of Arts and Letters Literature Award, the American Civil Liberties Award for Excellence in the Arts, and the Vermont Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts. Three of Mosher's novels, Where the Rivers Flow North, A Stranger in the Kingdom, and Disappearances, have been translated into acclaimed feature movies by Vermont independent filmmaker, Jay Craven. His latest novel (2010) of the Civil War era, Walking to Gatlinburg, has already earned rave reviews from The Washington Post.

A highlight of Saturday's program will be Vermont's own poetry slam champion Geof Hewitt. He has been teaching, writing and performing for 45 years. Other events include an open microphone session contra dance and improvisational theater session.

The final workshops will be held on Sunday, with presentations and a farewell ceremony to wrap up the weekend. Students will share their work with the entire Champlain College Young Writers' community and show off how they have gained from this experience.

Applications should be postmarked by April 1. Early submissions are encouraged. The all-inclusive fee for the 2011 Champlain College Young Writers' Conference is $275, due after acceptance. Teachers and parents, who are encouraged to attend as chaperones, are invited to attend all events and participate in their own workshop, free of charge.

Applicants to the programs should have a serious interest in writing, along with a high level of maturity and responsibility. Along with their application, poetry applications must submit two copies of a one-page (printed on one side only, please) writing sample. Prose and performance applicants must submit two copies of a writing sample of no more than three pages. Songwriters are invited to send a MP3 or CD of one song, accompanied by a hard copy of the lyrics. Submission samples, should the applicant be accepted, will be used in the workshop portion of the program. Application forms are available online at go.champlain.edu/write

High school teachers and parents are encouraged to attend as chaperones. Chaperones participate in all events, and attend their own writing workshop with veteran workshop leader, Erik Esckilsen.

For more information, contact Lesley Wright, event coordinator, Champlain College Young Writers' Conference, 588 Fern Lake Road, Leicester Vt., 05733. Phone: (802) 247-5920, email: ccyw@champlain.edu or online at go.champlain.edu/write.

ABOUT CHAMPLAIN COLLEGE

Champlain College, a private baccalaureate institution, was founded in 1878. Champlain has nearly 2,000 undergraduate students and is ranked in the top tier of Best Baccalaureate Colleges in the North by 2011 America's Best Colleges, published by U.S. News & World Report. Located in Burlington, Champlain College offers a unique, multi-faceted approach to professional development, academic excellence and community-based life experience education over four years. Champlain also offers study abroad programs with campuses in Dublin, Ireland and Montreal, Quebec and extensive online and continuing professional education. To learn more about Champlain College, visit www.champlain.edu.

Posted Friday March 11, 2011 at 04:53 pm by Champlain College
Last Updated Saturday March 12, 2011 at 12:47 pm