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April 2020
Write On for Homeschoolers
Member price: $166 Scholarships Available Instructor: Caren Barth 10 Wednesdays, April 1-June 10 (no class April 8) We live to create at Write On. The heart of this class is the weekly workshop of student writing, moderated so that each writer feels encouraged and supported by the others, while also receiving constructive suggestions for growth. Short lessons connect current student work to relevant published writing, classical literary structures, and mechanics. Classes include writing prompts or games and time to work…
Find out more »MONDAY: Start Your Story
Member price: $44 Instructor: Wendy Low Ages 7-9 Are stories constantly running through your imagination? Get your ideas out of your head and onto paper! This camp will give you fresh ideas and creative tools for starting your own story or continuing work on one you have already begun. Wendy Low writes poetry, prose, performance poetry, and drama. Her poems, stories, and essays have been published in Breaking the Silence, Desperate Acts, HazMat Review, Napalm Health Spa, Rochester Woman, on…
Find out more »MONDAY: Comedy Improvisation
Member price:$44 Instructor: Julie Donofrio Ages 10-13 Improvisation is acting without a script, and often includes audience participation. Students will learn the basic rules of improv, and then a variety of theater games and comedy improv games such as those featured on the television show, Whose Line is it Anyway? To put their new skills to work the class will present some of their favorite games for friends and family at 2:00 pm. Julie Donofrio has been making people laugh…
Find out more »WEDNESDAY: Stories to Grow On
Member price: $44 Instructor: Tracy Nemecek Ages 7-9 Stories can help us to take a closer look at our own thoughts and feelings and to appreciate moments of joy and face moments of challenge. We’ll read stories together as a group, create art, and use creative movement to understand and express our emotions more effectively. Read, create, grow! Tracy Nemecek is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor. As an undergraduate, she majored in Psychology and English and discovered that bibliotherapy (the…
Find out more »WEDNESDAY: Flash Your Fiction
Member price:$44 Instructor: Wendy Low Ages 10-13 Flash fiction is a short form of writing in which every word is essential. These stories have a rhythm, and foundation of character, setting, and plot. We will learn to hook the reader quickly, and then, through an unexpected twist, leave the reader wanting more. Students will go home with at least three new pieces of writing! Wendy Low writes poetry, prose, performance poetry, and drama. Her poems, stories, and essays have been…
Find out more »THURSDAY: Heroes of Social Justice
Member price: $44 Instructor: Marna Rossi Ages 7-9 Celebrate heroes around the world who stand up for justice and freedom. We will learn about local and international heroes, decide what makes a hero, and use your imagination in fun activities honoring heroes. With a partner, present to your classmates an amazing hero who dared to be different, through a short skit and a collage drawing. Marna Rossi, PhD, is a storyteller and workshop leader who helps young people become more…
Find out more »THURSDAY: Hogwarts Day One
Member price:$44 Ages 10-13 Jump into the world of all things Harry Potter! You will make a wand, write for the Daily Prophet, and take several classes central to the wizarding world. Learn Defense Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Transfiguration and more! Leave at the end of the day feeling as if you yourself were a student at Hogwarts. It is not necessary to participate in Day One in order to participate in Day Two! HOGWARTS INSTRUCTORS INCLUDE: Chris Fanning,…
Find out more »Writers ROC!
Free and open to the public Ages 10-12 In this young writers group you’ll do some new writing, share your work, and hone your skills. This will be a supportive community mentored by MCC creative writing major Misty Yarnall, who will present writing prompts, offer tips for revising and editing, and most of all create space for young writers to gather!
Find out more »June 2020
Create A Modern Day Radio Play
Member Price: $210 Deadline to Register: 11:59 pm on June 14 Instructors: Rashida Burch-Washington & John Watson Age Group: 12+ Imagine if the Twilight Zone or War of the Worlds was on the air today. In this weeklong camp, we will write and produce a thrilling audio play. We will work together to author a script, learn voice techniques, create sound effects that heighten the mood, and use audio production equipment to perform our creation live at the end of…
Find out more »Dragons, Dice, and Roleplaying
Member Price: 225 Deadline to Register: 11:59 pm on June 14 Instructors: Emma Lynge & Ben Callahan Age Group: 13-16 Calling all quest-seekers! What do collaborative role playing games like Dungeons & Dragons and writing have to do with each other? Quite a lot, we'll discover. In this camp, we’ll explore rich, fantastical worlds; create complex, driven characters; and learn how to hone our plot points into stories that the bards will sing of for ages to come. In the…
Find out more »Becoming a Storyteller
Member Price: 100 Deadline to Register: 11:59 pm on June 14 Instructor: Judy DeCroce Age Group: 8-11 Make a story come alive in the telling! Using theatre games and other fun techniques, we’ll learn skills for engaging an audience, all the while building self-confidence. Activities will include practicing voice, body language, facial expressions, and characterization. At the end of the week, we’ll display our new skills in a presentation for our families and friends. Scholarships Available
Find out more »The Colors of Nature: Culture, Identity, and the Natural World
Member Price: 100 Deadline to Register: 11:59 pm on June 14 Instructor: Almeta Whitis Age Group: 10-13 Our environment is vital to our very existence. Indigenous Peoples have known and passed on this important fact—we are neither separate from nor superior to Mother Nature; rather, we’re one tiny yet pivotal part of a vast picture. In this camp we will read, research, write about, and discuss the ways in which people and systems of power have impacted our Earth, and…
Find out more »Exploring the Neighborhood of the Arts
Member Price: 100 Deadline to Register: 11:59 pm on June 14 Instructor: Chris Fanning Age Group: 10-13 Rochester's Neighborhood of the Arts (NOTA) has long been home to many genres of expression and creativity. There are businesses that portray art through painting, photography, and language. There are theatres and sculpture gardens bursting with feeling and meaning. There are hidden walkways and parks perfect for exploring. This camp will take you inside the buildings and behind the scenes of some of…
Find out more »Building Fantastical Worlds
Member Price: 100 Deadline to Register: 11:59 pm on June 14 Instructor: Rylie Day Age Group: 8-11 Have you ever wondered what it's like living in a magical world, like that of Harry Potter, Chronicles of Narnia, or The Borrowers? How do we leave the world of the everyday and leap into fantastical realms? Better yet, how do we create our own? Come explore surprising worlds of all shapes and sizes and learn new perspectives from which to construct original,…
Find out more »July 2020
Produce a 90-Second Newbery Film (9-12)
Member Price: 260 Deadline to Register: 11:59 pm on June 21 Instructor: Rashida Burch-Washington & John Watson Age Group: 9-12 SW 19 pic 3 Over the course of this week-long camp, students transform into cast and crew to make a short movie based on a Newbery Medal-winning book. You will learn how to run cameras, set up lights, operate audio equipment, direct, and edit. Oh, and did we mention you’ll be the writers and stars of the movie, too? We’ll…
Find out more »Acting Exploration
Member Price: 125 Deadline to Register: 11:59 pm on June 21 Instructor: Alexa Scott-Flaherty Age Group: 7-9 Do you enjoy pretending to be other people, putting yourself into someone else’s life and experiences? Through games and age-appropriate scene work, young actors will investigate the various tools used in developing character work for performance. Students will form a cohesive ensemble and learn to trust themselves and each other. By exploring different characters, stories, and activities, students will build skills related to…
Find out more »Musical Theatre “Book Club”
Member Price: 125 Deadline to Register: 11:59 pm on June 21 Instructor: Katherine Varga Age Group: 14+ Think of this as a book club where, instead of discussing novels, we discuss musicals. From Sondheim to Six, musical theatre can be more than just jazz hands and smiles; many musicals are rich with social commentary and brilliant uses of language. We’ll learn about the history of musical theatre and talk about recent trends in the industry, especially the rise of musicals…
Find out more »Fiction in a Flash
Member Price: 125 Deadline to Register: 11:59 pm on June 21 Instructor: Rylie Day Age Group: 12-14 How many words do you need to create a compelling story? Fewer than you think! Flash fiction is the art of crafting a story in which every word is essential. Looking to examples from authors of all backgrounds, in this camp, we will learn about the elements of fiction writing and how they relate to this unique form of storytelling. We will learn…
Find out more »Tomar espacio, Hacer espacio: narración a través de la poesía en dos idiomas/Take Space, Make Space: Storytelling through Dual-Language Poetry
Precios de Miembros/Member Price: 125 Fecha Limite para Registarse/Deadline to Register: 11:59 pm on June 21 La Instructora/Instructor: Neyda Colón-DiMaria Grupo de edad/Age Group: 10-13 Todos tenemos una historia y ahora necesitamos unirnos para contarlas porque cada cuento importa. Durante este programa vamos a ‘tomar espacio, hacer espacio’ por la poesía para contar la historia de nosotros, de nuestra culturas, y nuestra gente. Al fin del programa, los estudiantes van a mostrar, en forma de poema, el tema central siendo…
Find out more »The Circle of Life: Dancing and Writing Encounters with Nature
Member Price: 125 Deadline to Register: 11:59 pm on June 21 Instructor: Rosalie "Daystar" Jones Age Group: 12-14 Indigenous Peoples worldwide gather in the circle formation in order to recognize the equality of everyone in the circle. Black Elk, Lakota Elder says, “The Earth is a Circle. The Sun and Moon are formed in a Circle. The nests of birds are created in a Circle.” Taught by an award-winning, internationally recognized choreographer and dancer, this workshop will examine the prevalence…
Find out more »Writing a Fiction Series
Member Price: 125 Deadline to Register: 11:59 pm on June 21 Instructor: Caren Barth Age Group: 10-13 What is better than seeing your favorite series stretching out along the library shelf, going on and on? What beats the thrill of a favorite author releasing a new novel? How about writing your own serial adventure? We will start with strong beginnings that hook and ground the reader, and consider the best ways to give your readers background, depending on whether this…
Find out more »Louder than Social Media: Writing Creatively in the Digital Age
Member Price: 125 Deadline to Register: 11:59 pm on June 21 Instructor: Jessica Merrills Age Group: 14+ The saying goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Now, during the new decade of 2020, so many of us have created the very picture we want others to see on Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and even YouTube. How authentic is this picture? What stories are these images and posts telling? Through a series of thoughtful writing prompts, we will explore the superficial…
Find out more »Flash Your Fiction
Member Price: 125 Deadline to Register: 11:59 pm on June 21 Instructor: Judy DeCroce Age Group: 7-9 Flash fiction is a very short form of story writing where every word becomes essential. This genre has all the parts of a story—characters, setting, and plot—but in a nutshell. We’ll learn to hook the reader and then, through an unexpected twist, leave the reader wanting more. In writing our own pieces, we’ll analyze the power of words and learn what is, and…
Find out more »Novel Tools
Member Price: 125 Deadline to Register: 11:59 pm on June 28 Instructor: Wendy Low Age Group: 12-14 Whether you aspire to write fantasy, science fiction, historical, or contemporary realist novels, you’ll want to develop the skills and discover the tools that successful fiction writers use to bring their stories to life. We will focus on examples and exercises that help develop characters, setting, and atmosphere; choosing point of view; and creating and sustaining interest through conflicts. We also will look…
Find out more »Be the Story You Love
Member Price: 125 Deadline to Register: 11:59 pm on June 28 Instructor: Lisa Buck Age Group: 5-7 Bring your favorite books to life with readers theatre. We’ll read many stories together, including those that students bring in to share. Then we’ll enjoy a series of acting games and fun exercises. Everyone will choose a book, comic, or poem to act out. Throughout the week we will practice our stories together as a group, making each character and scene come to…
Find out more »Me, Myself, and I: Exploring the Creative Self
Member Price: 125 Deadline to Register: 11:59 pm on June 28 Instructor: Gary DeWitt Marshall Age Group: Teen This brand-new workshop, led by an acclaimed director and actor, allows for exciting exploration and skill-building through the world of theatre. With theatre-based games, activities, and exercises that combine writing and acting, students develop character-building skills that focus on self-expression. Dramatic arts can strengthen character and support an improved self-concept when providing students opportunities to work in a liberated, non-judgmental environment. The…
Find out more »Visible and Invisible Characters: Reading and Writing Disability
Member Price: 125 Deadline to Register: 11:59 pm on June 28 Instructor: Kimberly Morgan Age Group: 8-11 Popular books like Wonder, El Deafo, The Hunger Games, Cinder, and the Percy Jackson Series all portray characters with disabilities and tell a story about how the community interacts with these characters. Did you know that 1 in 5 people has a disability? Some disabilities you can see on the outside, some you can’t. In this workshop, we will focus on how disabilities…
Find out more »Writers and Cooks: Menus for Every Meal
Member Price: 198 Deadline to Register: 11:59 pm on June 28 Instructor: David Festenstein Age Group: 9-13 Cook up a storm and put together your own cookbook in this busy, creative, tasty workshop for budding young cooks and writers. Taught by a local chef and culinary instructor, this workshop will take place in a teaching kitchen. Participants will work from a full day’s menu—breakfast through evening snack—cooking, eating, and discussing dishes for a full meal each day. We will annotate…
Find out more »Your Incredible Illustrated Story
$270 for W&B and MAG Members | $300 General Public To register, please visit: mag.rochester.edu/classes Deadline to Register: 11:59 pm on June 28 Instructors: Tracy Cretelle & Ben Leyer Age Group: 10-13 What do you want to say? In this exciting collaboration between Writers & Books and the Creative Workshop at the Memorial Art Gallery, you’ll create your own fantastically illustrated and self-written story while learning from two master teaching artists, a writer and a visual artist. You’ll learn the…
Find out more »Percy Jackson’s Greek Myth Theatre
Member Price: 125 Deadline to Register: 11:59 pm on June 28 Instructor: Marna Rossi Age Group: 8-11 When New York middle school student Percy Jackson finds out he is a Demi-god, the Greek myths come alive in a way he never before imagined! We’ll explore his adventures and learn about myths, Greek gods, heroes, and modern-day Demi-god heroes. We’ll create our own heroes; act out brief role-plays based on the adventures of Demi-god heroes; learn about dramatic action, style, character,…
Find out more »Every Day Heroes: Creating Characters who Fight for Justice
Member Price: 125 Deadline to Register: 11:59 pm on June 28 Instructor: Tracy Cretelle Age Group: 12-14 Do you believe that anyone with a desire to fight for justice can do extraordinary things when they set their mind to it? Do you have a passion to help others, and a desire to use your creative writing skills to help guide others on a path toward justice? We will explore developing characters who advocate for citizens' rights, solve mysteries, help their…
Find out more »Classical Monologue Intensive
Member Price: 125 Deadline to Register: 11:59 pm on June 28 Instructor: Sara Bickweat Penner Age Group: Teen Are you a high-school student who is working on material for college auditions? Are you an actor who wants to expand your rep and experience by adding a classic piece? Do you love Shakespeare and want to work on a new piece? Is it your first time exploring classics and you need some guidance? This camp is for you. Come experience the…
Find out more »Magical Doorways and Portals
Member Price: 125 Deadline to Register: 11:59 pm on June 28 Instructor: Alexa Scott-Flaherty Age Group: 5-7 Stories, books, and poems are our first doorway into a magical world as young people, and this camp will celebrate the MAGIC of going into our imaginations and into imaginary worlds. By exploring such stories as Malcolm Mitchell's The Magician's Hat, Mac Barnett's Extra Yarn, Grace Lin's A Big Mooncake for Little Star, Nancy Tupper-Ling's The Yin-Yang Sisters and the Dragon Frightful, and…
Find out more »Writers and Cooks: Flavors of America
Member Price: 198 Deadline to Register: 11:59 pm on June 28 Instructor: David Festenstein Age Group: 9-13 Taste your way across the USA, making a culinary journey from New England to Hawaii that includes regional Southern, Louisiana, and Southwest/California cuisine. Taught by a local chef and culinary instructor, this workshop will take place in a teaching kitchen. In addition to cooking, eating, and discussing, we’ll annotate and illustrate the recipes (including creative variations) and do some taste-bud-tickling creative writing. Scholarships…
Find out more »Hogwarts Express: Harry Potter’s First 4 Years
Member Price: 325 Deadline to Register: 11:59 pm on July 5 Instructors: Chris Fanning & guests Age Group: 8-10 Come immerse yourself in the world of Harry Potter! This brand-new workshop is for young wizards and witches who haven’t yet read the full series. With dramatic read-alouds, creative projects, and visits from special professors, students will have a chance to dig into the first four books of the series in a supportive environment. We will make wands; study the history…
Find out more »¡Bienvenidos! Fun with Spanish
Member Price: $125 Deadline to Register: 11:59 pm on July 5 Instructor: Megan Lawrence Age Group: 5-7 If you want to explore the Spanish language in a fun, creative way, this is the camp for you! With songs, games, stories, outdoor play, crafts, and a walking field trip to the public market, we will learn and review everyday vocabulary in a real-world environment. Families will be invited to view student work on the last day. Scholarships Available
Find out more »Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing: World Building with Today’s Social Issues
Member Price: 125 Deadline to Register: 11:59 pm on July 5 Instructor: Melissa Michal Slocum Age Group: 14+ Are you passionate about important social topics and silenced voices? Can you see robots taking over the world, or creatures trying to steal each other’s land? Science fiction and fantasy are generative spaces for social justice dialogue. Considering such writers as Octavia Butler, M.K. Jemison, and Margaret Atwood, we will be inspired to write stories that immerse readers in worlds that illuminate…
Find out more »Write a Short Play!
Member Price: 125 Deadline to Register: 11:59 pm on July 5 Instructor: Katherine Varga Age Group: 12-14 Do you love theatre? Have you always wanted to write your own play? Then this camp is for you! Through theatre games and writing exercises, we will learn how to tell a story meant for the stage. Our own 5-10-minute plays will be presented in a staged reading for friends and families on Friday. Come prepared to play and write. Scholarships Available
Find out more »Telling Tales
$270 for W&B and MAG Members | $300 General Public To register, please visit: mag.rochester.edu/classes Deadline to Register: 11:59 pm on July 5 Instructors: Sarah Brown & Casy Cardillo Age Group: 7-9 To register, please visit: https://mag.rochester.edu/classes/In this exciting collaboration between Writers & Books and the Creative Workshop at the Memorial Art Gallery, you’ll create your own characters and explore your own story ideas while learning at the hand of master teaching artists, a writer and a visual artist. You’ll…
Find out more »Writing Movies
Member Price: 125 Deadline to Register: 11:59 pm on July 5 Instructor: Michael Galvin Age Group: 14+ All the best stuff happens before the cameras roll! In this camp, we’ll talk about what makes screenplays work, and learn basic techniques by focusing on structure, story, characters, dialogue, and format. We’ll watch scenes from different movie genres, and break down their scripts to see how the writer made it all happen. Students should come in with ideas for a plot or…
Find out more »Fabulism—Writing the Absurd as Real
Member Price: 125 Deadline to Register: 11:59 pm on July 5 Instructor: Melissa Michal Slocum Age Group: 12-14 Do you like creating weird stories? Are you interested in odd plots, characters, and places that you don’t see in other books? Do you like inserting absurdity into real-life situations? Have you ever wanted to write a modern-day fairy tale? Then you like fabulist writing, where the weird enters our human world. In this workshop, we will experiment with different earthly settings…
Find out more »Leaders, Rebels, and Innovators
Member Price: 125 Deadline to Register: 11:59 pm on July 5 Instructor: Alexa Scott-Flaherty Age Group: 5-7 Be a change-maker! We all have the power to make the world a better place, one action at a time. And stories, true and fictional, have the power to guide us. This camp will help us learn about the heroes among us, at all levels of society and in different times, and encourage us to stretch our “social good” muscles. We’ll learn about…
Find out more »Shakespeare’s Comedy Camp
Member Price: 125 Deadline to Register: 11:59 pm on July 5 Instructor: Sara Bickweat Penner Age Group: 9-12 Calling young thespians! Are you a world builder, a lover of language, a reader with a flare for expression and imagination? We’ll spend the week walking into the world of William Shakespeare, exploring his life and times, and unlocking the secrets to his use of language. We’ll play theatre games and bring to life wildly fun stories. Join this workshop to cook…
Find out more »Dumbledore’s Army
Member Price: 325 Deadline to Register: 11:59 pm on July 12 Instructor: Christine Green Age Group: 14+ Are you considering a career as an auror? Do you look up to the members of the Order of the Phoenix? Do you wish you had more opportunities to gather with like-minded wizards and witches? We will begin each day in the Great Hall with fellow Hogwarts students for a large group activity, then disappear into the Room of Requirement for serious studies.…
Find out more »Hogwarts Academy
Member Price: 325 Deadline to Register: 11:59 pm on July 12 Instructors: Chris Fanning, Rylie Day, Katherine Varga, Alexa Scott-Flaherty, Tracy Cretelle, Tracy Nemecek, Jamie Bozek, Sara Bickweat Penner, Michelle LaVarnway, Ben Callahan, Sarah Brown, Paul Moyer Age Group: 8-13 Immerse yourself in the world of Harry Potter as all of Writers & Books turns into Hogwarts! Throughout the week, students will attend classes in Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures, Charms, Transfiguration, Divination, History of Magic, Defense Against the Dark…
Find out more »August 2020
Superheroes are Everywhere
Member Price: 125 Deadline to Register: 11:59 pm on July 19 Instructor: Lisa Buck Age Group: 5-7 This camp is inspired by the book Superheroes are Everywhere, by Kamala Harris. Before Kamala Harris became a district attorney and a United States senator, she was a little girl who loved superheroes. And when she looked around, she was amazed to find them everywhere! In her family, among her friends, even down the street–there were superheroes wherever she looked. She discovered that…
Find out more »Writing Characters: Heroes, Villains, and Everybody in Between
Member Price: 125 Deadline to Register: 11:59 pm on July 19 Instructor: Alex Sanchez Age Group: 14+ What makes Harry Potter, Katniss Everdeen, or Twilight’s Bella and Edward so real and beloved? Bringing characters to life in words can feel almost magical. We'll create some of that magic through fun exercises, discussions, videos, and lots of writing. You’ll learn to develop unique, dynamic, and passionate characters from the inside out, making them as vivid as your best friend or worst…
Find out more »Poetry, Pottery, and Paper
Member Price: 270 Deadline to Register: 11:59 pm on July 19 Instructor: Lisa Johnson & Kate Whorton Age Group: 8-11 In this collaboration between Writers & Books and the Flower City Arts Center, you’ll have a unique opportunity to merge visual arts with creative writing. You will handbuild a ceramic book, write pottery-inspired poems, interview real artists, make paper, and use a letterpress to print the words you have written. This camp will be a real hands-on experience taught by…
Find out more »Hike and Write!
Member Price: 125 Deadline to Register: 11:59 pm on July 19 Instructor: Megan Lawrence Age Group: 10-13 Immerse yourself in the outdoors! Students will express themselves in writing, using nature as a unique source of inspiration. Throughout the week, we will travel outdoors to observe, record, and discuss all that nature has to offer. In addition to exploring the local neighborhood, we will travel to Cobbs Hill Park to see Rochester in a new light, so put on your hiking…
Find out more »Stand Up for Young Comedians
Member Price: 125 Deadline to Register: 11:59 pm on July 19 Instructor: Julie Donofrio Age Group: 12+ Have you ever seen a stand up comedy routine, a comedic monologue, or a funny speech and thought, “That looks like fun”? It is fun, and now you can try it at SummerWrite! In this camp, students will be introduced to stand up comedy and given a brief introduction to other types of live comedic performance. We will learn different techniques to add…
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