What seemed like a whirlwind week of writing and fun culminated today in an impressive display of talent from our 14 young writers this afternoon at their graduation celebration.
The young writers spent most of their final workshop day preparing for the reading. They began with a short field trip to the Campus Creek Amphitheater on campus, where they practiced voice projection by reading a Shel Silverstein poem. Next, they returned to the Beach to finish polishing their works. The instructors challenged them to cut at least five words from their work, as well as to polish their imagery and figurative language. In the afternoon, it was time for a dress rehearsal with the microphone, and before we knew it, the guests began to arrive.
At the reading, each writer read pieces written during the week to a standing-room-only crowd at the Beach Museum. The audience got to enjoy a great variety of works, including poetry, high fantasy, humor, drama, and one surprise poem that one of the young writers wrote in dedication to her “dear friend,” who was also attending the workshop.
It is hard to believe that just like that, the workshop is over. I know that I, the instructors, and Director Katy Karlin couldn’t have been happier with all of the young writers’ performances at today’s reading, as well as their enthusiasm in writing all week.
But just because the workshop is over, doesn’t mean our blog is! Stay tuned—I’ll still be writing blog posts next week, reflecting on the best moments of the workshop. And if you had to miss the graduation reading (or, if you want to enjoy it again), we’ll be posting a video of it online. Finally, we’ll soon be planning our second Young Writers’ Workshop for 2015!
–Lacey Brummer, Program Intern
The Glitterati Stars:
The Dark Spellcasters:
Hank’s Squiggly Meeses (Plural for Moose):
K-State Young Writers' Workshop 