Our first day of the 2024 Young Writers’ Workshop hit the ground running!
The young writers were introduced to the workshop with the prompt “In which non-Olympic event would you win gold?” The writers regaled our staff and each other with their hidden talents.
We began with an informational introduction and welcome to our young writers from director, Traci Brimhall and our head of the English Department at K-State, Karin Westman. While there were groans at the notion of an icebreaker, young writers quickly warmed up to each other with the question “who is your ideal fictional ice-skating partner?” Traci began with a two-for-one with the strong combination of Edward Cullen from Twilight and Rhysand from the ACOTAR series. Young writers shared a variety of responses, including Ferb from Phineas and Ferb, Gwen Stacy from the Spider-verse series, and several Olafs from Frozen.
Next, young writers selected their composition notebooks for the week, decorated them, and chose names for their (non-competitive) teams. They personalized their notebooks with supplies including stickers and markers to match their creative visions! As the groups mingled over their artistic endeavors, the three group names emerged: Purple Squishy Gorillas or “Mitch,” Steve’s Dragons, and The Fruitlanders.
The first activity planned for the day was a game called Mangaka. Japanese for “comic artist,” the game stipulates the young writers make a page of a comic in five minutes. The version we played had two phases and four total rounds. Young writers drew cards to determine their topic and certain beats in their plot. Points were then allotted for how closely the young writers followed these cards. During the first phase, writers used these cards to create their own comics. Next, the writers exchanged comics and interpreted the stories that they were given. After this first phase, the process was repeated, keeping the same theme and plot cards, while adding new ones to keep the story going. Writers once again shared their quick comics, showing off their talented (and expeditious) artwork.
After the writers calculated their point totals and reflected on their work, we transitioned to the next activity, Fantasy Olympics.
Adapting the game Mafia, instructor Noah Jayne led the group to create the world that we would exist in. Taking inspiration from the 2024 Summer Olympics, the Fantasy Olympics place the young writers in a contest of mythical creatures, all competing for the gold! However, in lieu of the mafia, saboteurs are in the midst, preventing competitors from a myriad of events like Lightsaber Fencing, Wii Bowling, and Minotaur Wrestling. Not even the staff were safe from these interlopers! Luckily, the saboteurs were caught and the Olympic games that the writers are creating can continue.
After lunch, the writers met visiting author from University of Kansas visiting author, Dr. Megan Kaminski.
Dr. Kaminski began by getting to know a little bit about them through asking about a connection they had with nature on their way to the workshop this morning, considering their relationship with the object of that encounter. Then, Dr. Kaminski shifted the young writers’ focus to photographer Terry Evans’ work, considering how a collage composed of photos of the same tree troubles our emotional ties to the image. The young writers interpreted this photo and considered how fractured views of the real world can inspire their own writing.
Next, the young writers read “Instructions on Not Giving Up” by U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón. Several young writers discussed how the poem made them feel, considering how the images of nature inspired these emotions. Using this discussion, the young writers collected cards with artwork of nature images and began engaging with them, gathering information about the plant or animal that they chose. The writers described their subject, both the physical appearance of it and what it feels like. Dr. Kaminski then transitioned to her own work, demonstrating how she has utilized natural images, such as the Blazing Star, to write emotionally rich poetry.
The young writers then shared what they had wrote about their subject, before taking space to write a longer piece inspired by this subject. Writers were then invited to share their inspirations and what they worked on! Poetry, personal narrative, and character study took the forefront, with several writers shared their work for our first large group reading. All writers, both those who shared and didn’t share with the whole group, generated interesting and compelling pieces inspired through nature writing.
Our penultimate activity of the day was a trip to one of the Beach Museum’s many galleries to engage in visual thinking strategies. Educational Specialist Kim Richards led the activity, guiding them to identify specific visual aspects of Norman Akers “Calling for Home,” thinking about what those aspects meant together as a whole. This process prompted the young writers to think about how vivid detailed description can inspire meaning within their work.
Finally, students were guided to other pieces in the gallery for their final prompt of the day. Instructor Aimee led our group to write the worst possible story based on one of the works of art. Aimee explained to the reluctant writers that one of the best ways to break through writers’ block is to simply just write something bad. After some time to work, writers were invited to share their attempts at bad writing. Even though our young writers tried to fail, their work demonstrated strong prose and poetry, emboldening them to share future pieces!
With that, our first day of the 2024 Young Writers’ Workshop came to a close. There was plenty of energy and enthusiasm to go around, shaping this year’s workshop to one of our most exciting yet!
The workshop will only get better from here as our young writers learn and share with one another. Make sure to check in daily to see where the writers go from here on their adventure!
-Eli Long, Program Assistant
K-State Young Writers' Workshop 