K-State Young Writers' Workshop

As all other things must, we have come to the end of the 2024 Young Writers’ Workshop. What a time it has been! The young writers explored a range of topics and mediums. From poetry, to prose, to writing for the stage, our staff has been impressed at every step of the way at the … Continue reading Bookmaking, the End of the Fantasy Olympics, and the Final Reading: Day 5 of the 2024 Young Writers’ Workshop

For Day 4, food was on the menu. After answering the question “What fictional place would you represent at the Olympics?”, Noah led the young writers in an activity all about food in fiction. Starting with some classic scenes of eating in movies, including Ratatouille, Kung Fu Panda, and The Hobbit, Noah asked the young … Continue reading Fictional Food, Dynamic Characters, and Setting the Scene: Day 4 of the 2024 Young Writers’ Workshop

We’ve rapidly approached the halfway point of the workshop with another fantastic day. Wednesday brought new types of writing, including world-building, character creation, and theater. Young writers began the day with the question “If you win a gold medal, what song is your anthem?” As always, the young writers gave creative answers ranging from classics … Continue reading Improv, Mapmaking, and Building a Great Character: Day 3 of the 2024 Young Writers’ Workshop

Our second day opened just as our first did, with a question to get our young writers warmed up:  “Who/what are the marathon runners running from?” Writers gave a variety of reasons ranging from the abstract, such as “their problems/responsibilities,” to the concrete, such as “vampires.” After the young writers flexed their writing muscles, Aimee … Continue reading Feeling First, Collaborative Poetry, and Blackout Poetry: Creativity and Craft in Day 2 of the 2024 Young Writers’ Workshop

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 … Continue reading Nature, Poetry, and the Fantasy Olympics: Day 1 of the 2024 Young Writers’ Workshop

With our workshop only a short weekend away, the instructors leading the 2024 Young Writers’ Workshop have been hard at work preparing a fun and engaging schedule full of activities. As always, we hope that this will be our best and most productive year yet. We are all very excited to meet this year's group … Continue reading Introducing the 2024 Staff!

Today was the final day of the Young Writers’ Workshop and we had a blast! From the scavenger hunt to the final reading, the day was filled with good vibes, energy, and excitement. To start the day, the young writers pondered the question: What was your favorite part of the week? With an overwhelming number … Continue reading The Closing Chapter: The Fighting Platypi Graduate and the Young Writers Share their Work

It’s hard to believe today is already Thursday! With only one day of our workshop left, our young writers are making the most of each and every activity and are preparing to share their work tomorrow. To get started thinking about fiction, today’s starting question was: “What fictional world would you want to live in?” … Continue reading Tapping into Creativity: Bookmaking, Embracing Kairos, and Revision

It’s already Wednesday, which means the Young Writers’ Workshop is halfway over! We are soaking up every last moment we have together with a jam-packed day today. Our young writers began with the starting question: How would a bee describe a flower? My favorite answer is that the bee wouldn’t be able to put it … Continue reading The Power in Poetry: Ekphrastic Poetry, Epistolary Poetry, and Embracing the Abstract