Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Calling all Young Writers: The SJK School for Young Writers offers online courses

I was a writing kid.  I read my brains out.  My desk, bed and floor were strewn with books, and I filled notebook after notebook with my own stories, poems and journals. The only people who knew about my writing ambitions were my English teachers.  That was it. 

Fast forward to 2010.  Kids now read books and fire up their computers to interact with the author’s website.  Skype visits are a possibility (I wrote about Art Slade, here, doing just that.)  I’ve used this blog to communicate with students reading my books. It’s a new world for young readers and writers.

SJK SYW Get ready, because the next step is the virtual writing workshop, which the new  SJK School for Young Writers offers with its slate of 12-week courses, beginning September 2010.  Aspiring young writers can focus on writing fiction, poetry, plays, and personal essays with expert instructors, including award-winning authors Marsha Skrypuch and Vern Thiessen, among others.  Using email and secure blog, young writers can practice their craft, anywhere, anytime. And their “teacher” is, virtually, right beside them.

The School offers partnerships too, with What If? (Canada’s Fiction Magazine for Teens) and the University of Guelph’s CFRU radio show, The Poem Repair Shop.

The SJK School for Young Writers is the inspiration of educator Adrian Hoad-Reddick, who serves as the School’s creative director (and poetry mentor, btw!)  Check out the website.  Send young writers to take a look.   The SJK School for Young Writers has something to offer young writers – anywhere and anytime.

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