July 11–August 21
Three two-week sessions

Session I July 11–24
Course # YYWF Ø1-Ø2

Session II July 25–Aug. 7
Course # YYWF Ø3-Ø4

Session III Aug. 8–21
Course # YYWF Ø5-Ø6

Culmination: Student Reading
     Saturday, July 24, 10 a.m.
     Saturday, August 7, 10 a.m.
     Saturday, August 21, 10 a.m.

This summer’s intensive fiction workshop will focus on expanding students’ awareness of their craft as storytellers. “To make it memorable” is both the goal of each narrator in a story and the yearning of the writer who chooses the words. This workshop is for young writers who savor the creative use of language, and have an insatiable desire to learn more about how to make their stories convincing. Each student is expected to write or substantially revise stories or chapters of longer projects throughout the course of the workshop. In signing up for this workshop, each student acknowledges that she or he is capable of producing, on her or his own initiative, at least 500 words a day of writing.

Each two-week workshop will meet a minimum of four hours per day, Monday through Friday, with a shorter meeting on Saturday morning. Individual conferences with the instructor can be scheduled following the afternoon workshop. The annual culminating event of each workshop is the Saturday morning reading at the end of the second week, at which students will read a portion of their projects.

Morning and afternoon classes will include sustained discussion of the writing the students have produced during their writing periods. The tone of this discussion will always grow out of a respect for the effort required to produce well-written imaginative stories. Students are encouraged, but not required, to bring with them ten to twelve pages of creative writing they have done at some point in their lives. The emphasis in this workshop, however, is on producing as many drafts of new work as possible.

This workshop will also include the opportunity to expand the range of one’s daily reading, which is an essential part of the development of any writer’s capacity to grow as an artist. The instructor will provide a lengthy, comprehensive, and eclectic reading list that will recommend books far beyond the usual citations of writers such as Melville, Borges, Proulx, Stone, Flaubert, Wolf, Joyce, Zola and Hurston. The types of fiction explored in this intensive workshop will range from the popular genres to the kinds of stories rooted in classical as well as experimental approaches to literature. No matter which direction students end up taking as writers, this workshop will provide groundwork for the exploration of the reality of the imagination. Throughout the meetings, the instructor will interweave his knowledge of the methods by which a young writer turns the aspiration to become a writer into an actual career.

Tuition, room and board: $2550 per session
Enrollment limited to 10 students.

Bill Mohr
Kim Henderson

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Poetry Workshop - Power of the Word
Open to students ages 14–18

July 25 –August 7
Course # YYWP Ø3-Ø4
Two-week session

Culmination: Student Reading
Saturday, August 7, 10 a.m.

A stimulating workshop for anyone with a serious interest in writing poetry—from beginning students to those experienced young writers who wish to hone their craft and technique. The only prerequisite is a fascination with the written and spoken word, a love of language in all its strange and wonderful possibilities. We’ll read and discuss contemporary poetry, explore what poetry is and where it comes from, and experiment with different styles and various methods to “jump-start” the creative process.

The goal of the workshop is to help each student discover his or her own poetic voice and sources of personal inspiration. Students will be exposed to a wide range of poetry, with an emphasis on the American idiom—poetry written in the language we speak. They’ll be encouraged to write from their own experiences and perceptions, to use poetry as a tool for self-expression and discovery. While the emphasis will be on the creative process, students will produce at least one new poem per day. In an informal workshop setting, these poems will be read aloud and critiqued by the instructor and the class, giving students the opportunity to respond to one another’s work and receive constructive feedback from their peers.

The class will meet five hours a day, six days a week. Other activities may include an afternoon picnic/hike. At the end of the two weeks, we’ll produce an anthology of student poems and present a reading for the school community. Everyone should bring notebooks, writing instruments and one collection of poetry they admire. Participants will have access to the Idyllwild Arts computer lab in the afternoon, so that they can prepare assignments and revisions of poems for class critique.

Tuition, room and board: $2550
Enrollment limited to 10 students.

Ed Skoog