Help Support YWA!

With your support, Young Writers Association is able to provide opportunities for kids of all ages to play with words and share their voices with our community.

Please help our hard-working, award-winning non-profit persevere! Your donation allows us to inspire and support our young people’s relationship with the spoken and written word.

For your donation, you receive UpStarts, YWA’s literary publication of Lane County young people, as well as a discount card for 10% off at participating bookstores. And, unless you tell us not to, we will proudly acknowledge your support in UpStarts.

We welcome any donation amount!  Donation form available here.
$10, $35, $50, $100, or more. Please give what you can.
Your donation is tax deductible.

For your gift of $35 or more you receive a YWA card that entitles you to a 10% discount at the following local bookstores:
 • Black Sun Books
 • Books Without Borders
 • Emerald City Comics
 • Smith Family Bookstore
 • Tsunami
 • UO Bookstore

2007-2008 Creative Writing Contest Winners

Winners of YWA’s 2007-2008 Creative Writing Contest "Carnival of Night"

Read the winning work in the Spring 2008 UpStarts!

Read the honorable mentions here!

 Ages 14-18

 • First Place (tie):
--Zoe Livelybrooks, Crow High School, Nightfall in the Mire
--Emily Mangan, Home School , The Nightingale Quilt

• Second Place (tie):
--Flora Winters, Home School , Guardian of the Night
--Bridgett Johnson, HomeSource, What Night Has Brought

Lively Literature Camp Summer 2008

Lively Lit Camp Scholarship Form
City of Eugene Parent Information Letter for Field Trip
City of Eugene Liability Release Form for Field Trip

Young Writers Association and UO Youth Enrichment/TAG Programs present
Sea Dogs and Water Gypsies
Treasure Island, Robinson Crusoe, women pirate tales, Moby Dick
Summer 2008

Young Writers Association Lively Literature Camps are active summer day camps based on great books. This summer, discover rollicking tales of strong men and women, of peg-legs, eyepatches, lace, and a tattooed islander.

-cook inspired by a pirate’s recipe
-draft a cartographer’s treasure map
-invite an oceanographer & marine biologist in to reveal sea wonders
-act dramatic, create a scene
-fashion a ship in a bottle with a shipwright’s skill
-form precious porcelain treasures
-carve sea symbols on soft ivory (soap!)
-croon sea shanties & create swashbuckling maneuvers
-treat families & friends to a culminating festivity

Join a nautical adventure as you and your friends use your imagination to go “places not down in any map; true places
never are.” -Melville

WHO: For young people ages 8-13
WHEN: Monday - Friday from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm
CAMP I - - July 14 - 18, 2008, ages 11-13
CAMP II - - July 21 - 25, 2008, ages 9-10
Camp III - - July 28 – August 1, 2008, ages 8-9
WHERE: University of Oregon, 1533 Moss St. (east side of campus)
COST: $189 for the full five days plus $30 field trip fee (rigging & sailing a long boat)
Tuition is payable by check or credit card.
DEADLINE:   Space is extremely limited so register early!

Help sponsor a camper with  ½ ($94.50) or full ($189) tuition!
Note: Sponsorship is a tax-deductible donation to YWA.
Send to: YWA/Lit Camp, P.O. Box 51538, Eugene, OR 97405

CONTACT CAMP DIRECTORS:
Louisa Lindsay-Sprouse & Frank Sprouse
(541) 485-2259

************

Frequently Asked Questions for YWA Lively Literature Camps

Campers' families are sent a detailed information letter July 1st. The following information is what we know at this time.

General questions:

Can friends visit? No, just parents/guardians. Parents/guardians are welcome to participate

Do you want family adult volunteers or helpers? Not needed, but appreciate the offer.

Will you provide any snacks or food? No. Students bring their own lunch & 2 snacks daily.
For Sea Dogs & Water Gypsies we offer one cooking activity: students make hardtack (ship's biscuits) &
eat w/fresh limes. Those allergic to the following ingredients, choose a different activity: baking soda,
buttermilk, butter, honey, wheat flour & fresh lime.

Field trip questions:

When is the field trip? Wednesdays: 7/16/08 for Camp I  ~ 7/23/08 for Camp II ~ 7/30/08 for Camp III

Where is the field trip? Excursion to Fern Ridge Lake, Orchard Point

What will happen? Campers working in small groups will rotate through various outdoor stations--
ex:  solve how to create sails for a long boat & sail as a team  with City of Eugene River House Staff
ex: learn swashbuckling maneuvers & piratical songs or weave a basket out of tough lakeside grass

Who provides the water safety? City of Eugene River House Staff

Is transportation provided? Yes--
Parents sign in/out with a camp leader at LTD EUGENE STATION, 1080 Willamette St.,
OR let Louisa & Frank know and sign in/out at Orchard Point Marina 

Do campers bring anything special? Look at River House info letter for details. Sun screen & bottled water is important for a full day outdoors

What do campers wear? Look at River House info letter for details & dress for the weather.
Note: Students must wear River House-provided life jackets & wear water shoes (not flip flops) anytime they are on or in the water.

Is the field trip the same 9 to 4 time? Sign-in time is 9am, pick up time is usually later than 4pm because of the city bus schedule.  Expect a detailed information letter post marked July 1st.

Can family members attend the field trip? Parents & guardians are welcome to join in.

Can friends attend the field trip? No, just parents/guardians.

Teen Writing Camp

One-week, afternoon day camp in the outdoors

When: July 14-18, 2008, Monday – Friday, 1:00-4:00 pm

What: Meet with a different published author every afternoon for a week (see list of authors below). Explore the craft of creative writing inspired by favorite works that these writers turn/return to for artistic sustenance. In the fine company of peers, the Willamette River and the Oregon sky let the pleasure of words lead the way.

Note: afternoon snack, and writing journals provided

Who: Ages 14-18, limited to 10 participants

Bring: 1.) Outdoor clothes appropriate to the weather 2.) Your imagination

Cost: $90, two partial scholarships awarded

Where: Alton Baker Park picnic structure

Click here for registration form

Click here for scholarship form

Please keep in mind space is extremely limited so register early!

Teen Writing Camp leaders-- five days, five writers:

Monday: YWA's creative writing mentor for high school students is Carter McKenzie. Among the publications her work has appeared in are Fire Weed, The Lucid Stone, Black Buzzard Review, Hipfish, and Raising Our Voices: an anthology of Oregon poets against the war. She is the author of Naming Departure, a chapbook of poetry published by Traprock Books. She lives in Dexter, Oregon, with her daughters Ryan and Eavan.

Tuesday: YWA's teen writing mentor for fantasy & science fiction is Nina Kiriki Hoffman. Nina has sold more than two hundred stories and a number of novels. Her works have been finalists for the Nebula, World Fantasy, Mythopoeic, Sturgeon, and Endeavour awards. A STIR OF BONES, a young adult fantasy novel, made the American Library Association list of books for the teen reader, and the New York Public Library list of books for teens. Nina lives in Oregon and has cats.

Wednesday: Tim Volem is a retired high school English teacher who now has the leisure to write poetry and play guitar more frequently. He has published poems in the English Journal, Tiger's Eye, and Carapace and has occasionally participated in local poetry readings. He is also active in the blues-in-the-schools program being offered by Eugene's Rainy Day Blues Society.

Thursday: Jon Labrousse's first paid 'poetry gig' was singing written-to-order telegrams for Boss's Day and other important holidays back when he was an English major at OSU. The money was just 'okay,' but he learned a valuable lesson: nothing beats the way it feels when your words make people laugh. Even if you have to resort to silly costumes to pull it off. Jon's a part-time high school teaching, writer-dad with a penchant for performance. (And he's not afraid to use it!)

Friday: Norma (Bean) Comrada has translated a wide range of works by the Czech writer Karel Capek (1890-1928) - whose 1920 play R.U.R. gave the whole world the word "robot."  Her translations have received critical acclaim here and abroad.  She often talks about Capek's life and work with high school and university classes, community groups, and at Slavic Studies conferences, based on research and interviews conducted in Prague, London, Paris, and the U.S.

Teacher's Choice

Lane County Teachers!

Sometimes grades aren’t enough to acknowledge the efforts of accomplished young writers. Publish them!

Submit ONE standout student writing sample from the school year-- Just one--THE poem, story, whatever, that knocked your socks off.

Local authors will judge the submissions, and we will publish the top 20 young writers’ work in the fall edition of UpStarts Literary Magazine.

Guidelines:
DEADLINE: Postmarked JUNE 1,
Send one COPY (not original) of your single outstanding student choice.
Include the student’s name and age.
Include your contact info: Name, School, Grade(s) taught, School Address, School Phone number, and e-mail address.

Mail to: YWA/Teacher’s Choice, PO Box 51538 Eugene, OR 97405 Questions: Louisa: 485-2259, ywalouisa@aol.com

See Details

YWA Mixed Voices CD Anthology 1996-2006

This project was supported in part by a grant from the Oregon Cultural Trust, investing in Oregon's arts, humanities and heritage.

YWA's Mixed Voices CD is a compilation of Lane County kids reading their own writing for radio. Currently, and for the past decade YWA has invited Lane County school-aged authors to pen topical writing for broadcasting during Northwest Passage 89.7 FM, KLCC's 4:00 PM news program. Mixed Voices is aired on the last Monday of each month. Thanks to a grant from the Oregon Cultural Trust, YWA has gleaned from an archival trove of Mixed Voices programs to give you this spoken word CD anthology of Lane County young people.

Who is the Mixed Voices CD Anthology for? Everyone. Enjoy poetry or short literary works from a range of ages and backgrounds. Notice how one topic brings forth diverse responses. Listen to each voice, vulnerable and clear-- the breath of the author in and out as the sound of words sweep, burst, growl, or saunter into the air. Teachers and young writers: find a topic on the CD that fits what you are thinking about, use it to inspire creative writing, lively discussion or a research project exploring issues raised by the work.

Interested in ordering copies of YWA's Mixed Voices Anthology CD? Each CD is $6.
Your Name:
Title:
Name of School:
District:
Mailing Address:
Phone:
E-mail:
Number of CD's requested:
Amount enclosed: $

Please mail to Young Writers Association
Post Office Box 51538
Eugene, OR 97405

History: In 1996 Young Writers Association proposed the MIXED VOICES program to KLCC public radio station, Eugene, Oregon, as a program for short poems and prose pieces spoken aloud to showcase authors of all ages. KLCC’s program director Don Hein, and chief newsman, Tripp Sommers liked the way Mixed Voices matched their idea of community radio and generously trained YWA board members to produce the show. Since January 1997 Mixed Voices has aired monthly during KLCC’s news program, NORTHWEST PASSAGE. Tune your radio to 89.7 on the last Monday of the month, at 4PM (during NORTHWEST PASSAGE) to hear MIXED VOICES.

CD PARTICIPANTS

2007-2008 Thank Yous

YWA donations 2007-2008

Albertsons
Sarkis & Karen Antikajian 
R-Lou Barker
Dan Carol & Joyce Berman 
Bill Bishop & Janice Jurisich
Douglas Brown/Ann Fulkerson
Raymond Byne Jr.  
Gaylene Carpenter 
Terry & Lynne Copperman
Karen Crocker-Wensel  
Quintin Ehley
Engelmann Family  
Dave Eshelman
Essex General Construction, Inc
Fern Ridge Library
Caryn A. Gagarin 
Mary Ginnane, in honor of Youth Service staff, Eugene Public Library 
Margaret Hadaway & George Jobanek
Bob Helm
Linda & Bridgett Johnson 
Scott Maier & Judith Shaw
Duncan & Jane McDonald
Norman Narin 
Alice Parman  
Sharon & Michael Posner
Marta Powers 
Dean Rea 
John & Nola Reed
Janet & Richard Reed 
Elizabeth Reis
The Register-Guard
Marc & Pam Rogge 
Robert & Peggy Rubinstein
Ingrid Wendt & Ralph Salisbury 
Nicole Sanders
Saturday Market 
Linda Simmons 
Catherine Smith
Sunrise Asian Food Market 
Gleason & Ulum
Judy & Tim Volem
Wyatt Waggoner/Celestia Templeton 
Deborah & Randall Wells
Wolfram family
Anonymous

Thank you!