Writopia Westchester/Greenwich, Quick Facts Our Westchester workshops (ages 9-12) are divided into small, age-based groups that meet weekly, 10 times per semester in White Plains, beginning Monday, September 22nd (new location, TBA). Since our workshops are so small, we are able to tailor the schedule to meet the needs of our families. Participants can also enter their polished writing into prestigious writing contents or submit them for publication. Writopia kids garnered more national awards from the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards in 2008 than did any other group of students in the country! Westchester workshops culminate in a public reading at a local bookstore and participants may also take part in Writopia NYC events in Bryant Park. Please feel free to email us questions or suggestions. We are new to the area and are excited about sharing and learning as much as we can. FALL WORKSHOPS Mondays: 3:30pm-4:45noon ages 9-10 4:45pm-6:00pm 11-12 How to Join Please call Rebecca at 212-706-1239 or email her at Rebecca @ WritopiaLab.org (no spaces). Five-Day Workshop Fee $495 Sliding Scale Options: | $495 | $350 | $250 | Four-Day Workshop Fee $425 Sliding scale options: | $425 | $300 | $225| About the Sliding Scale Fees WritopiaLab operates with limited resources, relying heavily on support from the community to sustain our programs. So we ask those who can afford to pay full price to do so. However, we realize that not everyone can afford the fee, so we have determined a sliding scale that includes a range of tuition amounts. Please consider your family income, resources, and dependents in the household when determining the appropriate fee for your child. This process is honor-based and confidential. Since we do not require any supporting documentation, we hope that you are honest in your assessment. Who We Are Kat Albert Writing Instructor Kat@WritopiaLab.org Kat Albert teaches Writopia Lab fiction workshop in Westchester. She completed her Master of Arts in Writing at Manhattanville College in Purchase, New York. Her children’s fiction and creative nonfiction were presented at the Summer Writer’s Week at Manhattanville. Her short story, “Reference Point” was published in Inkwell Literary Journal. She has presented writing workshops in the Byram Hills school district in Armonk, New York. She is currently working on a young adult novel. What They're Saying "I really enjoyed the June 9th-13th Writopia workshop with Rachel. I loved how we got to write a story and work hard to make it come to life. My favorite part was the little fun exercises which we did like the poem and the supermarket story. I liked the room which we were in because it was extremely cozy and the chairs were very comfortable; they made it seem more special. I also liked how it was not all writing... we also were able to read and comment of each other's stories. Finally, I liked how the group was so small." --Isobel Hepsworth, 14 "At first I was nervous about people reading my writing but at the end of the week I didn't mind. I liked the fun exercises, too, and how we would write for a bit then send the story to each other, and then discuss the things we liked and the things we were confused about." --Immy Hepsworth, 12 "My favorite part of Writopia was that Kat taught me how to think and write in a different way about stories, poems, and short brainstorming. I learned that my most comfortable style is humor, action and dialogue."--Julia Song, 10 "My favorite thing about Writopia was that I got to learn a lot about how I write and just find my own style! Kat taught me that everybody can write because writing comes from somewhere deep inside you that everyone has. But no one has your special unique way of observation."--Anika Narai, 9 The Highlights At the culmination of each workshop, there will be a public reading at a bookstore near Armonk, NY or in Greenwich, CT. During this exciting event, Writopia Lab's writers share their work with friends, relatives, and with others who come in response to listings in various media. The Workshops Workshops house a maximum of six participants. Weekly sessions are peppered with original and fun writing exercises, but focus primarily on writing--and completing--stories. Each time we meet, students bring copies of the newest drafts of their work to share with the group. They quietly review each other's work--circling the parts or lines they enjoy most along with the sections that they think can be improved--and then share these ideas with the group. Within a few sessions, students comfortably and easily provide insightful feedback to their peers. Workshops typically focus on one or two genres, but teen writers often explore two or three genres depending on their interests including: 1) Fiction (realistic fiction, fanstasy, science fiction, or historical fiction) 2) Non-fiction (memoir or journalism) 3) Screenwriting and Playwriting (short or long, comedic or dramatic scripts for film or stage) 4) Poetry In the fiction and memoir workshops, students brainstorm story ideas, discuss the logic of various structural choices and the virtues of applying key literary tools such as metaphors and similes. Ultimately, students complete polished pieces of writing. These workshops culminate in public readings at local bookstores. Students who choose to write journalistic pieces learn how to write (and pitch!) feature stories and opinion pieces, and, by the end of the workshop, some may publish their stories in school papers or publications of their choice. In the playwriting and screenwriting workshops, students learn techniques, gain tools, and master the structure of each form. By the end of the workshop, students will have turned ideas into scripts, moving from the page to the stage. The workshops will culminate in staged readings of the students' work at a theater in New York City. Students may also submit their work to festivals and competitions such as Stephen Sondheim's Young Playwrights, Inc. National Competition. While we do not offer a specific poetry workshop, each workshop group has the option to schedule a short poetry session at each meeting. Prestigious writing competitions serve as motivational and inspirational devices for most of the writing workshops. Over the last three years, dozens of Writopia Lab's students have won silver and gold regional and national awards from Scholastic's Art and Writing Awards in almost every genre of writing. Rebecca is a regional and national judge for this competition. Dan is a judge for (and 2002 winner of) The Philadelphia Young Playwrights Festival, and was a 2003 Finalist in Stephen Sondheim's Young Playwrights Inc. National Competition. Most importantly, though, the workshops have enabled a community of young writers to find each other, connect via their literary passions, and have lots of fun. IN THEIR OWN WORDS: "The workshop was amazing! I learned so much about writing short stories, articles and poetry in just two weeks. It was wonderful having this experience and a great time all at once. I'd do it again for sure!" —Rebecca, 14, A.J. Heschel Middle School, Scholastic Silver Keys Winner in Poetry and Short Story, 2007 "The workshop was an amazing experience! While expressing your creativity and building your skills, you were chilling and laughing the whole time! I am so glad I was a part of it... My work began to transform to art." —Milana, 14, A.J. Heschel School, Scholastic Regional Gold Keys Winner for two memoirs, 2007 "Rebecca has amazing lingual intuition – she knows how words feel and sound, and this enables her to work with all kinds of writing, from short stories to poems to essays... When she makes a suggestion, she is not offended if you don’t agree. She listens and considers your perspective as the writer. She can give general ideas and overall feedback as well as specific analysis, so that the writer is free to use her ideas but interpret them and write them their own way... Rebecca is an awesome (for lack of a more specific word of praise) editor and writer, and an equally amazing person. The gift of working with her is a double bonus – her amazing skill as a writer and editor, and her warm, smiling, funny, happy, wonderful personality." —Noa Bendit-Shtull, 15, Bard College High School, Scholastic National Gold Key Winner, 2006. Check out Noa's story on the Scholastic site.