We are not making up this story: Young Writers Institute seeking creative kids

The Young Writers Institute is looking for kids in 4th through 12th grade who want to take their poetry, fiction, flash fiction, memoirs and other writing to the next level. The Institute is teaming with the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust to hold its Winter sessions beginning Jan. 28. Registration deadline is Jan. 23.

This is not an academic program, says Matthew Luskey, director of the Western Pennsylvania Writing Project at the University of Pittsburgh, where the Institute has been run for many years. Think creative writing, he says. Still, with students learning the art of journaling, drafting, and revising on their way to a fun final product, “that whole process approach to writing is helpful for school.”

Sessions will be held on six consecutive Saturdays downtown in the Cultural Trust’s education center, which has “a really a nice space for the kids to write in,” says Luskey. It also has the black-box Peirce Theater, where students will share writing in a celebration at the end of the program. Families can attend and the entire event will be filmed – plus, student writing will be collected into an online anthology.

Scholarships are available for up to 20 percent of students.

Writer: Marty Levine

Source: Matthew Luskey, Western Pennsylvania Writing Project