Young writers can ‘YAWP’ through summer at ASU

Young Adult Writing Program allows grades 3-12 to explore the power of writing

Students in ASU English's youth writing program engage in a "writing marathon" during a 2015 session.

Sisters Ziqing Kuang, 10, and Christina Kuang, 7, share a chair in Old Main as they write short pieces about the building as part last year's youth writing program at ASU. The Department of English at ASU offers a two-week summer youth writing camp for students in grades 3-12 on the West, Tempe and Polytechnic campuses. Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now

By Kristen LaRue-Sandler |
May 13, 2016

“I too am not a bit tamed — I too am untranslatable;
I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world.”
— Walt Whitman, from “Leaves of Grass”

Need an enriching, arts-based summer activity for your children? Look no further than ASU’s YAWP.

The Arizona State University Young Adult Writing Program (YAWP — formerly “rl txt”) is designed to offer young writers a non-evaluative environment in which to explore the power of writing. The program is accepting applications from kids in grades 3-12 for its two-week sessions beginning in June.

A component of the Central Arizona Writing Project, which is a local site of the National Writing Project, YAWP sessions engage young writers in crafting a variety of writing forms, such as poems, autobiographical sketches, heart maps, short stories, arguments, nature/science observations, craft secrets and daily writing workshops. Each camper chooses a piece of writing for publication in the camp anthology.

YAWP is staffed by veteran K-12 English teachers who have completed the Central Arizona Writing Project's Invitational Summer Institute in teaching composition and critical literacy to become teacher-consultants.

Offering time and inspiration, YAWP sessions support writers in a collaborative atmosphere as they interact with other youth authors and share works in progress.

“This year’s Young Adult Writing Program will take full advantage of our dynamic and innovative university and local writing community,” said Jessica Early, an associate professor in the Department of English and director of YAWP.

“Our young writers will visit and take inspiration from ASU’s Marston Exploration Theater 3-D Astronomy Show, Hayden Library, the ASU Art Museum and many more campus venues. They will also take part in writing workshops taught by our incredible instructional team as well as ASU professors and Arizona novelists, poets and songwriters.”

As they sit and reflect on Palm Walk, with 10-year-old Javier Mendez in front, 13 third- through fifth-graders participate in a writing marathon at the Tempe campus June 5, 2015. The Department of English at ASU offers two-week summer youth writing camps for students in grades 3-12 on the West, Tempe and Polytechnic campuses.

Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now
Eight-year-old Tamsin Hurlbut writes her thoughts after walking over the University Bridge on ASU's Tempe campus during the 2015 session of YAWP (then named "rl txt").

Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now

YAWP 2016 is offered Mondays-Fridays, from 9 a.m. to noon daily, in four sessions on three ASU campuses. Parents choose just one in which their children will participate:

Tempe campus: for grades 3-12

Session A: June 6-17
Session B: June 20-July 1

Polytechnic campus: June 6-17 for grades 3-12
West campus: June 6-17 for grades 3-8 only

Registration closes May 20. Tuition is $300 and is due at YAWP orientation on May 25 on the Tempe campus. Visit the program’s website for more information or to download an application.