Tap into those sensory details: pine needles under feet, the smell of resin, the crash of the ocean, woodland creature scurrying across the forest floor–write your experience with nature! All contest details, rules, and how to enter can be found at

 www.nps.gov/lewi 

Click on “Youth Nature Writing Contest” for more information

Beyond writing I am also a dancer, dance teacher, and choreographer. I love seeing how the two art forms intersect, how you can tell a story through movement.  I’m hoping to grow as a writer, reader, and teacher through my experience with WITS. See you around!

Students in Marie Pearson’s 3-D Design class at Wilson High School wrote puppet shows with WITS writer Cindy Williams Gutierrez and performed their plays (with the puppets they designed) for their next door neighbors at Rieke Elementary.

Interested artists should email a CV outlining why they’d like to be in the course; they should include any collaborative experiences they’ve had.  Applications must be submitted to danae.hutson@pam.org by Feb. 1st.

For more information go to: http://portlandartmuseum.org/page.aspx?pid=439

On Tuesday December 6, Powell’s City of Books hosted the release party for the 2010-2011 WITS anthology of student writing, No One Carries an Umbrella Here. More than 130 students, family members and other community members came out to celebrate student writers reading their poems, plays, prose and comics from the anthology.

The above photo features Lincoln student Lexi Walker reading “A Voice That Darkened with Age.”  Audience members may have recognized another student writer, Jin Mei McMahon from Cleveland High School, who read a piece titled “Her Logic.”  Jin Mei was this year’s winner of the Glimmer Train Prize for Prose.  She “opened” for biographer Stacy Schiff at her Portland Arts and Lectures event this fall.

Stephen Kennedy reading his comic at Powell's

WITS writers Hunt Holman, Mark Pomeroy and Donna Prinzmetal read pieces for students who were not able to attend the event.

Thank you to all the students, teachers, and writers who contributed to the WITS anthology.  A big thank you to Powell’s for hosting!

Tom Brokaw fields questions from Wilson High students.

Tom Brokaw made time during a busy Portland visit to meet with students from Wilson High School at the new Literary Arts event space downtown. He told the student journalists they are coming of age at a critical time. While the future of print journalism is uncertain, Brokaw said he remains optimistic that “the culture of journalism, that of informing US citizens of what is being said around the world in their name, will not change.” Then he opened the floor for student questions, “or answers.”

One visitor remarked that when listening to coverage of the Pearl Harbor attack, she was struck by the emotion in the correspondent’s voice. Asked to name an event that had a similar effect on him, Brokaw said, “9/11. We were as unprepared for 9/11 as they were for Pearl Harbor. Nobody knew what was coming next.” He remembered being focused on getting through the next hour, and telling the audience what was known, without adding speculation.

Students arrived at the meeting with questions already prepared. They had read in class copies of Brokaw’s book, The Greatest Generation, supplied by Literary Arts’ Students to the Schnitz program. They were on their way to his appearance at the Schnitzer that night. After a lively discussion, Brokaw offered his signature advice to those aspiring to a career in journalism, “Have you thought about medicine?”

This November, Figment is teaming up with The National Writing Project to sponsor the Junot Diaz Writing Contest, judged by Pulitzer prize-winning author Junot Diaz.  Figment is an online writing community where you can share your writing, connect with other readers, and discover new stories and authors.  

            Junot Diaz, author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, stands out for his masterful, compelling command of voice; his writing is instantly recognizable as his own. This unique and impressive control of tone has inspired Figment to sponsor a fiction-writing contest which encourages each writer to develop his or her own distinct voice.

The contest is open to writers over the age of 13 in the United States and submissions are being accepted through November 30^th, 2011. Finalists will receive signed copies of Diaz’ books, and the winner will receive a special Oscar Wao Prize Pack You can read the contest rules in full, here.

The theme of this contest is Creating The Narrative Voice, and Figment offers three different prompts to choose from, all geared toward the development of a strong narrative voice:

First Person:
Without naming or describing your narrator, write a story in which you make the narrator’s age, personality, and philosophy/outlook on life evident through his or her voice.

Second Person:
Write a story about an ordinary day in the life of an extraordinary person, such as the president, supermodel, or a homeless boy. Narrate the story entirely in the second person.

Third Person:
Write a story in which you describe a person using only attributes generally considered negative (for example a character who is usually late, sloppy, and mean), but through the voice of your narrator, make that character likable.

In addition to selecting the contest winners, Junot Diaz will be writing a post for the Figment blog about how best to develop your tone, as well as answering your questions on the Figment forum. Post your questions for Junot Diaz here!

This contest is a wonderful opportunity for young writers to share their work in a supportive and stimulating forum, and have the chance to learn from an established and beloved author. To read more about the contest and submission guidelines, or to learn more about Figment, visit their website at www.figment.com.

Good luck to all contestants!

—Acacia, WITS Intern

The winners are selected by faculty and students in the creative writing department at Hollins University. The first place winner will receive a $200 cash prize, free registration, transportation to, and housing for the Lex Allen Literary Festival at Hollins University on March 10, 2012, publication in Cargoes, Hollins’ student literary magazine, and ten copies of Cargoes. Six second-place winners will receive a $25 prize, publication in Cargoes, and two copies of Cargoes.

Contestants must be sophomores or juniors in high school, must have a faculty sponsor, and may submit up to two poems.  All submissions should be made online here before November 15, 2011. For more information about submission requirements, and to read about Hollins University’s creative writing program, visit the contest webpage.

This contest is a great opportunity for young women interested in poetry to share their work and possibly have that work published. Don’t forget to submit online before November 15^th!