Creative writing summer camps at UNCA announced

Press release from UNC Asheville:

UNC Asheville will offer two creative writing summer camps – Write Now for high school students, and All Things Writing for middle school students – with separate sessions for each age group in June and July.  These week-long programs are designed for writers of all skill levels and offer instruction and experience with many different styles.

Sessions for each of the two camps will be offered June 20-24 and July 18-22, from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. with an early drop-off option beginning at 9 a.m. Faculty for the creative writing camps have extensive experience in teaching of writing, journalism, humor, fiction, drama and poetry:

Mike Cronin (All Things Writing, July session) covers the local economy for the Asheville Citizen-Times. In 18 years as a journalist, Cronin has worked at major newspapers and broadcast media outlets all over the country. In 2014, he was part of an investigative journalism team at Minnesota Public Radio that won several awards, including the Story of the Year Award from the Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists.

Peg Downes (All Things Writing, June session) is professor emeritus in English at UNC Asheville. After beginning her career as a middle-school teacher, she taught a wide range of graduate and undergraduate courses at the university over three decades.

Kelly Merritt (All Things Writing and Write Now, June session only) is a novelist and lifestyle journalist specializing in culinary and travel writing. Among her works is The Everything Guide to Budget Travel (Adams Media Corporation, 2011) and the upcoming thriller, Flight. She has taught writing classes at universities, workshops, and through mentoring has helped young people begin their own writing careers.

Delana Parker (All Things Writing, July session) is a veteran teacher with licensure in AIG education who has served as an adjunct faculty member in UNC Asheville’s Department of Education. She has taught the university’s SAT and GRE Prep courses for more than a decade.

Jamieson Ridenhour (All Things Writing, both sessions) is novelist, playwright, poet and filmmaker. His works include Barking Mad (Typecast Publishing, 2011), a comedy werewolf murder-mystery; In Darkest London (Scarecrow Press, 2012), an academic study of Gothic London; and the play Grave Lullaby.

Jennifer McGaha (Write Now, July session) is an instructor in UNC Asheville’s Great Smokies Writing Program and has also taught at Brevard College. Her creative nonfiction, essays and humor pieces have appeared in dozens of blogs, magazines, and journals including The Chronicle of Higher Education, Baltimore Fishbowl, The Brooklyner, Lumina and The Huffington Post. 

Megan Shepherd (Write Now, both sessions) won the 2013 North Carolina Young Adult Book Award with her debut novel The Madman’s Daughter (Baltzer + Bray, 2013). She has since added two books to the Madman’s Daughter series and launched another series with a new bestseller, The Cage (Balzer + Bray, 2015). Her Secret Horses of Briar Hill is slated for publication in October.

Eric Steineger (Write Now, both sessions) teaches English at Mars Hill University and in UNC Asheville’s Great Smokies Writing Program. He is the poetry editor of The Citron Review, and his work has been featured in Tinderbox, The Los Angeles Review, Redheaded Stepchild and Asheville Poetry Review.

 

Tuition for each week-long session is $265, which includes all materials and snacks. Students are expected to bring their own lunches. For more information and a downloadable registration form, visit professionaleducation.unca.edu/writenow or contact Nancy Williams at nwilliam@unca.edu or 828.250.2353.