Author: Sarah

My lovely Story Explorers invented some brilliant new worlds and characters last week. I wish I always had that much fun when I create stories.

Story Explorers is a four part class that I devised for first and second graders. We roll up our sleeves and explore stories from many different angles and perspectives. We read picture books. We tell stories, orally and on paper using pictures and words. We investigate themes, ideas and inspiration from our readings with interactive exercises, games, art, craft, and play. And we have fun. Lots of fun.

Spent a happy two weeks marinating story ideas, generating characters and developing plots with some talented 7th and 8th graders. Here are some of the (many) books we discussed.

What would you do in your last 8 minutes 20 seconds on Earth after the sun exploded? Click on the link to my competitions page to read the winning entry by Ella Happel who wrote an excellent, tense, tight story about what happened in her world. I have celebrated the excellent submissions by the ribbon winning students, too. A truly talented bunch of storytellers.

Interested in reading my latest review for the Awfully Big Blog Adventure? Click here to find out what I thought about Mary’s Monster by Lita Judge. (Hint: I liked it. A lot).

I took part in the second Mining the Story: Writers’ Retreat at Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts last weekend. Mineral Point is an old mining town in Wisconsin, now metamorphosed into a vibrant artist community. The place hums with ideas and creativity. Some great stories started to germinate and grow in my generative workshop in writing for young people. Thank you to all those enthusiastic participants who put away their adult selves for a while and delved back into the world of their childhoods. I have to confess, I loved introducing you to British classics, like The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, and new American classics, such as I’ll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson.

I also learned about the relationship between art and storytelling in Philip Hartigan’s playful mark-making workshop — it is surprisingly helpful to deepen a sense of story — and about literary magazines with the founder of Hypertext Magazine, Christine Maul Rice, and artistic director Patricia McNair. Participants also took in-depth classes on the Short Story (Christine Maul Rice), Memoir (Patricia McNair) and the Novel (Shawn Shiflett). There was the option to create candy box books with Judith Sutcliffe and Philip Hartigan, and receive individual feedback on writing in one-to-one manuscript consultations.

A sense of community and fun was fostered over the weekend at the readings by both faculty and participants. The retreat will run again next year. It is something of a hidden gem.

See a clip of the opening of the retreat below (thanks Philip, for the video and photos).

 

Opening of 2nd Mineral Point Writers Retreat @ShakeRagAlleyMP, with director/instructor @PatriciaAMcNair pic.twitter.com/2Q8InpUisR

— Philip Hartigan (@PhilipHartigan) April 29, 2018

 

There’s a lot to love about Leaf, written and illustrated by Sandra Dieckmann. Click here to read my review.

Are you a budding young writer? Could you be the next J. K. Rowling or J. R. R. Tolkien? Come along to my Story-Builder Workshop at the Beverly Arts Center and flex your creativity! For more details, click here for the Spring Program 2018 (see the Visual Arts Section). For young people aged 9-11 (Sat. April 14, 10am-12pm) and aged 12+ (Sat. April 21, 10am-12pm).

Was thrilled to discover this Brazilian review of The Night Sky In My Head. It is still astonishing to learn that my little story is travelling to places I have yet to visit.

This is my first book review in 2018 — a great choice for middle grade readers who are in the mood for an unusual, thought-provoking ghost story.  Click here for my review.

Interested in carving out some dedicated writing time in lovely surroundings, while learning more about the craft of telling stories? The second annual Writers’ Retreat at the Shake Rag Alley School of Arts is scheduled for 27-29 April 2018. It is open to writers of all levels. I’ll be running a workshop in writing for young people. To find out more, click here.