Creative-Writing-in-the-Schools Scheduled for 7 Sites

The Nature of Words will deliver its creative writing workshops to 7 Central Oregon student groups this academic year

For Immediate Release

Contact: Ellen Waterston, Executive Director
The Nature of Words
Phone: 541.330.4381
Email: info@thenatureofwords.org
Website: www.thenatureofwords.org

Bend, OR. March 21, 2010. The Nature of Words Creative-Writing-in-the-Schools program will deliver creative writing workshops to students throughout Central Oregon by the end of the academic year in May. All told, more than 150 students at seven sites will have an opportunity to practice their creative writing skills in fiction, nonfiction and poetry. In addition, students will have an opportunity to present their work in community assembly programs and see their writing published in an anthology. Workshop sites include Crook County High School, Sisters Middle School, Paulina Elementary School, Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council's (COIC) GED program, Sisters High School, Bend-La Pine Schools' Teen Parent Program and Deer Ridge Correctional Institution in Madras.

The student presentation assemblies, titled Words Without Walls, scheduled to date include COIC: April 13, time to be announced; Paulina Elementary School: April 28, 3:00 p.m.; and Sisters Middle School: April 30, time to be announced. A Words Without Walls assembly was held on March 11 at Crook County High School.

Students who participate in the creative writing program, as well as those in The Nature of Words' (NOW) Storefront Project drop-in creative writing workshops, are candidates for NOW's Rising Star Creative Writing Competition. Complete details about the competition are available at www.thenatureofwords.org. Click on Writing Contest. Submissions are due by June 10, 2010. Prizes are awarded in age groups 15-18 and 19-25 in four categories: fiction, nonfiction, poetry and nature essays.

Now in its second year, the Creative-Writing-in-the-Schools program is taught by instructors who are also published authors. A series of intensive workshops, which are tailored to each student group, help to improve critical thinking skills, provide a way to articulate their life experiences, discover their writing talent, and develop lifetime readers. The program targets students in traditional academic environments and those in alternative educational settings. The workshop curriculum applies proven principles from programs such as Portland's Writers in the Schools, and rubrics established by the State of Oregon for creative writing instruction.

The Creative-Writing-in-the-Schools program is made possible by the generosity of the Oregon Community Foundation, the Roundhouse Foundation for Sisters schools, Les Schwab Tire Centers for Crook County schools, Central Oregon Community College, Oregon State University-Cascades Campus, and numerous business and individual contributors.

About The Nature of Words
Now entering its sixth year, the mission of The Nature of Words is to foster an appreciation of the literary arts and humanities in the High Desert region of the Northwest through community interaction with acclaimed authors, and through creative writing programs for high school and college-age students in the region. The Nature of Words annual literary festival will occur November 3-7, 2010. For more information, visit www.thenatureofwords.org, call 541.330.4381 or email info@thenatureofwords.org.

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