Writing+Opportunities


 * Miami-Dade Public Library System ****  Young Adult Writer-in-Residence Program In Full Swing! ** Twenty aspiring teen authors are spending the next three months perfecting their writing skills through the //Young Adult Writer-in-Residence// program. The //Writer-in-Residence// program provides them with the opportunity to be mentored by award-winning Young Adult author Kekla Magoon. The program is made possible by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and is designed to inspire teens to express themselves through their writings. Ms. Magoon is the recipient of the America Library Association’s Coretta Scott King – John Steptoe Award for New Talent and is the author of //The Rock and the River; Camo Girl; 37 This I Love (in no particular order);// and //Fire in the Streets//. Each week, the teens meet in small groups at a branch library where Ms. Magoon guides them through the creative writing process and provides them with feedback on how to improve their skills and how to get into the writing profession. At the end of the program, the teens will have their writings printed and bound and added to the Library System’s collection. For more information about the //Young Adult Writer-in-Residence// program, visit http://www.mdpls.org/residence/residence.asp



Empowering Teens To Tell Their Stories Through Technology The YOUmedia Miami program is building on the role libraries play as places of innovation and exploration and for the more than 200 teens it’s a place where they can ‘geek out,’ get creative and feel a sense of community. The program teaches teens to use technology as a way to tell their stories and engage with the world around them. YOUMedia Miami teaches teens basic computer literacy skills then builds upon those skills by offering workshops which help them to think critically and creatively about their lives and community. Teens are learning how to publish an autobiographical digital story, use technology to visualize their favorite books, create short animated films or their own video games. Adult mentors guide them at every step along the way. Made possible by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, YOUMedia Miami takes digital a step further by equipping youth to use technology, to be inquisitive and to experiment with who they are, and the communities they come from. Visit YOUmedia Miami’s Facebook page.

=USpeak: Open Verse and Story Performance Series= The Creative Writing program begins its fourth year of USpeak, a series of six literary events at the Oasis Deli in the Whitten University Center of the Coral Gables Campus. Each evening features a local writer from the University of Miami or greater Miami literary community. This year, USpeak pays tribute to the old school poets of Miami, poets Adrian Castro, Carolina Hospital-Medina, and Geoffrey Philp who have been a part of the Miami poetry scene for over twenty years. Come and hear Adrian and Geoffrey talk about the bicycle poets back in the day! Audience members are also invited to step up and share their poems, stories, and music at the Open Mic. USpeak is recorded and available to listeners on [|iTunes], and is sponsored, in part, by University of Miami's Creative Writing Program, English Department, American Studies Program, and Auxiliary Services. Light refreshments will be served. []