In creative writing workshops, students will join a community of writers practicing their craft. Through writing exercises in and out of the classroom, they will explore fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction, while also experimenting with less conventional genres like podcasting or graphic novels. Students will collaborate on creative projects, share work, and provide and receive feedback toward supporting one another’s creative process. Whether relatively new to writing or working on their third novel, students in this workshop will learn new ways to bring words and stories to life.

Afternoon seminar sessions offer students the opportunity to work with a number of other faculty from the Department of English and Philosophy. Seminar sessions may include topics such as video game narratives, pop culture and literature, multimedia essays, experimental forms, songwriting and more.

Gender, Race, and Power in Science Fiction
Michelle Panchuk
In 1971 the science fiction write Joanna Russ asked “What Can a Heroine Do?” when reflecting on the representation of women in literature. Feminists today are still wrestling with the answer. In this session Michelle Panchuk will explore the manifestation of feminist issues in Science Fiction and discuss why the genre is so especially suited for exploring themes like gender, race, and power.

Fan Fiction from the Eighteenth Century to Today
Andy Black
Fan Fiction is one of the most mocked and disreputable, yet most widely practiced, forms of writing that happens today. In this session, Andy Black will discuss what's at stake when we make fun of fan fiction, and also look into the way it has always occurred.

Picture This: Creative Nonfiction and the Photo Essay
Carrie Jerrell
These days, we love to communicate through images—photos on Instagram, GIFs shared in a text, photo stories on Snapchat. In this session, we'll practice "reading" visual images and look at ways that contemporary writers are combining their written pieces with photographs to create new kinds of memoirs, personal essays, and journalistic works. Students will then create their own photo essays.

Going Postal: writing against convention through letters, drawings, and other everyday forms
Sara Cooper
Alejandro Zambra writes poems as standardized test questions to criticize an authoritarian government, while Anne Carson’s book about the loss of her brother takes the form of a coffin-like box of old letters, photographs, and unfinished notes. In this session we will look at how writers use unconventional forms (letters, drawings, journal entries, dictionary definitions) to disrupt the boundaries of what counts as story.

Words On Air
Chad Lampe
What do alien abductions, murder mysteries, and old Kentucky tales have in common? Each one is the subject of a podcast! Podcasts are everywhere these days, and the topics of these popular audio programs are endless. In this presentation with WKMS station manager Chad Lampe, students will learn about creating podcasts, current trends in podcasting, and how writing for the air differs from writing for print or screen.

The workshop fee is $500 for resident campers. This includes tuition, room (double occupancy), board (three meals a day), accident insurance, and most instructional materials. The fee for commuter students is $400, which includes tuition, accident insurance, most instructional materials, and lunch daily.

There are limited scholarship opportunities available. To apply: Have your parent or guardian email the PAWW Camp Director indicating whether you receive free or reduced lunch. Use the subject heading “PAWW Scholarship.” If your parent/guardian prefers, he or she may mail the statement to the PAWW Camp Director at:
Jeff Osborne
7B Faculty Hall
Murray State University
Murray, KY 42071
josborne@murraystate.edu
Make sure a return address is included. These will be awarded on a first-come/first-serve basis.