About Word Camp
As of 2022, Word Camp has become a program of Cosmic Writers, a creative writing education nonprofit founded by the directors of KWH Word Camp. The program will continue operating in the same way it has since 2020: free, virtual creative writing workshops for kids, offered in a multitude of genres, taught by college student instructors. To learn more, visit https://cosmicwriters.org/word-camp.
Welcome back — it's our second summer of Word Camp! For a week in late June or early July, we invite young writers in grades 3–8 to spend an hour a day in a writing workshop of their choice. Villain-building! Sports writing! Slam poetry! In every workshop, writers will read fun sample pieces, work on projects that they're excited about, and meet other kids who share their interests. No writing experience necessary — just passion.
If you have any questions, please contact Word Camp Director Rowana Miller or Assistant Director Rebekah Donnell.
Word Camp Schedule
Session I: June 21st — June 25th, 2021
10:00–11:00 ET —
Becoming the Bad Guy: Villainous Writing for Middle Schoolers
Taught by Sophie Quaglia
Have you ever wanted to get inside the mind of a villain? Or wondered what it would be like to do bad things? In this workshop, we will create our very own villain characters and drop them into various villainous situations. By the end of the course, each writer will choose one specific circumstance they'd like to explore in-depth and write a piece — in any genre! — about their character in that situation.
11:00–12:00 ET — What Do Dogs Think?:
Writing from Nonhuman Perspectives for Elementary Schoolers
Taught by Rachel Swym
Lots of stories are told by people, but what about all the not-people that have stories? Animals, plants, toys, rocks computers, cities, planets! In this workshop, we'll read stories and write about what nonhumans do, see, don't see, and think about. Each writer will create multiple story ideas and one finished story over the course of the week.
12:00–1:00 ET — Black Panther and
Beyond: Afrofuturism for Middle Schoolers
Taught by Ashley Codner
"Wakanda Forever!" The famous phrase from Marvel's "Black Panther" franchise points to the enduring impact of the film and its message of Black empowerment. In this workshop, we will think about how and why artists create technological and futuristic worlds, and how those Afrofuturist themes can help us envision our own hopes for the future.
1:00–2:00 ET — Seeing and Being:
Visual Poetry for Middle Schoolers
Taught by Farah Sayed
It's poetry like you've never seen it before! We'll explore how poetry can take on many different visual forms. We'll also learn how to use font, word patterns, and color to enhance the meaning of a poem.
Session II: June 28th – July 2nd, 2021
10:00–11:00 ET — Play Ball: Sports
Writing for Elementary Schoolers
Taught by Joey Piatt
From baseball to bowling, sports have the power to create special moments that we can all connect with. We will explore the power of sport through writing in this week-long workshop.
11:00–12:00 ET — Making a Monster,
Adopting an Alien, Conquering Existential Anxieties: Science Fiction Writing
for Middle Schoolers
Taught by Juliette Palermo
Have you ever wanted to create a monster? In this workshop, we'll get to know science fiction classics, link science fiction to real life events and anxieties, and unlock our full creative potential through a mixture of collaborative and independent writing activities.
12:00–1:00 ET — Choose Your Own
Adventure: Interactive Fiction Writing for Middle Schoolers
Taught by Ian McCormack
In this workshop, we will explore the world of interactive fiction and write our own 'choose your own adventure' short stories! This genre is oft underappreciated, but tremendous fun to both write and read.
1:00–2:00 ET — Improv Slam!: Spoken
Word Poetry for Elementary Schoolers
Taught by Isabella Schlact
Yes... and?! Combining the fundamentals of poetic writing and improvisational acting, we'll learn how to write and perform spoken word poetry. Each day will consist of improvisational acting games, mini-lessons on elements of spoken word, and exercises for kids to hone their craft.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What's the structure of the workshop week?
A: During the first four days of the week, participants will learn about/read/write/discuss work within the genre, and then on the fifth day, they'll share their pieces. Each instructor also offers optional one-on-one hours every day where kids can come in to get individualized feedback and talk about their writing.
Q: Are parents invited?
A: As much as possible, we'd like this to be a kids-only experience, just like in-person camp. Of course we understand if parents want to verify our legitimacy on the first day of the workshop. After that, though, we encourage parents to step back and prepare to be wowed by what their kids write by the end of the week!
Q: What are the expectations for workshop participants?
A: Come with your Zoom video on and your writing brain prepared!
Q: How big are the classes?
A: Not very big. We want each writer to get lots of individual attention from the instructors, and we also want to maximize opportunities for kids to interact. Our workshops are first come, first serve, so sign up quickly before space fills up!
Q: Can I/my child participate in more than one workshop?
A: Unfortunately, no. We want to give opportunities to as many different kids as possible.
Q: Who's teaching the workshops?
A: Undergraduate students at the University of Pennsylvania! A number of our instructors participate in the Kelly Writers House and broader writing community at Penn, where they've taken and taught writing courses much like these.
Q: Hmm, an hour a day doesn't seem like enough time to write an entire science fiction story/poetry collection/sports narrative.
A: For some kids, it is! For other kids, we know they need more time. Each workshop is structured so that writers can work on their projects as much or as little as they'd like outside of the four hour-long periods. We're flexible :)
Q: What if the writer is in the summer between fifth and sixth grade — do we sign up for the elementary or middle school workshops?
A: Decide based on the year the writer is going into. The elementary school workshops are for writers going into third, fourth, and fifth grades; the middle school workshops are for writers going into sixth, seventh, and eighth grades.
Q: The program times are listed in ET (US Eastern). As long as I/my child can reasonably attend the workshop given our time zone, are the workshops open no matter where we live?
A: Yes! KWH Word Camp welcomes young writers wherever they are.
Q: After the workshop is over, what will I/my child leave with?
A: Writers will come away with a piece that they can share with their friends and family, and treasure forever.
Meet the Word Camp Staff
Rowana Miller, Founder and Director
Rowana Miller (C’22) founded Word Camp as the recipient of the 2020 Kerry Sherin Wright Prize. She works in various areas of writing education: peer tutoring, TAing high school writing classes, and serving as a novel-writing mentor to Philly students, among other roles. Her own writing can be found in the Penn Review, plain china, and Slate Magazine. When not writing or teaching, she can be found building sets for theater productions or making friends with the porch cats of West Philadelphia.
Rebekah Donnell, Assistant Director
Rebekah Donnell (C’24) is an undergraduate majoring in English. She is an enthusiast for all things creative: reading and writing, sketching and painting, & singing and acting. Her relevant experience includes leading arts & crafts for youth at her local library, hosting a Girl Scouts summer camp, and providing child care for elementary students. Hailing from Oklahoma, her current favorite things include Philadelphia architecture, working on costumes for Penn Singers Light Opera Company, and watching Netflix with her recently-adopted kitten, JC.
Ashley Codner, Instructor: Afrofuturism
Ashley Codner (C’21) is a graduating senior at Penn, majoring in English with minors in Consumer Psychology and Jazz & Popular Music Studies. As a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow, she has examined the link between Black artistic production and lived experience by studying ways Black authors incorporate musical forms and motifs into their writing, the culmination of which is her senior honors thesis, “Caught In/Between: Expressions of Liminality in Jazz Aesthetic Literature." Upon graduation, Ashley will be pursuing her Ph.D. in English with a concentration in African American Literature at Rutgers University - New Brunswick.
Ian McCormack, Instructor: Interactive Fiction
Ian McCormack (C’21) is an avid reader and writer of all genres. He loves to explore new and interesting methods of writing, hence his class on Interactive Fiction. In these pandemic times, you can find him cooking, reading, playing board games, or doing his trusty Rubik's Cube. This summer, he is hoping to explore some abandoned psychiatric hospitals, as part of research for one of his current writing projects.
Juliette Palermo, Instructor: Science Fiction
Juliette (C’20) is a twenty-three-old graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. During her time in college, Juliette studied English literature and creative writing, and she took several classes in neuroscience. Most recently, Juliette has worked as a full time tutor for creative writing, critical writing, and the verbal portions of the SAT and ACT. Juliette is hoping to land a job as a teaching associate or as an editorial assistant in the near future. She decided to become a Word Camp counsellor because she loves watching her children get excited about a crazy idea they have and bring it to life, and because she believes "Art is at the center of the world."
Joey Piatt, Instructor: Sports Writing
Joey (C’23) is an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania from Lancaster, PA. He is enrolled in the Wharton School of Business, where he is concentrating in Marketing. He also plans to pursue a minor in Creative Writing. He has a lifelong love of both sports and writing, and he is eager to be teaching his first workshop this summer at Word Camp.
Sophie Quaglia, Instructor: Villain-Building
Sophie Quaglia (C’22) is an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania studying English and Spanish. She was born and raised in Philadelphia, and she spent the past year teaching in South Carolina. She is passionate about reading, running, and sharing my enthusiasm for writing with others. She can’t wait to meet everyone!
Farah Sayed, Instructor: Visual Poetry
Farah Sayed (C’23) is an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania majoring in psychology and minoring in creative writing and chemistry. As both an artist and a writer, she practices a variety of forms, including memoir, poetry, drawing, and printmaking. Her interests in both the written and visual inspired her to found Equilibria, a student-run publication that explores the collaborative relationship between visual and literary arts. In her free time, you can find her baking Andes mint chip cookies or possibly eating half the batch.
Isabella Schlact, Instructor: Spoken Word
Isabella Schlact (C’23) fell in love with writing in third grade, and one of her favorite genres is spoken word poetry. At Penn, she is studying Psychology, Creative Writing, and Gender Studies, and she is the incoming Co-Editor-in-Chief of The Pennsylvania Punch Bowl satire magazine. She is also a curriculum advisor for The Unscripted Project, a non-profit organization that brings improvisational acting classes to Philadelphia public schools.
Rachel Swym, Instructor: Non-Human Perspectives
Rachel is a junior at the University of Pennsylvania studying Creative Writing, Consumer Psychology, and Environmental Humanities. She cares a lot about books, cartoons, science, people, and the planet. Teens and adults can find some of her writing at https://upennfword.com/category/blog/.
Word Camp is funded by a generous grant established in honor of Kerry Sherin Wright, the first director of the Kelly Writers House. Each year, the Kerry Prize funds a student-proposed KWH program; the 2020 Kerry Prize was awarded to Rowana Miller (C'22) to create Word Camp.