Our full summer schedule is here! Including our first camps with The Bookies bookstore! Sign up today!
JUNE
June 10th – 14th
Write Your Destiny: A Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Story Expedition
10 am – 2 pm, with a reading last day of camp from 2 – 3 pm. Ages 7 – 12
Second Star to the Right Books, 1455 South Pearl Street, Denver, 80210
Join Denver Writes for a week of creating and plotting an interactive, choose-your-own-adventure (CYOA) story where the reader chooses their next move. Throughout the week, we will read examples of exemplary CYOA stories and study their craft moves to implement in our stories. We will then take each day to map out the potential moves a reader could choose, their benefits (or consequences), and connect it to the overall story. By the end of the week, writers should have a working CYOA story that can be developed further after the end of camp.
Cost of this camp is $300. Scholarships and partial scholarships are available. To use MySpark Denver Program funds choose Paypal as payment method and process card normally through Paypal. Find out information or to how to sign up for MySpark here: https://mysparkdenver.org/apply/
JULY
July 8th – 12th
Sunkissed Stanzas: Summertime Poetry Exploration
10 am – 2 pm with a reading last day of camp from 2 – 3 pm, ages 12 and up
Second Star to the Right Books, 1455 S. Pearl Street Denver, 80210
Join Denver Writes for a week of writing poetry themed around summertime. We will read lovely summertime poetry, explore forms such as concrete, ode, free verse, and others, study craft moves, and then write (a lot!) to practice our hand at being poets. The goal will be to have one polished poem ready to read by the end of the week, but expect to come home with several poems “in motion” that you can work with during and after camp.
Cost of this camp is $300. Scholarships and partial scholarships are available. To use MySpark Denver Program funds choose Paypal as payment method and process card normally through Paypal. Find out information or to how to sign up for MySpark here: https://mysparkdenver.org/apply/
July 15th – 19th
Fresh, Fun, Fantastic Fantasy & Sci-Fi
10 am – 2 pm with a reading last day of camp from 2 – 3 pm, ages 10 – 15
The Bookies Bookstore, 2085 S Holly St, Denver, CO 80222
What is it really like to chat with a robot or ride a dragon? How does a mermaid’s hair feel? Do gnomes’ shoes smell? In this workshop, J.E. Thomas, author of 2023’s Control Freaks and two novels-in-progress, will lead sessions on using all of your senses to bring your science fiction or fantasy novel to life. Each day will bring a mix of free-writing and exploration of a specific topic like work-building, character development or plot. There will also be plenty of time to share your work if you like. Hope to see you there!
Cost of this camp is $300. Scholarships and partial scholarships are available. To use MySpark Denver Program funds choose Paypal as payment method and process card normally through Paypal. Find out information or to how to sign up for MySpark here: https://mysparkdenver.org/apply/
July 22nd – 26th
Embrace the Chaos: Dada & Surrealist Fantasy
10 am – 2 pm with a reading last day of camp from 2 – 3 pm, ages 12 – 17
The Bookies Bookstore, 2085 S Holly St, Denver, CO 80222
In the early 20th century, creatives of all kinds sought new, radical ways of expressing themselves amidst the chaos of their fast-changing, unpredictable world. Many writers, performers, and visual artists who associated with the Dada and Surrealist movements turned to chance, collaboration, and the untapped subconscious for creative inspiration. While their methods often embraced play, silliness, nonsense, chaos, and dark humor, the end results could be very profound. During this week-long camp, we will be inspired by the Dadaists and Surrealists as we work both collaboratively and individually to write and illustrate fantasies of the irrational.
While irrationality and chaos will be allowed free rein, we still want our stories to feature key components: interesting characters who are motivated to overcome challenges that move their stories toward a conclusion. These don’t have to be logical or sequential, but they should be present, and we will use some games and collaborative tricks to help writers break out of their own habits while developing characters, settings, and plots.
Cost of this camp is $300. Scholarships and partial scholarships are available. To use MySpark Denver Program funds choose Paypal as payment method and process card normally through Paypal. Find out information or to how to sign up for MySpark here: https://mysparkdenver.org/apply/
