Creative Writing Day Camps
Creative Writing Day Camps, an offshoot of our Writers in the Schools (WITS) program, provide extracurricular creative writing learning for youth and teens. All day camps are instructed by professionally published authors who are members of WFNS's Writers' Council, valued participants in the WITS program, and experienced working with youth and teens.
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The Art of Writing (Ages 9 – 12)
July 10 to July 14, 9am to 4pm each day
NSCAD Port Campus, 1107 Marginal Road, Halifax
Instructors: Chad Lucas, Andre Fenton, Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail, Jessica Scott Kerrin, Nancy Rose
This class will explore the written word using creative approaches, such as visual writing prompts, to discover and explore character development, build description through observation, expand the use of figurative language, and promote journal writing. Participants will delve into different genres and styles of writing, including poetry, fiction, non-fiction, picture books, and graphic novels. Camps will feature visits by professionally published authors who are valued participants in the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia Writers in the Schools program, and have in-depth experience working with tweens and teens. Classes will be a mixture of classroom activities and outdoors adventures to promote physical activity and imaginative play.
NSCAD Extended Studies camps include all materials. Early drop off and late pick up options available from 8:30am to 5:00pm at no additional cost.
Registration fee: $310 (Registration closed)
Creative Writing for Kids with WFNS (Ages 11 – 13)
July 17 to July 21, 10am to 4pm each day
Lunenburg School of the Arts, 6 Prince Street, Lunenburg
Instructors: Sylvia Gunnery, Jo Treggiari, Kate Inglis, Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail, Cooper Lee Bombardier
This workshop, for youth ages 11 – 13, will be an adventure into expanding and expressing the creative mind through images and the written word. Participants will discover and explore character development, build description through observation, and play with figurative language. The classes will delve into different genres and styles of writing, including poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and graphic novels, featuring visits by professionally published authors and mixtures of classroom activities and outdoors adventures to promote physical activity and imaginative play.
Registration includes a Lunenburg School of the Arts tote bag and notebook for each participant.
Children should bring their own lunch, sunscreen, and writing implements.
Registration fee: $325 (Registration closed)
Jampolis Writing Camp (Ages 9 – 12)
Aug 8 to Aug 11, 10am to 4pm each day
Jampolis Cottage, 315 Bluff Road, Avonport
Instructors: Angela Reynolds, Holly Carr, Chad Lucas, Lauren Soloy
Does spending mornings writing and the afternoons at the beach sound like a fun time? Join WFNS’s Creative Writing Summer Camp at our new writers’ residency at Jampolis Cottage, Avonport
Each morning, campers (aged 9 to 12, with some flexibility) will work with local authors to discover character development, world building, figurative language, and the importance of revision while diving into different genres, including fiction, poetry, picture books, graphic novels, and non-fiction. Each afternoon, campers will discover through time at the beach, making crafts, hunting for fossils, and writing in journals. With lots of imagination, who knows what we can create?
Snacks will be provided. Children should bring their own lunch, sunscreen, and bathing suit.
Registration fee: $175 (Registration closed)
The Art of Writing (Ages 13+)
Aug 14 to Aug 18, 9am to 4pm each day
NSCAD Port Campus, 1107 Marginal Road, Halifax
Instructors: Emma Fitzgerald, [TBD], Holly Carr, Andre Fenton, Sal Sawler
This class will explore the written word using creative approaches, such as visual writing prompts, to discover and explore character development, build description through observation, expand the use of figurative language, and promote journal writing. Participants will delve into different genres and styles of writing, including poetry, fiction, non-fiction, picture books, and graphic novels. Camps will feature visits by professionally published authors who are valued participants in the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia Writers in the Schools program, and have in-depth experience working with tweens and teens. Classes will be a mixture of classroom activities and outdoors adventures to promote physical activity and imaginative play.
NSCAD Extended Studies camps include all materials. Early drop off and late pick up options available from 8:30am to 5:00pm at no additional cost.
Registration fee: $310
Zines (Ages 8 – 12) (July 4 to July 8 at NSCAD Port Campus) — Instructor: Jeff Miller
The Art of Writing (Ages 8-12) (July 11 to July 15 at NSCAD Port Campus) — Instructors: Chad Lucas, Wade White, Holly Carr, Richard Levangie, Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail
Creative Writing for Kids (July 18 to July 22 at Lunenburg School of the Arts) — Instructors: Jo Treggiari, Kate Inglis, Emma Fitzgerald, Janet Barkhouse, Chad Lucas
The Art of Writing (Ages 13+) (August 8 to August 12 at NSCAD Port Campus) — Instructors: Chad Lucas, Carole Glasser Langille, John A. Read, Andre Fenton, Tiffany Morris
Creative Writing Camp (August 15 to August 19 at MacPhee Centre for Creative Learning, Dartmouth) — Instructors: Andre Fenton, Evelyn C. White, Rebecca Rose, Sal Sawler, Marijke Simons
(March 14 to March 18) — Instructors: Sal Sawler, Deidre Dwyer, Julian Mortimer Smith, Chad Lucas, and Sherry D. Ramsey
This March Break writing camp for children (ages 8 to 12) aims to expanding each child’s creativity. Each day’s session offers young writers the chance to talk about the experience of writing with their peers and to work with a different professionally published author each day—across the genres of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. At the end of the camp, each family received copies of the participating authors’ books.
These summer writing camps explored the written word using creative approaches to character development, building description through observation, and expanding young writers’ use of figurative language. Participants explored different genres and styles of writing, including poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and picture books. Each day, the students were visited by professionally published authors. Classes were a mixture of classroom activities and outdoor adventures.
The Art of Writing — Youth (July 5 to July 9 at NSCAD Port Campus) — Instructors: Jessica Scott Kerrin, Theresa Meuse, Andre Fenton, Philip Moscovitch, Briana Corr Scott
The Art of Writing — Teen (July 12 to July 16 at NSCAD Port Campus) — Instructors: Genevieve Graham, Cooper Lee Bombardier, Alice Burdick, Briana Corr Scott, Sylvia Gunnery
Creative Writing for Kids (July 19 to July 23 at Lunenburg School of the Arts) — Instructors: Chad Lucas, Alec Bruce, Lindsay Ruck, Shandi Mitchell, Alice Burdick
The Art of Writing a Newspaper (August 9 to August 13 at NSCAD Port Campus) — Co-instructors: Chris Benjamin and Richard Levangie
Writing Camp (August 16 to August 20 at MacPhee Centre for Creative Learning, Dartmouth) — Instructors: Emma FitzGerald, Jo Treggiari, Theresa Meuse, Rebecca Rose, Evelyn C. White
(March 15 to March 19) — Instructors: Andre Fenton, Emma FitzGerald, Theresa Meuse, Sal Sawler, Sherry D. Ramsey
This March Break writing camp for youth (ages 8 to 13) aimed to expand the creative mind and offer many paths to literary expression. Each day, campers worked with a different professionally published author, and the week spanned poetry, fiction, and non-fiction as well as oral storytelling and illustration.
(June 16 to July 7, weekly) — Instructors: Sherry D. Ramsey, Suzannah Showler, Andre Fenton, Cooper Lee Bombardier
This summer writing camp for teens (ages 14 and up) accommodated for public health concerns by going virtual. Each week, students were introduced to a different author who covered a specific genre of writing through a blend of at-home assignments, pre-recorded videos, and real-time virtual lectures and discussions. Student participation in the camp ranged from Antigonish to Nunavut.
(March 16 to March 20) — Instructors: Wade White, Pauline Dakin, Kanaar Bell, Theresa Meuse, Emma FitzGerald
This March Break writing camp for youth (ages 11 to 13) explored the written word using creative approaches, such as visual writing prompts, to discover and explore character development, build description through observation, expand the use of figurative language, and promote journal writing. Participants delved into different genres and styles of writing, including poetry, fiction, non-fiction, picture books, and graphic novels.
The two inaugural summer writing camps — one for youth (ages 11 to 13) and one for teens (ages 14 and up) — explored the written word using creative approaches, such as visual writing prompts, to discover and explore character development, build description through observation, expand the use of figurative language, and promote journal writing. Participants will delve into different genres and styles of writing, including poetry, fiction, non-fiction, picture books, and graphic novels. Daily activities blended classroom and outdoor adventures to promote physical activity and imaginative play.
The Art of Writing for Youth (July 15 to July 19) — Instructors: Alice Walsh, Wade White, Deirdre Dwyer, Phil Moscovitch, Jan Coates
The Art of Writing for Teens (July 22 to July 26) — Instructors: Valerie Compton, Sal Sawler, Andre Fenton, Emma FitzGerald, Cooper Lee Bombardier
Partners
The Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia is grateful to NSCAD University’s School of Extended Studies, Lunenburg School of the Arts, and MacPhee Centre for Creative Learning for their recurring partnership in delivering Creative Writing Day Camps.
