Writing for Young People: ASTAL Summer Institute

2nd Annual
ASTAL Summer Institute
Writing for Young People

June 19, 20, 21, 23, 24 & 25, 2008
Registration has been extended to June 1st.

These days can change your life.

SCHOLARSHIP INFO

Catherine and Montie Ciarlo
Memorial Scholarship

The Catherine and Montie Ciarlo Memorial Scholarship, named in remembrance of two outstanding educators and good friends to ASTAL, provides all expenses for the recipient to attend the ASTAL Summer Institute, Writing for Young People.

We will accept applications from participants and nominations.

Application/Nomination Form

Learn More

Once again this summer the Alliance for the Study and Teaching of Adolescent Literature (ASTAL) at Rhode Island College is offering an institute for people who are interested in learning to write for young people. Participants will choose between a strand for fiction writing or nonfiction writing.

Participants will attend presentations about book publishing featuring editors and publishers and they will meet and hear from guest authors. Additionally, published authors will serve as instructor/mentors working with participants in one of two strands: Writing Fiction for Young People or Writing Picture Books for Young People. In both strands, the instructor/mentor to student ratio will not exceed 1:8 to provide maximum opportunities for individualized instruction and feedback during work sessions. Enrollment will be limited and students will be accepted in the order that we receive the applications by the strand indicated. All registrants must submit a 7 to 10 page writing sample of any type for workshopping. The submissions must be submitted by June 10, 2008.

Enrollees may elect to earn three graduate or undergraduate credits for their participation.

For more information, watch for postings on this web site or Contact ASTAL.

ASTAL at Rhode Island College The Program:

  • 8 to 1 Student/Faculty Ratio
  • Whole Group Instruction and Feedback
  • Mentor Group Instruction and Feedback
  • One-on-One Mentor Conferences
  • Picture Book Strand - NEW! CLICK HERE
  • Presentation and Feedback
  • Guest Authors
  • Keynote Speakers
  • Follow-up Session


Institute 2008 Update

We are delighted that our faculty Kelly Easton, Mark Peter Hughes, and Liza Ketchum will be returning for our second year. All the participants from last year raved about the job they did last summer. Watch for other staffing announcements.

This year we are asking participants to submit 7-10 pages of their writing because we will have daily workshopping sessions.  We have also built in writing time during the day so participants can apply what they are learning and get feedback on the spot.

On Saturday we will have a special program of authors and publishers with lots of opportunities for the participants to interact with them.


ASTAL at Rhode Island College The Faculty

A major strength of the ASTAL Institute is our faculty. Kelly Easton, Mark Peter Hughes, and Liza Ketchum are not only accomplished authors for young people, they are also outstanding teachers and dedicated mentors.

Kelly Easton

Mark Peter Hughes

Liza Ketchum

 

 

 

 

Kelly Easton, the ASTAL Writer-in-Residence, is the award-winning author of five YA novels and two for middle grades. In 2002 she received the Golden Kite Honor Award, given by the Society for Children's Books Writers and Illustrators for her debut novel, Life History of a Star. She is a member of the faculty at Hamline University in their MFA program in Writing for Children and Young People. She lives in Jamestown, Rhode Island.

Books by Kelly Easton:

  • Aftershock
  • Canaries And Criminals: Trouble At Betts Pets
  • Hiroshima Dreams
  • The Life History Of A Star
  • Trouble At Betts Pets
  • Walking On Air
  • White Magic Spells To Hold You

Mark Peter Hughes has published two highly successful YA novels. They are so successful that he has quit his day job to write full time. His second novel was launched at Rhode Island College in February 2007. The day the ASTAL Institute ended in June, Mark joined his family for a 57-day book tour, LEMONADE MOUTH ACROSS AMERICA! His first novel, I am the Wallpaper, was a finalist in the Delacorte Press Young Adult Novel Competition.

Books by Mark Peter Hughes:

  • I am the Wallpaper
  • Lemonade Mouth

Liza Ketchum is the author of fourteen books for young readers, including contemporary novels, nonfiction, and historical fiction. Her most recent novel, Where the Great Hawk Flies, received the 2006 Massachusetts Book Award for Children's Literature. This book is based on a story about her ancestors in Vermont. She also has had a distinguished career teaching writing courses at Simmons College, Emerson College and Vermont College, and currently she is on the faculty of Hamline University's MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults.

Books by Liza Ketchum:

  • Blue Coyote
  • Fire in the Heart
  • The Gold Rush
  • Into a New Country: Eight Women of the West
  • Orphan Journey Home
  • Twelve Days in August
  • West Against the Wind
  • Where the Great Hawk Flies


Picture Book Strand

ASTAL Summer Institute Adds Picture Book Strand
In response to requests, we have added a strand to the 2nd Annual ASTAL Summer Institute for people who want to write picture books for young people.  We are excited to add this because we recognize the value of picture books for readers of all ages.

We have invited Lisa Jahn-Clough, Illustration Program Chair at the Maine College of Art in Portland, to join the faculty to work with students interested in picture book creation. Lisa has published two novels for young people; Me, Penelope and Country Girl, City Girl. Since 1995, she has published ten picture books:

  • Little Dog
  • On The Hill
  • Alicia's Best Friends
  • Simon and Molly Plus Hester
  • Missing Molly
  • My Friend and I
  • 123, Yippie
  • ABC, Yummy
  • My Happy Birthday Book
  • Alicia Has a Bad Day

Lisa has a distinguished career as a writing teacher.  She has been on the faculties of the MFA programs at Emerson, Vermont College, and now Hamline and has worked with Liza Ketchum in each of those programs and now also works with Kelly Easton at Hamline.  We believe she will be a wonderful addition to the Institute.

You can also find out more about Lisa at her website: lisajahnclough.com


2007

ASTAL at Rhode Island College Guest Authors

Patricia McCormick

Melissa Stewart

   

Author Panel with Moderator Sally Riley
L-R: Sarah Lamstein, Janet Taylor Lisle, Patricia Reilly Giff, Sally Riley


 


 

Patricia McCormick's Selected Books:

  • Cut
  • My Brother's Keeper
  • Sold

Melissa Stewart's Selected Books:

  • When Rain Falls
  • Baboons
  • Crystals
  • A Place for Butterflies
  • Rachel Carson
  • Life of a Lake
  • The Wonders of Water

Sarah Lamstein's Selected Books:

  • From the Mango Tree
  • I Like Your Buttons
  • Annie's Shabbat
  • Hunger Moon
  • Letter on the Wind

Janet Taylor Lisle's Selected Books:

  • Black Duck
  • Crying Rocks
  • The Art of Keeping Cool
  • Afternoon of the Elves
  • Sirens and Spies

Patricia Reilly Giff's Selected Books:

  • Water Street
  • Willow Run
  • Nory Ryan's Song
  • Lily's Crossing
  • Pictures of Hollis Woods


2007

ASTAL at Rhode Island College Keynote Speakers

Kara LaReau, editor for
Scholastic Books

R. James Stahl, publisher of the Merlyn's Pen New Library of Young Adult Writing and head of The Olga! Project: Courage, Creativity, and Identity

Jennifer Taber, publicist at
Houghton Mifflin


 

 

ASTAL at Rhode Island College The Students

All of the students rated the Institute as "Helpful" and it received a mean rating of 4.7 out of 5 (so the overwhelming majority of participants rated it either very or extremely helpful). This is a sampling of their comments about the Institute:

    "This was a wonderful seminar. I've learned more in five days about myself than I have in my career. Thank you so much for the time and effort everyone put into it. I loved every "tidbit" from every author, editor, and publisher. You have all truly changed my life."

    "This Institute has been a fantastic experience. Education, fun, and wonderful people. The timeframe and pacing were just right. Looking forward to next year!!

    "I learned so much. Thank you."

    "These days gave me a huge insight into the world of writing, from techniques to the business."

    "This class was very helpful to me and I enjoyed everything about it."

    "Great experience! Everything was perfect."

    "I liked having other writers around to critique my work."

 

For more information, watch for postings on this page or Contact ASTAL.

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Copyright 2007-2008 The Alliance for the Study and Teaching
of Adolescent Literature at Rhode Island College. All rights reserved.
600 Mount Pleasant Avenue - 352 Craig Lee Hall • Providence, RI 02908-1991 • 401-456-8457 & 401-441-3441
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