SPRING 2008 WORKSHOPS
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Registration is required. To register for a workshop, click its “Sign Up” link. All workshops will be held at 826michigan unless specified otherwise.
Things to know about the Spring 2008 Workshop Schedule:
- Each student can only sign up for TWO workshops per semester.
- Yes, we are strict on ages.
- Workshops are so stellar, so spectacular, so amazing that they fill up quickly. Please give us at least 48 hours to confirm your registration. If after 48 hours you haven't heard from us, feel free to call or send an email.
- A sad reminder: the fact that you have filled out the registration form does not mean that you are "in" the workshop until you get a confirmation email from us. Remember all that stuff about how quickly workshops fill up? Sometimes they fill up while we are looking the other way, and we are unable to immediately change the status to "waitlist." (See #3.)
- When you get your confirmation email, write down the workshops you have gotten into on your calendar! It makes us feel sadder than almost anything when students sign up for workshops and then don't show.
- We love feedback! Let us know what you think of the schedule. Send an email to amy@826michigan.org to let us know what’s working for you and what isn’t!
Volunteers: If you would like to volunteer to help with a workshop, click on that workshop’s “Sign Up” link and then follow the “Volunteer” link in the yellow box on the upper right side of the page.
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Puppet Repertory Theatre
Taught by Jared Hawkley
Ages 11-14, 15 students
Mondays: April 14, 21, 28, May 5, with a performance on Saturday, May 17 at 7pm, (five sessions): 6-7:30pm
In this workshop, we will discuss the relationship of puppet shows to other kinds of communication arts (including stage drama, public speaking, teaching, and improvisational comedy) and try to discover the relevance of puppets in our contemporary setting.
We will each create one (1) puppet persona and collaborate on a script for a show to be performed on the evening of May 17, in conjunction with the grand opening of 826michigan's new storefront: Liberty Street Robot Supply & Repair. Theme of said performance to be determined by the puppeteers as a group (but should probably involve a robot or two). We will each build puppet representations of our alternate personae using various, possibly innovative materials, and will also build a makeshift puppet stage.
Jared Hawkley once believed the Fraggles lived inside the walls of his house. This belief served to scare him something awful. He has since vowed to spend his life conquering this fear through direct interactions with puppets, and through the enactment of suppressed feelings using puppet theatre as his outlet. Jared is still uncomfortable in the company of marionettes, but he's working on it.
What If?: A Workshop in Fantasy
Taught by Bets Davies
Ages 11-14, 15 students
Fridays: April 18, 25, May 2, 9, 16 (five sessions): 6-7pm
You've been asking for it (and asking and asking and asking), and we're happy to finally give you: a fantasy workshop! Ever want to be someone else? Ever want to be someplace else? Fantasy will free you to do both right at your desk. This workshop will run through the basics from creating a quirky character, to creating that character's quirky world, to coming up with those pesky details that make both real, to sketching a scene and finally filling out your writing to a full scene! Whether you are writing a short story or just beginning your novel, this workshop gives you a place to begin. The tools you discover here can be used to complete this project and on through the rest of your projects. Bring the fantastic alive.
Bets Davies lives with a pooka shaped like a dog that climbs Wisteria vines in his spare time. When she is not cleaning up after his mischief she is writing.
This workshop is full. (You can put your name on the waiting list, though.
Hemingway: A Life in Literature
Taught by Ryan Howard
Ages 14-18, 15 students
Saturdays: April 19, 26, May 3: 1-3pm
** This workshop takes place at Habe Mills Pine Lodge,
411 Longshore Drive, right by the Argo Canoe Livery **
He's been called a genius, a misogynistic you-know-what, an alcoholic, groundbreaking, boring, brilliant, and manic depressive, among other things. He won the Pulitzer Prize and is a Nobel Laureate. He loved war, bullfighting, wine, women, hunting, & fishing, but many thought his macho persona was a facade. A complicated man, he — like his father, brother, sister, and later, his granddaughter — committed suicide. Love him or hate him, all literature aficionados have an opinion on him, and generally it's a strong one.
In this workshop, we will explore Hemingway's life and work as we read several short stories from The Nick Adams Stories. We'll do it the way Hemingway himself would have appreciated: in a cabin in the woods. In this three-session workshop, we'll discuss his work in-depth, and we'll also hike, go on a canoe trip, and enjoy the outdoors. In addition to reading and discussing, there will be plenty of writi ng projects too, both in your own style and emulating Hemingway's distinct style. A chapbook of our work will be released at the Ann Arbor Book Festival.
This workshop is sponsored by the Michigan Humanities Council in conjunction with the Great Michigan Read.
Ryan Howard loves Hemingway. And so does his dad.
Put a Stamp on It: Exploring the Art of Letter-Writing
Taught by Emelia Hiltner
Ages 9-13, 15 students
Tuesday, April 22 (one session): 6-8pm
Come celebrate National Letter Writing Month with us! Though we cannot deny the wonders of email, in this workshop, we will emphasize the joys of opening up the mailbox to send and receive real live mail. We will investigate handwritten correspondence as creative physical objects, and after a brief background on letter-writing and mail-art, students will compose and construct their own letters. We provide stamps and envelopes; students, make sure to bring a mailing address (or two or three mailing addresses!) of people to whom you'd like to write.
When not reading and writing letters, Emelia Hiltner can be found either: 1) studying old children's books, or 2) working in a ceramics studio. Her life-goal is to design a stamp for the United States Postal Service, and she would like to take this opportunity to thank the USPS for their continued reliability in delivering the copious amounts of mail that she and her correspondents send through the system.
Writing with Pictures for Elementary Schoolers: Dignifying the Doodle
Taught by C Jason DePasquale
Ages 7-10, 15 students
Wednesday, April 23 (one session): 6-7:30pm
As much as we love the written word, we know that it's not the only way to tell a great story. Another method is sometimes called 'sequential art,' more commonly known as COMICS. Comics use a unique set of tools in order to tell stories visually. Learn to decode this secret language, then use it to tell your own tales. You don't need to be a master artist to participate in this workshop. If you can draw stick figures (you can), you can create comics!
C. Jason DePasquale, one of our first volunteers, was the Volunteer of the Month for August 2006. He has been trying to pass his doodles off as comics for longer than any participant in this workshop has been alive. His comic strip "Ninth Floor" ran in The Daily Texan before finding a home on his website.
This workshop is full. (You can put your name on the waiting list, though.
Word Portraiture
Taught by Jennifer Halas
Ages 8-10, 15 students
Thursday, April 24 (one session): 6-7pm
It's hard to say when exactly the portrait was invented. Painting dates back to cave times, but the birth of portraiture is generally thought of as part of the Renaissance. Rich people threw down their cash, and went home with lovely framed representations of themselves. The idea has remained the same ever since.
Until now. In this workshop, we'll paint portraits with our words, totally reinventing the concept of a portrait. We supply the model, you supply the words. Your challenge: paint a portrait without using any actual paint. Think you can do it?
Jen Halas recently graduated from the University of Michigan. She isn't rich enough yet to throw down for portraits of people, so she covers her walls with unframed pictures of stuff, which she finds either on the cheap or for free. She likes to fabricate stories about people she doesn't know, and sometimes makes things up about the people she does know, too.
The 826michigan Book Club! (April session)
Taught by Melissa Cooper & Liz Marotte
Ages 8-12, 15 students
Saturday, April 26, 12-1:30pm
Oprah has a book club, Al Roker has a book club, and it's time 826michigan had...drum roll, please...a book club! Stop by 826michigan and pick up your free – yes, free – copy of the book club pick at the beginning of the month. Read it at your leisure over the course of the month. In session, we will discuss the book and then write fun, insightful reviews (one to two paragraphs in length). Your snappy reviews will be posted online at the new and improved Borders website. Perhaps others will love what you have to say and search all your reviews. You could be the latest great, yet-to-be-discovered book critic! Come find out at The 826michigan Book Club!
Book club pick for April: City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau. Once your registration has been confirmed, stop in to 826michigan any time to pick up your copy!
Liz Marotte works at the home office for Borders Books and Music buying books for the 8-12 year olds. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan. She is in love with the following things (not in this order but pretty close to it): Books, dogs, candy, the fact that Michigan looks like a mitten, the mail, sunshine, pumpkin pie, legos, and much more.
Melissa Cooper works at the home office for Borders Books and Music in marketing. The University of Michigan is her alma mater. She adores books, cats, words, trees, the outdoors, window seats, snowball fights, tearooms, frisbee, conversation, chocolate, interior design, spontaneous fashion, bodies of water, biking, in-car singing, mad libs, photography, live music, laughter, good food...inter alia (among other things).
The 826michigan Gazette
Taught by Erik Gable
Ages 11-14, 15 students
Tuesdays: April 29, May 6, 13, 20, with a wrap-party on Tuesday, June 3 (five sessions): 6-7:30pm
Learn the basics of the newspaper industry. From writing news and feature stories to reporting to interviews to layout to all points in-between! You'll also learn all the newspaper lingo. Amaze your friends and parents when you tell them that if you don't find a hook for this lead by deadline, you won't want to claim the byline! After discussing the different types of stories that go into a newspaper, we will brainstorm ideas, research, and write our own paper!
Our goal? To publish and distribute the summer issue of 826michigan's newspaper. Our deadline? We have a wrap-party (invite your friends and family!) on June 3, so it better be done by then!
Erik Gable is the special projects editor of The Daily Telegram in Adrian, Mich., and a former reporter for The Fairfield Ledger in Fairfield, Iowa.
Writing with Pictures for Middle Schoolers: Dignifying the Doodle
Taught by C Jason DePasquale
Ages 11-14, 15 students
Wednesday, April 30 (one session): 6-7:30pm
As much as we love the written word, we know that it's not the only way to tell a great story. Another method is sometimes called 'sequential art,' more commonly known as COMICS. Comics use a unique set of tools in order to tell stories visually. Learn to decode this secret language, then use it to tell your own tales. You don't need to be a master artist to participate in this workshop. If you can draw stick figures (you can), you can create comics!
C. Jason DePasquale, one of our first volunteers, was the Volunteer of the Month for August 2006. He has been trying to pass his doodles off as comics for longer than any participant in this workshop has been alive. His comic strip "Ninth Floor" ran in The Daily Texan before finding a home on his website.
Poetry is Everything Else
Taught by Rachel Feder
Ages 11-14, 15 students
Thursdays: May 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 (five sessions): 6-7pm
Let's make poems from music, from visual art, from mistakes and dreams, from memories and stories, from games and jokes, from mysterious languages, animal sounds, other planets, the ecosystem, newspaper articles, our favorite books, last night's math homework, something weird we heard our mom say on the phone, pop culture, seashells and nail polish and footballs and cracker crumbs and used gum and hope. Poetry is everything else! In this workshop, we'll test the limits of inspiration, and the bounds of our imaginations, as we explore how poetic our everyday experiences can be.
Rachel Feder is studying and working to become a Doctor of Poetry & Poetics. So, if you sprain your poem, or bruise your poetics, she's a good person to call.
Fantasy Landscapes
Taught by William Purves
Ages 8-10, 15 students
Saturdays: May 3, 10, 17 (three sessions): 12-2pm
We bet you have a special place in your mind, a place where all of your characters live and where great stories take place. This workshop offers you a chance to make a detailed map of a magical land and then write a short story about a journey through your world. We will work on the details of your map in the first session and then work on the story in the next two.
We can't wait to see where we'll go!
Will Purves is a local educator, writer, and owner of Raven Education Works, a writing services, test prep, and tutoring company. As a teacher he has worked for over 20 years with writers and students of all ages.
This workshop is full. (You can put your name on the waiting list, though.
Someone's in the Worm
Taught by Scott Beal
Ages 6-8, 12 students
Wednesday, May 7 (one session): 6-7:15pm
"I knock at the stone's front door.
"It's only me, let me come in."
"I don't have a door," says the stone.
It's true. There are places we can't get into. You can't jump into a living tree, or a wolf, or a worm, and see what the world looks like from in there. That is, unless you are a poet.
In this workshop we'll become other things — plants and animals — and write their stories for them. What's it like to be a tree? Or a worm? Or a stone? We'll talk, read, and listen to music as a means of getting inside these objects, and then we'll write diaries for things that can't write them for themselves!
Scott Beal mostly just wants everyone to know that he was Volunteer of the Month in November of 2007. We mostly just want you to know that we think he's wonderful and brilliant, in every way.
This workshop is full. (You can put your name on the waiting list, though.
Squeeze the Orange: The Poetic Lives of Colors
Taught by Scott Beal
Ages 10-14, 12 students
Wednesday, May 14 (one session): 6-8pm
What does purple taste like? What is green's deepest secret? What does the color orange sound like, what emotions does it represent, and does it have any superpowers? What do you associate with the color blue?
In this workshop, we'll attempt to bring colors to life, literally, by writing their life stories for them. We'll also splash a few drops of color around and then write poems inspired by the results.
Scott Beal sounds like sage green and his deepest secrets are red.
My Boring Life
Taught by Meg Cummins
Ages 11-14, 15 students
Monday, May 19 (one session): 6-7:30pm
Are you boring? Of course not! It might just seem that way sometimes, when your friends aren't home and the dog is asleep and the weather is being difficult. Writing is a perfect way to fill the hours...plus it comes with that satisfying end result, when you step away from the marked-up page, then read it over again, smiling to yourself about parts you like particularly. You look at the clock; it's time for bed. Mission accomplished! The day is done! But wait a minute...that brings us back to the initial problem: you're bored! You think you're boring! There's nothing to write about! Right? Wrong.
In this workshop, we'll think of boring things and we'll think of exciting things. We'll combine the two, drawing from real life and our imaginations to write interesting, quirky, weird stories. Real life and fiction will collide and, guess what, writing about your life will be fun! We might jump up and down. We might listen to music. But two things are certain: no erasing, and no second thoughts.
Megan Cummins is a junior at the University of Michigan, where she majors in Creative Writing and French. She used to write stories about the Titanic but now mostly writes about reluctant spies and the people who build parade floats.
1000 Words
Taught by Angi Stevens
Ages 14-18, 10 students
Wednesdays: May 21 & 28, 6-8pm (two sessions)
What are you gonna write about? Yeah, yeah, yeah...we've all heard that adage: A picture is worth a thousand words. That may or may not be true, and this workshop may or may not be the proof. Session one: we meet, talk about photography, and walk around Ann Arbor snapping pictures. Session two: we look at one another's pictures (and our own) for writing inspiration. What are you gonna write about? The answer might be right in front of you.
If you have a digital camera, or can borrow one, please bring it to this workshop. If you don't have access to one, please let us know when you register and we'll find one for you!
Angi Stevens is a professional photographer and non-professional writer. Once upon a time, she had poems and stories published in various small lit mags. More recently, her photos and writing have made frequent appearances in scrapbooking magazines. Also, she's not too shabby at ski-ball.
Storymaking for Beginners
Taught by Jonathan Schwartz
Ages 6-8, 15 students
Monday, June 2, 6-7:30pm
Write and publish your own short story in just an hour and a half! This workshop is specially geared toward younger students. We'll talk about all the things that go into writing stories, and then we'll spend some time writing and illustrating our own very short stories. Experience isn't necessary, but be prepared to laugh, experiment, draw, and have a good time!
Jonathan Schwartz received an MFA in Creative Writing from Emerson College in Boston. In the past, he taught third grade in New York City, worked briefly as a line cook in a breakfast joint, on the assembly line of a candle factory, for a life insurance company, and as a vacation club salesman. While at Emerson, he helped run a six-week writing workshop seminar for high school students. Now he lives in Ann Arbor, where he writes for work and play.
This workshop is full. (You can put your name on the waiting list, though.
The 826michigan Book Club! (June session)
Taught by Melissa Cooper & Liz Marotte
Ages 8-12, 15 students
Saturday, June 7, 12-1:30pm
Oprah has a book club, Al Roker has a book club, and it's time 826michigan had...drum roll, please...a book club! Stop by 826michigan and pick up your free – yes, free – copy of the book club pick at the beginning of the month. Read it at your leisure over the course of the month. In session, we will discuss the book and then write fun, insightful reviews (one to two paragraphs in length). Your snappy reviews will be posted online at the new and improved Borders website. Perhaps others will love what you have to say and search all your reviews. You could be the latest great, yet-to-be-discovered book critic! Come find out at The 826michigan Book Club!
Book club pick for June (note new title): The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan. Once your registration has been confirmed, stop in to 826michigan any time to pick up your copy!
Liz Marotte works at the home office for Borders Books and Music buying books for the 8-12 year olds. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan. She is in love with the following things (not in this order but pretty close to it): Books, dogs, candy, the fact that Michigan looks like a mitten, the mail, sunshine, pumpkin pie, legos, and much more.
Melissa Cooper works at the home office for Borders Books and Music in marketing. The University of Michigan is her alma mater. She adores books, cats, words, trees, the outdoors, window seats, snowball fights, tearooms, frisbee, conversation, chocolate, interior design, spontaneous fashion, bodies of water, biking, in-car singing, mad libs, photography, live music, laughter, good food...inter alia (among other things).
This workshop is full. (You can put your name on the waiting list, though.
Storytelling and Bookmaking
Taught by 826michigan volunteers
Ages 7-10, 15 students
Tuesday, June 10 (one session): 6-8pm
Help us write original stories to appease our crotchety editor, Mr. Blotch! In this workshop, we'll learn about character, plot, and conflict as we work together on a story. Each participant will write his or her own ending, and then we'll turn them in to Mr. Blotch and hope he doesn't fire us all! (Sorry, students who have taken this workshop before can't sign up for it again.)
826 Volunteers are a motley crew of masterminds, geniuses, artisans, and highly creative people. They are so very intelligent, in fact, that they couldn't possibly work anywhere but here. Mr. Blotch, whom no one's ever actually seen, is apparently part monster, has never eaten a vegetable in his whole life, and is looking for any excuse he can think of to fire the 826 Staff and Volunteers. Please help us. Please, please, if you have any love in your heart, help us.
Rescue the Princess, Defeat the Demon Enemy
Taught by Jacqui Robbins
Ages 10-14, 15 students
Wednesday, June 11 (one session): 6-7pm
You have no chance to escape, an impossible task to achieve, and only three seemingly ordinary household objects in your hand. Can you figure out what to do?
In this workshop, we will create insurmountable challenges for one another, give one another useless objects to help, and then write the stories of our great adventures.
So, let's say we have a stick of gum, a tape measure, and fourteen thumb tacks. Save the princess. Um, we would line the thumbtacks up the tower, sling the tape measure around us as a catch line, climb the tower, grab the princess, and blow a giant bubble inside which we would float safely to the ground. What will YOU do?
Jacqui Robbins grew up in Pennsylvania, Florida, and Connecticut. She graduated from Yale University with a degree in Theater and Anthropology. She thought she might be a famous theater director, but decided to work with children instead. She was a drama teacher, a director in residence, an SAT tutor, a bookstore shelver and story-reader, and had one job that made her do nothing but type, before she realized what she really wanted was to teach children to read and write.
This workshop is full. (You can put your name on the waiting list, though.
