Programs and Initiatives

 
The Iowa Youth Writing Project was founded by in April 2010 by recent graduates of the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop. From 6 participants in the IYWP’s week-long pilot program in the summer of 2010, the number of children and teens involved in the IYWP has grown exponentially: over fifty times that many students have participated in IYWP programming in 2011. (In 2011, 326 students have participated in an in-school, after-school, or weekend Iowa Youth Writing Project opportunity. The breakdown: 109 in weekend programs and events, 177 in in-school programs, and 40 in after-school programs.) Those numbers are still growing. The IYWP’s emphasis on community partnership is making this sort of growth possible; in addition to ties to the Writers’ Workshop and the University of Iowa’s Arts Share program, the IYWP has implemented its programs and events through past, present, and future partnerships with over 30 other organizations, local businesses, programs, departments and schools. The IYWP currently has over 150 volunteers on its roster, and many of those volunteers actively gave their time, energy, and creativity to the IYWP in 2011; the number of volunteers on the IYWP roster continues to grow. IYWP participants have traveled from as far away as Des Moines and Stacyville (near the Iowa / Minnesota border) to participate in  weekend programs in Iowa City, and IYWP volunteers have taken IYWP programming out of Iowa City to North Liberty, Cedar Rapids, and Ottumwa (with plans to implement programming in Des Moines, Fairfield, Toledo, and elsewhere).

 

“In the Works” (Winter/Spring 2012 and beyond)

  • Digital Storytelling Project with immigrant and refugee youth from Monsoon United Asian Women of Iowa, L.U.N.A., and the Somali, Sudanese, and Eritrean communities in Des Moines, IA
  • Spring Creative Writing Workshops at the Iowa Juvenile Home in Toledo, IA
  • Creative Writing and Bookmaking Workshops at the first annual Iowa City Children’s Book Fair in Iowa City, IA
  • LGBT Youth Writing Workshops through Gay-Straight Alliances and the Iowa Pride Network
  • Poetry Out Loud Workshop at the Fairfield Public Library, Fairfield, IA
  • Persona Poems, Puppets & Pop-Up Books (5 session language arts program / 3rd – 6th graders / location: Iowa Public Library / final project: book & performance)
  • Notes to Self (Dramatic Monologue workshop / 6th – 8th graders / final project: performance)
  • Writing Workshop for youth at the Des Moines Social Club
  • Mission Creek Festival youth reading & IYWP master classes
  • Iowa City Book Festival youth reading & IYWP master classes
  • IYWP Writing Workshops at YMCA summer camps in Spirit Lake, Cedar Falls, and Des Moines

Fall 2011

  • Creative Writing & Academic Achievement Program (Wednesdays & Fridays after school / 1st – 6th graders / Mark Twain Elementary School (Title 1 “School in Need of Assistance”), Iowa City, IA)
  • In-Class Fiction & Poetry Workshops (Tuesdays during school / 9th – 12th graders / Elizabeth Tate High School (“alternative” high school), Iowa City, IA)
  • Creative Writing Program (“Writers’ Club” / Tuesdays after school / 4th – 6th graders / Four Oaks (“Affordable Housing Network,” J Street location), Cedar Rapids, IA)
  • Youth Writers’ Performances at “Tedx Iowa City” Conference, Iowa City, IA
  • Youth Writers’ “Performer of the Month” Performances in Working Group Theatre’s “Was the Word” event series (Englert Theatre)
  • Youth Writers’ Performance in “Strange Cage” reading series, Iowa City, IA
  • Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Program (In-school and after-school workshops)
  • IYWP Writing Workshop at Poetry Out Loud Overnight Camp, Des Moines, IA
  • IYWP After-School Writing Workshops George Washington High School, Cedar Rapids, IA
  • IYWP Break-out session at Iowa Council Teachers of English Conference, Johnston, IA
  • Poemics (Poetry+Comics) (4 session interdisciplinary language arts & visual art workshop / 7th – 12th graders / location: North Liberty Community Library & Iowa City Public Library; North Liberty, IA and Iowa City, IA / final project: art show at The Times Club at Prairie Lights Bookstore & publication)
  • Youth Comics Conference Poemics workshops (6 sessions / 7th – 12th graders / location: Iowa Memorial Union; “Comics, Creativity, and Culture” symposium; Iowa City, IA)
  • Saturday Upward Bound Poemics Workshop (9th – 12th graders / location: Upward Bound program at Indian Hills Community College, Ottumwa, IA)
  • In-school Poemics Workshop (Full-day workshop / 8th graders / location: South East Junior High School)
  • Harrowing Tales (7 session Gothic Fiction workshop / 7th – 12th graders / location: The Haunted Bookshop / final project: story collection & readings)
  • Choose Your Own Adventure (5 session writing & performance workshop / 3rd – 6th graders / location: Public Space One / final project: publication & interactive performance)

Summer 2011

 

  • IYWP Youth Representative on Iowa City Book Festival Youth Writing Panel

Winter/Spring 2011

  • Barbaric Yawp (7 session poetry workshop / 7th – 8th graders / location: International Writing Program & University of Iowa Center for the Book / final project: chapbook & reading)
  • Radio Free Enterprise (8 session story-telling project / 5th – 6th graders / location: Iowa City Public Library & University of Iowa Main Library / final project: radio play & booklet)
  • Wish You Were Here (5 session interdisciplinary science & language arts program / 2nd – 4th graders / location: University of Iowa Museum of Natural History / final project: Natural History postcards)
  • After-school Poetry Performance Workshop (7th – 8th graders / location: Northwest Junior High School)
  • Full Day of Poetry Reading & Writing Class Visits (8th graders / location: Northwest  Junior High School)

Summer 2010

  • Weeklong High School Writing Program (daily fiction & poetry workshops / 16-17 year-olds)

 

 

IYWP Past, Present & Future Partnerships 

826 National, Arts Share, “Comics, Creativity & Culture” Symposium, Community Foundation of Johnson County, Des Moines Social Club, The Englert Theatre, Elizabeth Tate High School, Four Oaks, The Haunted Bookshop, Indian Hills Community College Upward Bound Program, Iowa Arts Council, Iowa City Book Festival, Iowa City Children’s Book Fair, Iowa City Public Library, Iowa Juvenile Home, Iowa Pride Network, Mark Twain Elementary School, Mission Creek Festival, Monsoon United Asian Women of Iowa, Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County, North Liberty Public Library, Northwest Junior High School, Poetry Out Loud, Prairie Lights Bookstore, Public Space One, South East Junior High School, Stuff Etc., University of Iowa Center for the Book, University of Iowa Living Learning Community, University of Iowa International Writing Program, University of Iowa Certificate in Writing Program, University of Iowa Undergraduate Creative Writing Track, University of Iowa Department of Rhetoric, University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, University of Iowa Museum of Natural History, TEDx Iowa City Conference, Working Group Theatre, YMCA of the Okobojis