IYWP interns will have the opportunity to work closely with the IYWP Director, the IYWP-Writers’ Workshop Coordinator, and IYWP volunteers on a variety of language arts outreach programs for children and teens. Interns have the opportunity to gain professional experience in a variety of areas, including nonprofit administration, fundraising, publicity, event planning, volunteer management, arts advocacy, and education. Interns will gain unique insights into community organizing and nonprofit building while gaining professional leadership experience that will support future career goals.

Desired qualifications include creativity, strong writing and communication skills, self-motivation, empathy, community-mindedness, strong organizational skills, ability to work with others, love of children, love of writing, and dependability.

Individuals looking to build specific workplace skills like grant writing, social media savvy, tech skills, graphic design, and so forth, are encouraged to apply.

In the 2013-14 school year, the IYWP is seeking to build a team of interns that will strengthen and deepen the infrastructure and impact of the IYWP’s outreach efforts. This team will include Interns in the following areas: Outreach & Volunteer Intake, Technology & Social Media, Development, PR, Community Relations, Geographical Outreach, Project Development, and Graphic Design. Detailed descriptions of these roles are as follows:

Outreach & Intake: The OI Intern is responsible for screening potential volunteers, developing orientation materials to ensure thorough and consistent volunteer assimilation into the IYWP. Additionally, the OI Intern will implement these materials and hold orientation meetings and train new volunteers via the IYWP Handbook. Further, the OI Intern will work with the Geographical Outreach Intern to make sure volunteers outside of Iowa City are properly educated and prepared for their volunteer opportunities in long distance events.

Tech & Social Media: The TS Intern is in charge of ongoing updates the IYWP’s social media devices (Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, IYWP.org, podcasts, etc.) The TS Intern may create podcasts him/herself, or work closely with someone who specializes in that technology. Additionally, the TS Intern will work with the IYWP’s Public Relations Intern to make sure that promoted events, awards, mentions, etc. are advertised via social media. Also, the TS Intern will work with Development and Graphic Design to keep the website updated with the newest merchandise.

Development: The Development Intern is responsible for creating fundraisers, grant writing, clothing drives for the IYWP’s Stuff Etc. consignment account and other local businesses (in coordination with the Community Relations intern), and any other opportunities to acquire funds to ensure the IYWP can continue to hold events for Iowa’s youth at little-to-no participant cost. The Development Intern will also work closely with the Graphic Design and Tech & Social Media Interns to create and sell various merchandise (shirts, anthologies, etc.)

PR: The PR Intern is responsible for making sure the IYWP’s presence is well promoted within the community. Responsibilities include contacting local media outlets around the event area (newspapers, television, etc.), collecting volunteers and participants testimonials, and querying magazines for IYWP interviews/articles. Additionally, the PR intern will develop promotional materials with the Graphic Design Intern (posters, etc.) for specific events. The PR Intern will also work with Tech & Social Media to make sure the IYWP’s social media is up to date.

Community Relations: The CR Intern is responsible for developing a diplomatic presence in the communities surrounding IYWP events. This includes maintaining established relationships (EatStreet.com, James Gang events, Zenzic Press, Public Space Z, Mission Creek, Stuff Etc., bookmobile) and determining how the IYWP can participate and partner with their events, as well as fostering new relationships both in an out of Iowa City (while working with the Geographical Outreach Intern).

Geographical Outreach: The GO Intern is responsible for fostering a database of volunteers in communities outside of Iowa City. This is to ensure a local and consistent presence at all IYWP events. The GO Intern will work with the Community Relations Intern to contact other geographical areas and develop a community of local volunteers (and have them properly oriented and trained by working with the Outreach & Intake Intern). Additionally, the GO Intern will work with the International Writing Program (IWP) to continue putting on partnered events across Iowa.

Project Development: The PD intern is responsible for creating new events for the IYWP, and assisting those volunteers interested in creating their own personalized events. These events are generally weekend programs (two hours on a Saturday/Sunday for approximately 5-8 weeks) but are not limited to weekends. After each IYWP event, the PD Intern will collect the prompts and exercises used by the leaders/volunteers to be inventoried in the IYWP database, and work with the Graphic Design Intern to anthologize the material.

Graphic Design: The GD Intern is responsible for designing and laying out all the post-IYWP event anthologies (collections of student work), which will be given to participants and sold at Prairie Lights. Additionally, the GD Intern will work with Development and Tech & Social Media to brainstorm and create promotional merchandise (shirts, notebooks, magnetic poetry, etc.) to be sold on the website and at Prairie Lights. During events, the GD Intern will work with the Public Relations intern to develop promotional materials (posters, etc.).

Position Type: Internship (unpaid)

Approximate Number of Hours Per Week: 5

In your cover letter, please explain why you want to be a part of the IYWP team. Please describe your interests, your volunteer or work experience, and any previous experience with the IYWP or comparable organizations. Please describe what other commitments you will need to be prioritizing alongside an IYWP internship (work, course load, or extracurriculars). Please note if you are applying for a Summer 2013 internship, a Fall 2013 internship, a Spring 2014 internship, or all of the above. Please note your top four choices for internship positions and your specific qualifications for those internships.

Register NOW!

This workshop will enable participants to explore both the visual and the literary arts through writing and printmaking activities. In these three workshops, volunteer writers from the IYWP will lead participants through written explorations of their own lives through the “nouns” they care about (“person,” “place,” and “thing”). Participants will turn each of these written pieces into a mini-book, for which they’ll then create the cover art through a variety of printmaking techniques (like monoprint and letterpress) introduced and supervised by volunteer artists from Zenzic Press. This is a collaboration you don’t want to miss! Register NOW!

WHAT: 2012 Volunteer Appreciation MERRY HOUR

WHEN: Wednesday, December 5 from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm

WHERE: The Englert Theatre, 221 E. Washington St., Iowa City

This holiday season, all of the James Gang’s endeavors (Iowa Youth Writing Project, Mission Creek Festival, Public Space One / PSZ / Zenzic Press, Antelope Lending Library, and Reclaiming Roots) want to express their gratitude to YOU for volunteering your time, energy, and creativity this past year!

Catch up with your fellow volunteers, make friends from other community endeavors, and enjoy food, drink, music, door prizes, and good company!

Dress code is straight-from-work-anything-goes (ridiculous holiday sweaters encouraged, but not required).

Please RSVP ASAP (by Facebook, email, etc.) so we’re sure to have enough cheer and merriness for all our guests.

You can contact dora@iywp.org with any questions or to RSVP.

In addition to volunteers, friends in the community and those interested in getting involved are also very welcome.

“An IYWP Update by Emily Seiple”

TEENS, sign up for the six-session Saturday workshop (The Story of YOUR Life) or the three-session Sunday workshop (Women’s WRITES!).

8 – 12-year olds, sign up for an all-day writing-and-art super-workshop  on October 28 (Holiday Cheers!).

Youth in Des Moines, there’s still room in our awesome ‘ZINE WRITING WORKSHOP in collaboration with MUAWI this Saturday !! And our PODCAST WORKSHOP in collaboration with MUAWI on November 10!

Oh, and stop by the first-ever Writing Tailgate at the Iowa City Public Library this Saturday afternoon from 3-5 in meeting Room A!

Read more about the reading, the IYWP, and the summer camp in the Press-Citizen HERE!

Check out some photos of the reading and the camp HERE!

And…. enjoy an IYWP “Poetry Exclusive” below! 17-year-old Zora Hurst is an amazing young poet and artist who participated in the IYWP “Poemics” workshop in North Liberty in Fall 2011 and the IYWP / Working Group Theatre /  Mission Creek Festival “Poetry Pro-Am” workshop and performance at the Englert Theatre in Iowa City in Spring 2012. This summer, she was an IYWP High School Intern, taking a leadership role alongside Iowa Writers’ Workshop graduates Catherine Blauvelt, Adrienne Raphel, and Ashley Colley to plan and implement the IYWP “Abracadabra Shazam!” Summer Writing Camp. At the IYWP Farmers’ Market reading this past Saturday, Zora followed the campers’ readings with a poem of her own, and her reflection was the perfect ending to the IYWP summer. She was generous enough to share the text with us, so we could publish it for those who couldn’t make it to the reading to enjoy:

July 21, 2012: 17-year-old High School Intern Zora Hurst reads her poem "double-knots and other things." at the first-ever Iowa Youth Writing Project Farmers' Market Reading in Iowa City.