ALIVE MAGAZINE
http://blog.lib.umn.edu/leexx065/writingmulticulturalidentity/Alive%20Magazine%20Guidelines.doc
—
All published pieces should reflect Alive Magazine’s commitment to encouraging and empowering young women. Pieces accepted for publication must fit an existing column or feature section. Fictional pieces should focus on issues relating to young women and their development. Submissions should always have a narrative component, even when research-based. Mediums can include, but are not limited to, poetry, essays, journal entries, editorials, travelogues, and news features (with elements of personal
narrative). Submissions should generally be between 400 and 2,000 words, although exceptions may be granted by the Managing Editor under certain circumstances. If you are a female, ages 25 and under, you can contribute stories for all of our columns except Mister and Listen. Listen is reserved for writers (male or female) over 25, and Mister is reserved for male columnists ages 25 and under.

YA FICTION CONTEST
http://www.yaliteraturereview.com/contests.html

We’re holding a fiction contest for anyone ages 12 through
17. The first place winner will receive a signed copy of
Specials, by Scott Westerfeld, and will be published in our
first print magazine. Two honorable mentions will also be
printed in the magazine. Deadline November 30, 2009.

Writing 5K for Teens
Saturday, November 14, 1-4:30 p.m.
Book reports, schmook reports! Come to Hugo House on November 14 for Writing 5K, an afternoon of free workshops open to all 9th-12th graders. Every hour from 1-4:30 p.m. there will be two classes to choose from, plus an ongoing drop-in workshop in ZAPP, Hugo House’s zine archive. The workshops are followed by an open-mic coffee house in the Cabaret. To register, call (206) 322-7030, or e-mail margotcase@hugohouse.org with your name, school and grade.

Booklist has announced their top ten art books for youth this year.

The following are the handouts which will be given at the upcoming workshop, “Writing the Supernatural Workshop” during the Stormy Book Weekend Festival. The workshop is on Saturday, November 7 from 3-5.

The Human and the Ghost

setting and landscape writing

The following is a suggested reading list of supernatural stories. The list is by no means inclusive as this genre is expanding daily. This will not be given out at the workshop, but feel free to download here.

Supernatural Reading List

MAGIC DRAGON
http://www.magicdragonmagazine.com/
—
Magic Dragon, a quarterly publication, presents writing and
art created by children in the elementary school grades.
Objectives are to encourage the development of creativity in
children and to provide a medium to share their creative talent.
Encouraging children in the elementary grades to be unafraid
to express their creative ideas will increase their chances
of becoming adults unafraid to apply a creative approach to
all aspects of their lives and work. Stories and essays can
be up to three pages, poetry up to 30 lines. Each writer and
artist whose work is published in Magic Dragon will receive
two copies of the issue in which the work appears.

SKIPPING STONES
http://www.skippingstones.org/submissions.htm
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Skipping Stones is an award-winning, international magazine.
Celebrates ecological and cultural diversity, facilitates a
meaningful exchange of ideas and experiences. Young readers
of Skipping Stones, ages 8 to 16, hail from diverse cultural
and socioeconomic backgrounds. Skipping Stones provides a
place for writers and artists of all ages and backgrounds to
communicate creatively and openly. Writings (essays, stories,
letters to the editor, riddles and proverbs, etc.) should be
typed or neatly handwritten and limited to 750 words and poems
to 30 lines. We encourage writings in all languages with an
English translation, if possible.

CREATIVE KIDS
http://www.prufrock.com/client/client_pages/prufrock_jm_ck_wg.cfm
—
Creative Kids magazine is the nation’s largest magazine by
and for kids. The magazine bursts with games, stories, and
opinions all by and for kids ages 8-14. In the pages of
Creative Kids you will find such fun activities as: brain
teasers, contests, stories, artwork, poetry, pen pals,
mysteries, and much more. The most exciting aspect of
Creative Kids is that it is written by kids. Students from
all over the world write for the magazine, so it includes
exciting examples of the most creative student work to be
found in any publication. Many kids get started by writing
for the magazine’s “Write On” section. Here, kids express
themselves by writing short opinion pieces about issues they
face on a day-to-day basis.

I will be presenting, Writing the Supernatural Workshop for Teens (ages 12-18) at the Stormy Book Weekend in Manzinita, Oregon. The workshop will take place on Saturday, November 7 from 3-5 p.m.

“Writing the Supernatural Story” is a fun interactive workshop that explores the supernatural world. Teen writers will discover how to create characters not of this world and dive into settings designed to send chills up your spine.

Thanks to the Hoffman Center, the workshop is free for the teen writers!

Register Form Can Be Found Here

Last spring, a friend’s daughter mailed me her Flat Stanley so he could have adventures in Lake Stevens. Flat Stanley got to watch the Final Four Basketball Games and he got some new clothing–in particular rain gear for Seattle winter weather.

Now, Flat Stanley is having a writing contest.

Kids ages 7 to 12 are asked to  write a 150-word Stanley story.

Flat Stanley is a book character created more than 45 years ago. In the first book, he got flattened by a bulletin board and then discovered that being flat allowed him to do all sorts of cool things. Since then, Stanley’s journeys have continued in many books . The goal is to raise kids’ awareness of geography.

Story-writing winners will be chosen in three age groups. Each winner will get an Adventures by Disney vacation for four.

Rules and entry materials can be found at www.flatstanleybooks.com/adventuresbydisney .

The deadline is Nov. 30.

Most of the time when I’m working with the young men and women in juvenile detention, I kinda forget they are in jail–at least during the poetry workshop.

But yesterday, two comments were made which made me pause. First, a boy asked, “Have any new songs come out in the last 30 days or so?” Not five minutes later, I was talking to another young man about how the leaves are turning colors. He looked at me and simply said, “I don’t know. I haven’t seen them.” I realized he’d been in detention since early August.

When I write with the youth we do everything from open topics to very specific structured topics and formats. One thing the youth struggle with (like most writers) is one of the following:

1. How do I begin?
2. I’ve got a good start, but now I’m stuck
3. I can’t figure out how to end

4. I don’t have a title for the poem.

In order to help with those problems, I came up with “Lifeline Poetry.” I always enjoyed watching “Who Wants to Be A Millionaire” and the lifelines of call a friend, ask the audience, or 50/50.  In this poetry exercise, I wrote prompts on small pieces of paper and put the paper into a basket.

We passed around the basket and each youth drew one of the “lifelines.”  I told the youth they could use the line to begin their poem, in the middle of their poem if they got stuck, at the end of the poem, or even as the title of the poem.  The following were the “Poetry Life Lines”

Beware of…

Nobody can say…

I used to…

I’ve always wanted to tell you…

You see me as…

But really I am…

What they don’t tell you is…

At first he/she told me..

But then…

I never told you…

I never wanted…

Norma Fox Mazer died this weekend at the age of 78. Elizabeth Bluemle has posted a great tribute to Norma on her blog.

Norma was my mentor into children’s writing. In the summer of 2003, I was one of the few adults chosen to attend the National Book Foundation Summer Writing Camp. Norma was on the faculty.

Besides from attending the Writing Camp, I was also combining that trip East with a trip to see my Dad–someone who I hadn’t seen for ten years. At the time, I was just beginning to work on what would later become my tween novel, Girl on a Thin Wire. A story which would evolve to be about artistic mentorship.

Norma’s workshop was at the end of the Summer Writing Camp, and my nerves were shot. Nervous and anxious about the upcoming visit with my Dad, and on overload from the writing week, I dissolved into a serious crying fit in Norma’s workshop. She patiently sat with me, handing me Kleenex and comforting me, while I sobbed. It was as if all the grief I’d ever felt had chosen that moment to erupt.

After I finished crying and sheepishly wiped my eyes, Norma suggested that I apply for the Vermont College MFA Writing for Children Program. It was something she had been encouraging me to do all week–but this time I heard her.

A year later, I walked into the Vermont College office on my first day of residency and there was Norma–welcoming me with a warm smile and a hug.

I never had Norma as an adviser during my time at Vermont, but she was always there during residency giving me hints about what to work on next and reminding me to be sure and work on short story. When it came time to give my graduate lecture, Norma quickly rearranged her schedule to be at that lecture.

Norma’s legacy to me was mentorship. I think of her often when I work with the youth in detention, or mentor young writers. The picture below, which was taken at the National Book Foundation Workshop Group, hangs on my bulletin board. If you look very carefully, you will see Norma peaking out from the middle of the group behind the young lady in white. The picture looks down on me as I write–reminding me of Norma’s spirit and legacy….to tell the story which means the most to you and be giving in your time and talents.

National Book Foundation Summer Writing Group