TEENS Publish is a free 8-week summer creative writing (and/or illustrating) program for aspiring writers and illustrators going into 7th-12th grade (or just graduated high school). This program is led by author Molly Blaisdell (who also writes as Cece Barlow).
Ringer Library is currently closed due to renovations and is not expected to reopen until August. This year’s program will be meeting at the Meyer Center (former Arts Council building), located at 2275 Dartmouth St., College Station. That building has not opened yet, but the new name is on the building. It is located at the corner of Dartmouth and Colgate, near Wolf Pen Creek. (The Meyer Center will be having a grand opening on Wednesday, June 5).
The program will be held every Wednesday from June 5 through August 7, except July 3. Meetings will be from 2:30 to 5:00. The program will be limited to 20 people. Applications will be accepted from May 1 until the first meeting or when we reach our limit of 20 people. Applications can be obtained online (MS Word, pdf), by emailing Kendra, or by stopping by Mounce Library. You will be able to return completed applications electronically (email Kendra) or at Mounce (or at the first meeting if the program doesn’t fill up before then). It is okay to leave the signature part blank on the second page for now and sign it at the first meeting.
***UPDATE: THE 2019 PROGRAM IS FULL. PLEASE CHECK BACK MAY 1, 2020, TO APPLY FOR THE 2020 PROGRAM.***
For more information, contact Kendra Perkins at kperkins@bryantx.gov, temporarily at (979) 209-5600. The Ringer Library phone number (979-764-3416) is currently forwarding to the Mounce Library number (979-209-5600).
Teens complete one polished piece by the end of the 8-week program. Each participant chooses whether that will be a short story, the first chapter of a novel, a nonfiction article, poetry, or illustrations. Upon approval of the editor, each participant has one polished piece published in the TEENS Publish anthology (each person is limited to 3000 words or 12 pages). After first publication, all rights revert to the authors. There will be an author’s release party held in late September or early October.
Anthologies from each year are available to check out from the Young Adult (teen) Fiction section of the Ringer Library (College Station) and the Mounce Library (Bryan). Searching for Teens Publish in the library catalog will pull them up, and the call numbers all start with Y-F Teens. The 2015 title is The New Generation. The 2016 title is Words Were Spilt. The 2017 title is Chaotic Creativity. The 2018 title is An Overwhelming Surplus of Skittles.
There is a blog at the bottom of the page with updates from the 2017 program (oldest post at the bottom).
