Casey Curlin Scarbrough, UTM University Editor
Thursday, October 11, 2012 3:34 pm

MARTIN, Tenn. – This year’s Young Writers’ Conference at the University of Tennessee at Martin is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. on Nov. 2 and last until 3 p.m. in the Boling University Center.

The one-day conference is specially designed for students in grades 9-12 who wish to improve their creative andprofessional writing abilities. Students must be recommended by a teacher on the basis of academic merit and artistic promise in order to register.

Participants will have the opportunity to attend a variety of hands-on workshops throughout the day and create original work to present at an open mic reading. Workshop topics include writing poetry, fiction, non-fiction, songwriting, bookbinding, collaborative writing, chivalric narrative, writing letters of application and writing letters to public officials. All workshops are taught by UT Martin faculty and visiting poet Marilyn Kallet.

The registration fee is $10 for students and $15 for teachers and includes all workshops, a luncheon and attendance at a book signing by Kallet. Teachers are encouraged, but not required, to attend the conference along with their students. All teachers are responsible for obtaining the necessary parent/guardian permissions for students who will be attending the conference.

Registration is limited to 100 participants on a first-come, first-serve basis. Registration forms must be received by Oct. 29, along with the appropriate fees. Checks can be made payable to UT Martin.

The conference is sponsored by the UT Martin Department of English and Modern Foreign Languages.

For more information about the conference or to register, contact Dr. Leslie LaChance, associate professor of English, at 731-881-7296, or via email at lachance@utm.edu.