Denison University will hold its seventh Jonathan R. Reynolds Young Writers Workshop, a program aimed at discovering and improving high school creative writing talent, this summer, June 17 - 24. Applications will be accepted until Sunday, April 15, 2001.

"The Young Writers Workshop has established itself as an intensive, invaluable experience for high school-age writers. Students are immersed in the week-long practice of poetry, nonfiction and fiction," says Dennis Read, Reynolds Workshop director and an associate professor of English at Denison. "It is designed to give the students the opportunity to develop their skills as poets and fiction writers."

The eight-day program includes intensive workshops, tutorials, group talks, readings, social encounters with visiting writers and other events designed to heighten the students' perceptions of what it means to be a writer says Read. The workshops are directed by guest experts and faculty in Denison's creative writing program.

Many activities for workshop participants, such as "One-on-One Conferences" with professors and students are scheduled for the week. Sessions include: "Spicing up Expository and College Writing," where students will sharpen skills for high school compositions and college application essays; "Writing Rap with the Writer," where participants will have the opportunity to read works by faculty members and visiting writers and discuss it with the authors; and "Crosswriting," which allows students to try different modes of writing, not only to explore what they do best or enjoy the most, but also to make connections between various types of writing. Time is set aside for journal writing, recreation, readings, free time and other social activities.

The faculty at this year's workshop includes: Read, who earned his doctorate at the University of Wisconsin; Erin McGraw, an associate professor of English at the University of Cincinnati; Alison Stine, an alumna of Denison and master of fine arts candidate at the University of Maryland; visiting guest poets, fiction writers and playwrights; and Denison University students.

-Read has published more than 100 essays, reviews, and scholarly articles in such publications as The American Scholar, American Literature and Philological Quarterly. His recent article, "HOG Heaven," in the May 2000 issue of Columbus Monthly magazine won the Hazel Kolb Brighter Image award of the American Motorcyclist Association.

-McGraw has written two collections of short stories,Bodies at Sea(University of Illinois Press, 1989) andLies of the Saints(Chronicle Books, 1996), which was named a Notable Book for 1996 by The New York Times. Her stories have appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, The Kenyon Review, The Georgia Review, The Southern Review, The North American Review and other journals.

-Stine attended the inaugural Reynolds Workshop as a student and has been a teaching assistant during the past three years. Her poetry in The Kenyon Review was nominated for a Pushcart Prize; new poems are forthcoming in The Paris Review; and her first collection of poems,Lot of My Sister, will be published by Kent State University Press.

The $900 tuition for the eight-day program includes all activities and room and board. Generous financial aid, made possible by the Reynolds Endowment, is available for students demonstrating financial need.

The University has offered specialized study in writing arts for more than 40 years and numerous Denison students and alumni have garnered national recognition in competitions, literary journals and publications, and highly ranked graduate-level writing programs. A 1965 Denison University graduate, Jonathan Reynolds' success as a professional writer and his interest in helping young writers develop their talents led to the creation of the workshop. Reynolds' plays includeYanks 3, Detroit 0; Top of the Seventh,while his screenwriting credits include the Dudley Moore comedy,Micki and Maude.

High school sophomores, juniors and seniors may apply. A completed application form, financial aid form (if needed), letters of support and a writing sample are required. The writing sample may be poetry or fiction. Applications may be obtained by calling Read at (740) 587-6565 or (740) 587-6207.

About Denison:

Denison University, founded in 1831, is an independent, residential liberal arts institution located in Granville, Ohio. A highly selective college enrolling 2,100 full-time undergraduate students from all 50 states and dozens of foreign countries, Denison is a place where innovative faculty and motivated students collaborate in rigorous scholarship, civic engagement and the cultivation of independent thinking.

For press inquiries:

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