If you love to write, finding a summer program to suit your needs can be a tough call for a parent. There is very little out there, and as writing is such a solitary interest, if this is what you love to do, you might well find yourself spending summer alone, indoors and in front of a computer.

Our Creative Writing programs have been designed to meet the need of young people who want to spend their summer writing. Many of the campers who join us for these very special and unique programs might otherwise choose not to go to camp at all. Traditional camps are simply not their ‘thing’. Other campers, however, may be interested in a bunch of different activites, and want to spend a couple of weeks figuring out whether writing is also something they love to do. As with all our arts programs, Creative Writing camps at Centauri attract beginners as well as very experienced writers… and this works, because everyone chooses to be there. Unlike school, every single person in the program wants to give it a go.

The key to our writing programs, as with all the specialized camps we run, is variety. Many of our campers come back year after year, so we need to offer them a lot of choice, This summer’s offerings include specialist programs such as ‘Popular Fiction’, ‘Creative Fiction and Non Fiction’, and ‘Poetry & Prose’ as well as more general programs which explore the many possible directions a person can take their writing: ‘Find Your Inspiration’, for example, and ‘Inspired to Write’. For campers with an interest in theatre as well, we’re offering  two sessions of ‘Playwriting and Performance’ in which participants spend the first few days writing an original piece of theatre, before rehearsing their creation for presentation in front of an audience. There can be no better way to learn the craft of a playwright than to create something and then see how it works on the stage.

One of the most common questions we are asked by campers looking to book on our writing programs is, “Will it feel like school?” Absolutely not! We’re not interested in how well you spell, or how perfect your grammar might be.  We’ll never ask you to write something that doesn’t interest you. And you likely won’t spend much time sitting behind desks. Creative Writing programs are about doing something you love, in an inspiring space, surrounded by others who love the same things you do. Activities are varied, and campers are encouraged to follow their own interests when they write. A lot of the time, writing takes place in a small grove of fruit trees. Collaborations may happen – between campers, and even between departments. In 2011, writing campers created short screenplays for an acting program to use, and got to see their work on film. They also collaborated with our musicians, who set their poetry to music for performance on the final day. We’ll introduce you to authors you may never have heard of. We’ll explore new forms of writing with you, while respecting interests and preferences you may have. And as our program descriptions say, by the end of the summer, you’ll have not only some polished pieces to share, but also a notebook filled with ideas to inspire you throughout the year.

If you are the kind of person who is likely to spend your summer working on a novel, or writing comic books, or quietly creating poems and lyrics in the silence of your bedroom at home, then we’d like to invite you to join us at camp – do the things you love while discovering a community of people who share your interests. And if you already love summer camp and you want to try an activity that might be a little different from the traditional ones camps usually offer, then we’re extending the invitation to you, too! Come join our creative writing camps this summer, and unlock the writer inside you.

For more info go to http://www.centauriartscamp.com/summer-camps/writing-camp-programs.htm