Young Adult Writing Groups
YAWG: Young Adult Writer's Group
at 171 Cedar Arts Center
Taking a playful, curious stance and welcoming whatever comes, Rhonda's Young Adult Writing Groups (YAWGs) are less about the mechanics of a good poem and more about priming the pump of creativity. There's always time to put on the editor's hat later.
The proof is in the performance
Typically, a YAWG runs for six weeks. In addition to creating new work, participants will learn to "deliver" a poem in a compelling way, using their bodies and their voices as fully-engaged instruments. Whenever possible, a workshop series will culminate in a public performance to bring focus and purpose to the experience. A possible funding source for these programs is Poets & Writers.
Rhonda's exercises invite participants to wake up, become more aware, and actively make life more interesting by stepping out of whatever boxes they have put themselves in. The sessions encourage writers to use all their senses, flex their imaginations and open to possibility.
With a focus on right-brain, non-linear mindfulness, Rhonda enables literary artists to write from their whole bodies and not just from the neck up. Mining instincts, intuition, and other forms of knowing without thinking, Rhonda's writing exercises can be used over and over long after the workshop ends.
"The Young Adult Writers workshop Rhonda held expanded the borders of my writing experience. Every exercise was fun for me, and the writings that came out of it I still cherish. Rather than a 'Write it MY way, YOUR way is WRONG' experience, I got 'That's great! I love this, this and this about that piece-do you want to try it another way as well?' Needless to say, I learned. Yet, it was a joy to go too-I looked forward to the meetings."
-Katelynn O'Leary
Contact Rhonda for more information and/or to set up a YAWG.