Area high school students interested in creative writing have until Feb. 9 to sign up for a unique opportunity offered by Vance-Granville Community College. The Spring 2013 VGCC Creative Writing Camp is scheduled for Saturday, March 2 from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. at the college’s Main Campus in Vance County.
Students in the ninth, tenth and eleventh grades who love to write — whether poetry or prose, fiction or nonfiction — and would like to see their work in print — are encouraged to attend. “The campers will get a chance to write and to learn about participating in a writing group,” said David Wyche, head of VGCC’s English department and one of the instructors involved in the camp. “They’ll create, design, lay out, and publish an anthology of their own writing, all in one day.”
All four VGCC English instructors who will lead the camp are also published writers. Wyche, who received a B.A. in English from Appalachian State University and an M.A. in English with a concentration in Fiction Writing from N.C. State University, has published fiction, poems and literary criticism. Longtime VGCC English/humanities instructor Wendy Frandsen is the author or co-author of two textbooks currently used at the college, “Speaking Southern, Writing English” and “Southern Culture: An Introduction.” She received a B.A. in College Scholars with an emphasis in Poetry and an M.A. in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing from the University of Tennessee. Instructor Dr. Tanya Olson holds the M.A. in Anglo-Irish Literature from University College, Dublin and the Ph.D. in 20th Century British Literature from UNC-Greensboro. Olson is an award-winning poet whose work has been published in numerous periodicals and whose first book is set to be published this year. Finally, Bridget Bell is not only a VGCC instructor but also an associate editor for Four Way Books, a literary press in New York City. Bell studied French and journalism at Ohio University and earned her M.F.A. in creative writing from Sarah Lawrence College. Her poetry has been published in numerous literary journals.
The cost to attend the camp is $35. Lunch and a t-shirt are provided.
For more information, contact David Wyche at (252) 738-3364 or wyche@vgcc.edu.