Teens
Young writers have myriad opportunities to launch, explore, consume and create great writing at Hugo House. Our conservatory-model instruction encourages students to read as writers, to critique established work and the new work of their peers and to take risks with their writing while exploring voice and language. In our classes, open writing circles, open mics and literary events, we strive to create an innovative creative writing space for all.
All Hugo House classes, workshops and field trips are taught by professional, published writers who are also experienced teachers of the craft. Teens on the Youth Advisory Board help curate our teen course offerings, MC the monthly teen open mic, Stage Fright, and may apply for the youth writer-in-residence position during their sophomore, junior or senior years.
For more information on programs for youth at Hugo House, or to register for a teen class, call 206-322-7030 or email margotcase@hugohouse.org.
Hugo Classes for Teens are Saturday workshops for teen writers who want to delve into particular subject areas such as the short story, the novel, free-form poetry, zines, spoken word, reviewing, flash fiction, screenwriting, playwriting and creative nonfiction, to name just a few.
For fall course descriptions and teacher bios, click here.
“I wanted to polish my short story skills and learn more about how stories are put together. (The class) shocked me—by how amazing it was!! The discussions and feedback were wonderful.”
Write Time
Write Time is a free, weekly drop-in writing circle for students in grades 9-12, led by Hugo House writer-in-residence Karen Finneyfrock. Bring something you're working on, or just come ready to write.
Date/time: Every Wednesday, 6-7 p.m.
Download a poster here, and let your students, classmates and friends know about Write Time!
Stage Fright is an open mic night for writers age 14 to 20. Since 1997, Stage Fright has been the place to speak out! Writers share poetry, fiction, journals and songs and enjoy the work and camaraderie of their peers. Snacks, candlelight and a fearless MC round out the evening. Sign up to read when you arrive.
Writers: grades 8-12
Date/time: the second Wednesday of every month, 7:30-9 p.m. (July 8, Aug. 12, Sept. 9, Oct. 14, Nov. 11, Dec. 9)
Tuition: free
Download a poster here, and let your students, classmates and friends know about Write Time!
Scribes summer creative writing camp is an intensive two-week writing program for middle and high school students.
Applications for Scribes 2010 are now being accepted. The early registration deadline is January 15, 2010; regular registration is April 15, 2010. For more information about Scribes, click here.
Field Trips
Bring your class to Hugo House for an hour of creative writing instruction followed by a reading on our Cabaret stage. We provide the prompts, the paper and the spotlights. You bring the talent. For more information on curricula or to schedule a visit, contact Margot Kahn Case, youth programs manager, at margotcase@hugohouse.org or (206) 322-7030 ext. 108.
Youth New Works Competition
As part of the Hugo Literary Series, Richard Hugo House seeks poems, short stories or personal essays of no more than 1000 words. The theme is Gods and Monsters, and the winner will receive $100 and an invitation to read at the third Hugo Literary Series event at Richard Hugo House alongside poets Linda Bierds and Terrance Hayes, novelist Garth Stein and the music of BloodHag. Submissions are due by January 11, 2010.
For more information about the Youth New Works Competition, click here.
Join Our Mailing List
Sign up for Hugo House's youth mailing list and receive announcements about classes, events, publishing opportunities and contests for kids and teens.
Interested in teaching a youth class? Find more information here.
Waiting to Ignite
By Clare Lilliston, Scribes '08
I am the Clare moth
flying with pale tissuepaper wings.
I am a tangle of flutter and breath,
gliding up the draft as if I were
levity incarnate.
If you put me on your tongue
I will melt, grainy and quick, like spun sugar.
If you put me in your palm
I will stay, flat and quivering
as if I have nowhere else to go.
My heartbeat tells me to follow
heat and brightness,
to kiss the light deep,
to love it until it fills me
with crackle and singe.
So I do this.
I bathe myself in fluorescence;
I serenade lightening bolts.
I long to be a sunspot
or a forest fire ember.
But this is not my birth
and so it will not be my life.
Thus, I remain.
I am the Clare moth,
Patiently waiting to ignite.
Youth programs are supported, in part, by:
