Creative Writing Intensive

Sunday, July 14 – Saturday, July 20

For rising 9th – 12th grade girls

This one-week summer writing retreat provides students with individualized attention and a choice of activities to develop ​core skills in fiction, poetry, and personal narrative. ​At Hollins, we value helping students find and hone their own voices. Lectures, workshops, and special events with Hollins faculty and visiting authors encourage participants to ​experiment with new forms and styles of writing in a supportive environment. ​Past keynote topics have included fantasy writing, publishing, graphic novels, screenwriting, #ownvoices, and picture books. Each day includes unstructured time for students to practice writing, ​work one-on-one with leaders, and get to know the other students.

Residential: $1,100
Day (9 a.m. – 5 p.m.): $525

Instructors

Jordan Humphrey - Hollinsummer
Jordan Humphrey
  • Graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill (B.A. in English) and Hollins University (M.F.A. in Creative Writing).
  • Writing consultant at Grace Church School
  • Public health coordinator at Yale University, where he is pursuing a Master of Divinity

Throughout the last decade, Jordan has worked with high school and college students, both in the classroom and beyond. He taught literature and writing at a community college in downtown Manhattan, helped start a therapeutic boarding school in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and led wilderness trips through the Utah desert.

Lucy Marcus
  • Graduate of the M.F.A. program in creative writing at Hollins (was a teaching fellow and graduate assistant)
  • Teaches at Borough of Manhattan Community College
  • Served as the 2019 Writer by Bus Roanoke
  • Essays and stories have appeared in STORY, Kestrel, and other journals.
Lucy Marcus - Hollinsummer
Sydney Tammarine - Hollinsummer
Sydney Tammarine
  • Graduate of the M.F.A. program in creative writing at Hollins
  • Associate Professor of English at New Mexico Military Institute
  • Essays and poetry translations have appeared in Ploughshares, The Kenyon Review, and other journals
  • Senior editor of Creative Nonfiction and Flash Fiction at Cleaver Magazine
  • Director of Cleaver Magazine‘s editorial internship program for high school and undergraduate writers

Sydney has led workshops at Hollins University, The Ohio State University, Otterbein University, and at various high schools, including as Writer-in-Residence at Appomattox Regional Governor’s School.

Questions?

hollinsummer@hollins.edu
800-456-9595

Sample Daily Schedule

8 – 9 a.m.: Breakfast

9 – 10:30 a.m.: Getting Artsy with Poetry

10:30 – 11:30 a.m.: Guided writing time; writing prompts

11:30 am – 1 p.m.: Lunch and break

1 – 2:30 p.m.: Flash Fiction

3 – 5 p.m.: Guest speakers, field trips, writing feedback, graduate classes visitation

5:30 – 6:30 p.m.: Dinner

7 – 10 p.m.: Evening activities: crafts, movies, swimming, and more