Workshops

Committee for the Exploration of Mysteries

Are you a world famous adventurer? Are you ready to travel the globe in search of ancient artifacts and lost civilizations? Can you handle dangerous lands, hostile natives, and evil rivals? If so, your skills may be required! Join us and share tales of daring and discovery as an esteemed member of the Committee for the Exploration of Mysteries!

The New Sporker: A Food Writing Workshop

Attention, food lovers! As anyone who’s anyone in the literary world knows, the distinguished publisher Admiral Moody is readying the third issue of his exciting culinary magazine: The New Sporker, certain to be the crème de la crème of food periodicals. The eminent A. Moody has hired us — a queen of cuisine and a master of munchies — to train a team of fearless gastronauts to write a review of one of the hottest restaurants in the city. Our intrepid writers will use all of their senses to craft delicious descriptions that will make readers drool.

Please note: due to the variety of foods that will be sampled during the workshop, this class is designed for students without food allergies. Please note any other allergies in your application. The second session of this workshop will meet and take place at [TBD. NOTE: We don't have a restaurant lined up yet. Any/all suggestions of a restaurant that might want to participate are very, very welcome!] 

Noted: A Music Appreciation Workshop

Attention music lovers and blossoming young authors: if you know all the words to your favorite songs, love to write, and want to listen to some great music at 826 while you compose prolific poetry, we’ve taken note. This is the workshop for you. We will hear music that ranges in style from classical symphonies to folk-rock tunes, and use that music to inspire brilliant writing. 

I Object!

Objects are all around you in the world everyday. How do we interact with them? How do they affect our lives? I Object! explores the relationship between objects and drama. In this workshop, we will play a number of improv object games to push how we see things. Then, we will write a brief story and perform them for classmates while working with an object. How will this affect the drama in our stories? Object to the ordinary and see things around you in new ways!

Young Authors Give Back

In the spirit of paying-it-forward, four YA authors will tour the nation in hopes of inspiring young writers. Erin Bowman, Sarah J. Maas, Susan Dennard, and Kat Zhang were brought together by the literary community, and felt a need to give back by reaching out to these aspiring writers. The authors built their careers by putting passion onto paper at a young age, and now aim to share their advice and experiences. The tour offers free one-on-one workshops and hosts book signings at local bookstores and libraries in seven different cities, giving the community’s youth a chance to ask questions and discuss the written word.

Join the authors on their adventures through their blog at at www.youngauthorsgiveback.tumblr.com.

The tour will make a stop at 826CHI on Wednesday, June 12th.

Gods and Heroes and Monsters, Oh My!

Monsters and labyrinths! People turning into trees! A woman who's part hippo and crocodile and who wants to eat your heart!!! Myths are wonderful, colorful, and totally weird. In this class, we'll discuss how ancient people used myths to tell stories and to figure out important questions. After exploring some of these tales, we'll create our own. Come with us into mazy caverns of history, especially if you are creative and good at vanquishing monsters.

Elementary School Writing Camp I

826CHI is excited to offer a new session of summer writing camp! Join 826CHI staff and volunteers for four sessions of high-energy writing activities including: poetry, silly stories, superhero adventures, and other surprises. Students will develop new skills and refine old ones.
 

High School Writers Camp

Spend a week with 826CHI and an amazing assortment of professional writers from across the city. Over the course of one week, students will meet and interact with at least eight authors from novelists, to poets, to journalists, to songwriters, and more. Students will also work to complete their own piece of writing which they will present at a reading at the end of the week. The piece will also be published in a small chapbook featuring all students involved.

Middle School Writing Camp I

Join 826CHI staff and volunteers for four sessions of writing projects. Students should be ready to improve their writing techniques and learn new ones through creative projects including: poetry, short stories, comics, funny essays, and journalism. Over the course of the week, students will explore new forms of writing and finish the camp by making a book of their own writing. Students need to attend all sessions of this class.
 

Crafting & Writing Letters

"Can you imagine a world without Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, or, gasp, your cell phone? How would you have talked to your friends, or planned a sleepover, or gotten picked up from your mom after school?

Once upon a time, people used to communicate solely through hand written letter, sent through the mail, messenger, or sometimes even by horse. Learn about this lost art, how to craft one for yourself, and send your own beautiful letter with a local stationery designer.  (your grandmother will be so happy!)"

Elementary School Writing Camp II

826CHI is excited to offer a new session of summer writing camp! Join 826CHI staff and volunteers for four sessions of high-energy writing activities including: poetry, silly stories, superhero adventures, and other surprises. Students will develop new skills and refine old ones.
 

Middle School Writing Camp II

Join 826CHI staff and volunteers for four sessions of writing projects. Students should be ready to improve their writing techniques and learn new ones through creative projects including: poetry, short stories, comics, funny essays, and journalism. Over the course of the week, students will explore new forms of writing and finish the camp by making a book of their own writing. Students need to attend all sessions of this class.
 

College Application Essays Are Weird

If you plan on applying to college any time soon, you're likely going to need to compose a college application essay. And those things are weird; they require you to be humble while simultaneously speaking to your strengths. Should you feel stressed about writing one of these 400-700 word pieces, sign up for a workshop on the college application essay. We'll discuss the genre, read some samples, and give you time and space to draft your essay before you get tangled up in a new school year.

#Famous

Over three weeks, students will write a set of original very short stories (under 1000 words) with a focus on taking celebrities and well-known figures and placing them out of their element. We will cover the full process of writing fiction, from conception to publication. These pieces will be workshopped and revised, and eventually assembled into a chapbook for participants to take home.

How to Cook a Wolf

Named after a classic book by MFK Fisher, this workshop will present an assembly of junior Top Chef talent with challenges geared toward developing creative writing skills. Students will analyze critical writing on food and then fill in food reviews Mad-Libs-style, praising and panning different dishes while focusing on metaphors and similes. Then, they’ll write a short essay about their favorite food, with emphasis on how family and neighborhoods influence cuisine. Finally, a guest chef will present them with some mysterious samples; after taking tasting notes and discussing the dishes, they’ll divide into groups and create a menu for a new restaurant based on what they just ate.

Campfire Tales: How to Write a Scary Story!

Summertime means it's time to sit around the campfire (or imaginary campfire) with friends and family to share a good, old-fashioned spooky story - think spiders, ghosts, or a creepy haunted house! Students will learn how to write their own classic scary story to tell in the dark through creating atmosphere and suspense in their writing. We will look at the wildly loved "Goosebumps" tales for children, "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" and others. Students will write 1 final polished story to be presented the last day of class.

Refresh Your Writing!

Over the course of this week, students will work one-on-one with 826CHI staff and volunteers to complete a short memoir. Throughout the week, we'll focus on writing basics to build students skills as they enter high school or work toward graduation and college applications. While we welcome writers of all levels, looking to refresh their writing skills, this workshop will be especially geared toward reluctant or struggling writers.