Local Authors Raise Scholarship Funds for High School Playwriting Workshop
Young Writers Camp (YWC) – a 26-year-old program of the South Coast Writing Project (SCWriP) at UCSB – is holding a benefit reading on Monday, March 14 from 6:30-8 pm at the San Marcos High School cafeteria to raise scholarship funds for its first ever High School Playwriting Workshop.
The reading, cosponsored by the San Marcos Writers’ Society, will feature several local and acclaimed authors: Amada Irma Perez, David Holmes, Val Hobbs, Jack Hobbs, Cynthia Carbone Ward, and Lori Anaya. In addition to being authors, all the readers are educators and fellows of SCWriP. It will also feature two San Marcos students, Gabby Goldberg and Megan McQueen, reading their winning pieces from a Poetry Slam earlier this year.
The evening will be emceed by former San Marcos drama teacher Phil Levien, who along with David Holmes will be leading the Playwriting Workshop in the summer. For over 20 years, Levien and Holmes collaborated to lead a rich drama program at San Marcos, influencing hundreds of students–many of whom can be seen on the stages around town today. In 2014, both Levien and Holmes retired from fulltime teaching to continue pursuing their respective acting careers.
“Over our many years working together, David and I witnessed the transformative, and at times even therapeutic, power that drama has for students,” commented Levien. “I feel a deep commitment to providing this experience to kids of all socioeconomic backgrounds, which is why the benefit is so important to me.”
Benefit attendees will be asked to pay a $25 donation at the door, which includes refreshments and a raffle ticket for various prizes, including signed copies of several of the authors’ works. Those who would like to donate separately to the program can also do so through the YWC 2016 GoFundMe campaign at gofundme.com/u4f5eppw.
During the summer Playwriting Workshop, Levien and Holmes will lead up to 25 incoming 1012 grade students through a three-week writing process in which every student will compose their own short play, participating in strategic theatre games and writing exercises to hone their craft. The Workshop will run Monday-Thursday July 11July 28 from 1:00-4:00 p.m. at UCSB. An early bird registration rate of $275 is available through April 30, after which the rate increases to $295. Sibling discounts and scholarships are available. Applications can be downloaded at scwrip.wordpress.com/youth.
About Young Writers Camp
Young Writers Camp, a program of the South Coast Writing Project (SCWriP) at UCSB, began in 1990 as a way to inspire a love of writing in youth and provide SCWriP fellows extended professional development opportunities in the summer. The camp has served thousands of children across the Central Coast, from Thousand Oaks to Santa Maria, providing a nurturing environment for students to grow their writing confidence and skills. Learn more at SCWriP.wordpress.com/youth or at Facebook.com/SCWriPYWC.