The Ada Long Creative Writing Workshop is a 3-week workshop for high school students. The Workshop is sponsored by the UAB English Department in collaboration with the UAB Honors Program. The Workshop is named in honor of Dr. Ada Long, founding director of the UAB Honors Program, Professor of English, and lifelong advocate for community outreach, the value of a liberal education, and the enduring significance of literature. Download a brochure (PDF) or follow these links for more information:
General Information • Application Procedures • Deadlines • Curriculum and Schedule • Faculty • Contact Information
Space is still available...
but you must act quickly to secure your spot in this year's workshop!
Download the application or contact Workshop Director Tina Harris for more information.
General Information
- Participants: The workshop is designed for high school students interested in creative writing for personal enrichment, as preparation for university work in creative writing, and as an introduction to creative writing as a career field. Up to 30 students—rising high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors—can participate. Students are accepted by application.
- Dates: June 2–20, 2008
Location: the Spencer Honors House, UAB campus; the workshop is a non-residential daycamp.
- Cost: $600 without college credit, $879 with one hour elective college credit. Financial aid is available for 10 students with documented financial need.
- Faculty: The faculty of five instructors have extensive teaching and nationally renowned publication experience (low student-to-faculty ratio). Get more information about the faculty.
- Financial Support: Seed money was personally contributed by the members of the English Advisory Committee. Supplementary support has been generously provided by the Office of Student Affairs, the UAB Honors Program, and the School of Arts and Humanities.
topApplication Procedures
- Students may apply directly or may be nominated by their teachers. Students who are nominated will be sent an application by mail
- The application requires a 3-5 page sample of student creative writing (in any form or genre).
- To apply directly: Student Application Form (177 KB; requires Acrobat Reader to open)
- For teachers: Teacher Nomination Form (207KB; requires Acrobat Reader to open )
- Students applying for financial aid must include a letter on school letterhead from an English teacher or high school counselor attesting to the student’s financial need.
Deadlines
- April 1—Student Application Due
- April 15—Students Notified of Selection
- May 1—Student confirms enrollment (with payment of half of workshop costs)
It's not too late to apply, but act quickly to secure one of the remaining spaces for this year's workshop!
Curriculum and Schedule
Instructional activities include directed writing exercises, small group/workshop discussion of students' work, individual conferences with instructors, and related enrichment activities.
Students will take three week-long workshops: one in poetry, one in fiction, and one in the students' choice of other genres (e.g., playwriting, writing for children, magazine production, memoir, etc.). In each workshop, they will draft, critique, and revise complete, original works.
Program is in session 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with lunch provided.
| 9:00–10:00 | Directed writing exercises |
| 10:15–12:00 | Small group writing workshops |
| 12:00–12:30 | Lunch (provided each day) |
| 12:30–1:30 | Free writing time and individual conferences with instructors |
| 1:30–3:30 | Enrichment activities |
Enrichment activities will include
- field trips and programs at such sites as the Civil Rights Institute, the Birmingham Art Museum, Birmingham Botanical Gardens, and Sloss Furnace;
- readings and presentations by the program's faculty, by current UAB undergraduate and graduate student writers, and by visiting writers and performers;
- exploration of publication opportunities in Sanctuary, the journal of the UAB Honors Program, an anthology of work exclusively by program students, and other publications; and
- opportunity to read publicly from their work in program's closing sessions.
Faculty
Daryl Brown is a graduate of UAB. His short fiction has appeared in literary journals and anthologies such as New Stories from the South. He has also published nonfiction in Creative Nonfiction, UTNE Reader, and The Best American Nonrequired Reading, 2007.
Tina Harris is an award-winning poet and memoirist whose creative work has been published in a variety of journals and anthologies. She is an Instructor in the UAB English Department, where she teaches literature and writing.
Rusty Rushton has published poetry in more than 30 renowned literary journals from Paris to California. At UAB he is Assistant Director of the Honors Program, where he teaches courses in literature and interdisciplinary humanities.
Contact Information
For more information:
Tina Harris, Director
Ada Long Creative Writing Workshop
Department of English
Humanities Building 217
900 13th Street South
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, AL 35294
205/934-8583
tmharris@uab.edu