Thurber House Writing Wizards (Our re-invented winter workshops formerly known as the Thurber Writing Academy)

After 19 years, Thurber House is reinventing our annual Writing Academy that offers creative writing classes on Saturdays in January-February. In 2010, the Writing Wizards program takes over offering new perspectives, lots of fun, and of course, the best creative writing in the kingdom for 2nd through 8th graders. Taking a cue from James Thurber’s book, Many Moons, our wizards will be challenged to stretch their imaginations, problem-solve, explore new worlds, and put it in writing.

Our Writing Wizards workshops for grades 2-8 will meet each Saturday from January 23 through February 27, and are limited to 15 students per workshop. The preschool child/adult workshops will meet for two Saturdays and are limited to eight adult/child pairs. Enrollment is on a first-come, first-served basis, and the deadline for registration is Monday, January 18th.

Click here for a printable PDF brochure and registration form.

2/3 GRADERS
Wild About Writing with Dr. John Becker
9:00-10:30 am
Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! Learn more about these animals and many others as we explore what puts the “wild” in wildlife and compose fast-paced creative nonfiction.

Instructor: Dr. John Becker is a former elementary school teacher and Columbus Zoo administrator. He’s written articles about nature for numerous children’s magazines and also twenty-four books for children.

Heroes and Heroines with Joe Decker
11:00 am -12:30 pm
Have you ever wanted to be a magician, a princess, or maybe a scary monster? Now you can be! Create a fantasy world filled with wild creatures, brave heroes and heroines, and even a villain or two as you write your own magical stories and poems.

Instructor: Joe Decker has been a guest instructor at Thurber House and the Wexner Center. His short stories have appeared online at Inkburns, Pindeldyboz, Monkeybicycle, and The Beat.

4/5 GRADES
Cracking the Code with Paul Hammock
This class is full.
9:00 – 11:00 am
Are you good at solving riddles? Does your heart race with a good mystery? Then join us as we combine a little math, a touch of science, and a dose of creative writing to come up with our own riddles, brainteasers, and innovative solutions. It will culminate with a "book" of word problems for each student containing the problems created throughout the class.

Instructors: Paul Hammock is a retired elementary teacher who always combines learning with fun. He has taught at the Thurber Writing Academy and Writers’ Cafes over the years.

Mother of All Inventions with Sarah Magill
This class is full.
1:00 – 3:00 pm
What do Band-Aids, blue jeans and Frisbees have in common? Creativity. It’s the “mother” ingredient in all inventions. This writing workshop invites you to step into our writing “laboratory” and experiment with your own creativity! We might not actually produce the next millionaire-making device, but we will engineer some humorous short stories, poetry, mini-plays (commonly called TV commercials) and news stories.

Instructor: Sarah Magill is a journalist by trade and a children’s writer at heart. She has been published in local, regional, and national publications and has taught at Thurber House’s Summer Writing camps.

6/7/8 GRADERS
The Sci of Sci Fi with Dan Mushalko and Kathy Matthews
11:00 am – 1:00 pm
Black holes. Clones. Robots. Ray guns. All of these used to be pure fiction and today they are real science. Travel with us every week as we create science fiction using today’s amazing scientific discoveries to predict our futures and fuel our imaginations.

Instructors: Dan Mushalko writes and hosts “The Amazing Science Emporium,” a daily science show on WCBE 90.5 FM. Kathy Matthews is a freelance editor and writer of fiction and poetry. Together they are frequent teachers and sometimes mystery solvers at Thurber Summer Writing Camp.

Comics, Manga, and More! with Russell Merritt
11:30 am – 1:30 pm
Draw the characters (serious or comic), the setting (real or wild), and tell the story through your pictures. Delve into different cartooning styles like comic books, Japanese manga and graphic novels and create your own book by the end of the workshop.

Instructor: Russell Merritt is a published cartoonist and has worked in watercolors for over 20 years. He is a student of Asian art traditions and will leave you knowing a little Japanese, a little history, and a lot about cartoons.

NEW THIS YEAR!
PRESCHOOL CHILD & ADULT CLASSES with Lyn Ford!
Calling all parents, grandparents, neighbors or friends! Enjoy story writing fun when you and your preschooler (age 3-5) attend this workshop together. We offer two sessions that are just two Saturdays to fit into your busy weekend schedules. Workshops are limited to 8 adult/child pairs so early registration is advised. Registration deadline is Monday, January 11.

Rhythms, Rhymes and Once Upon a Time
January 23rd and 30th
9:00 – 10:30 am
Discover what elements make a story and learn valuable ways to help your child begin a life long love of reading and writing. After hearing a simple folk tale, the children will tell their own story to their favorite adult who puts it in writing. Add pictures to the story and you have a book, written and illustrated by YOU!

Let’s Have a Story!
February 6th and 13th
9:00 – 10:30 am
A love of stories begins with listening - to tales, verses, songs, and with playing games that instill a love of making things up, things like characters and what happens next. All this and more is in store for you in this wacky workshop.

Instructor: Fourth-generation storyteller Lyn Ford is an Ohio teaching artist and member of the Greater Columbus Arts Council’s Artists-in-Schools Program. She has taught at Thurber Summer Writing Camp and Thurber Writing Academy.

SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION
Scholarships are generously provided by the Huntington National Bank, Babette Lazarus Sirak Memorial Fund, Ruth Spain Memorial Fund and the Charles Bluestone Scholarship Fund. For students who may need financial assistance, we have a limited number of scholarships, full and partial, available on a first-come, first-served basis. Students may receive one scholarship per child toward any of the Thurber Writing programs in a calendar year. Full scholarships require two items - verification of enrollment in a free school lunch program (or a letter from a school official stating financial need) and payment of the $8 non-refundable registration fee. Partial scholarships require the following items – verification of enrollment in a reduced school lunch program (or a letter from a school official stating the need for partial financial assistance), and payment of half of the registration fee plus the $8 non-refundable registration fee ($49 for grades 2-3; $54 for grades 4-8). Applications and fees must be received by Monday, January 11 and scholarships will be announced Monday, January 18.
** The Preschool Child/Adult Classes are NOT eligible for scholarships.

HOW TO FIND US
All classes are held in the Thurber Center, 91 Jefferson Avenue. (Jefferson Avenue is one block west of where I-71 intersects with East Broad Street.)

REFUND POLICY
Full tuition, minus the $8 registration fee, will be refunded only if a class is full or if Thurber House cancels a class. Tuition is 50% refundable for cancellations received by January 20. After January 20 no refunds will be given.


The Thurber House Writing Wizards is generously sponsored by the Huntington National Bank, National City - now a part of PNC, and JPMorgan Chase.

All Thurber House programming is sponsored by the Ohio Arts Council, the Greater Columbus Arts Council, the Robert Bartels fund of The Columbus Foundation. We appreciate their continued support of our programming for children.