Write Rhode Island comes to Bristol, Barrington and East Bay! School One and Goat Hill’s Write Rhode Island short fiction competition competition will host free creative writing workshops at local libraries and schools to help get students’ creative juic

Providence, R.I. – With September marking the kick-off of a new school year it also marks the beginning of School One and Goat Hill’s Write Rhode Island short fiction competition for Rhode Island students. Write Rhode Island is hoping to get teens excited and spur entries by hosting free creative writing workshops at the Rogers Free Library, Tuesday, October 17th at 6:30pm. To register for this free workshop contact the teen librarian at the Library, 401-253-6948.

Last year Write Rhode Island received more than 100 submissions from students attending public, private and parochial schools from across the Ocean State.

This year, the competition has been expanded and will now include 7th graders. Write Rhode Island is also partnering with organizations like Weaver Public Library, Barrington Public Library, Newport Art Museum and ENRICHri to provide free writing workshops for students to get their stories started.

“We’ll be coming to Bristol for the first time with a special fiction workshop with Darcie Dennigan at the Rogers Free Library. We’re really excited for this. We’re also working with the Warren Preservation Society on a fun visual element for the Write Rhode Island Anthology and possible prompts for student stories. And in November we will partner again with Barrington Public Library. Barrington had workshops and a winner last year,” said School One Literary Arts and Outreach Director, Diana Champa.

Tanya Paglia, Teen Librarian at the Barrington Public Library, host a four-part fiction workshop series last year. Tanya said, "Working with School One for Write Rhode Island has been a great experience. The idea that teens can learn tips and gain feedback from professional writers while having the chance to get their stories published is a unique opportunity. I'm looking forward to the upcoming workshops at the library this November."

The goal of Write Rhode Island is to promote and celebrate student by incorporating Rhode Island as a theme in a creative piece of prose. The competition is open to all public, private, parochial or home-school students throughout the Ocean State. Winners in various categories by grade level will receive prizes, awards, and an opportunity to be published. The deadline to submit a piece is Saturday, December 10, 2017, and additional information and full competition guidelines can be found at www.school-one.org. Winners will be announced in Spring 2017.

As part of the competition, the free creative writing workshops will be led by authors and teaching artists who will provide support to spur student writing and participation in the contest. While the workshops are free, participants are asked to register in advance by contacting the library directly.

Write Rhode Island developed a workshop for interested teens in grades 7-12. Darcie Dennigan, a writer of poetry and co-founder of Frequency, will lead the workshop. Her poetry collection Corinna A-Maying the Apocalypse (2008) was winner of the Poets Out Loud. Dennigan was a 2007 Discovery/The Nation winner; her other awards include the Cecil Hemley Award from the Poetry Society of America and a Rhode Island State Council of the Arts Poetry Fellowship. Darcie has been an assistant professor in residence at the University of Connecticut and is a cofounder of Frequency Writers: A Writing Community for Providence & Beyond, based in Providence, Rhode Island, where she lives.

“As educators, we understand the value of giving students an opportunity to write for their own purposes and in their own voice,” said Jennifer Borman, Head of School for School One. “This type of writing involves self-expression and sharing an authentic view of students’ perspective of the larger world—we’re really excited about these workshops and eager to read the stories that are submitted.”

For students who want to hear excerpts from last year’s winners, Ocean State Writer Conference at URI will host Write Rhode Island on Saturday, October 28th at 3pm. The students will read their work as part of the conference’s great weekend line-up.

Interested teens can sign up for the Rogers Free Library workshops directly with the library. Other East Bay opportunities include Weaver Public Library on Saturday, October 28th, 2-3:30pm; Barrington Public Library on November 2, 9 & 16th. Newport Art Museum will host a special guided visual art tour and creative writing workshop on Sunday October 22 & 29, and again on Sunday November 5th, 1-3pm.

Write Rhode Island is being presented by School One and Goat Hill. School One is a small, independent high school in Providence that provides an arts-intensive, college preparatory education to an array of students from across Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. Goat Hill is the coming together of three Providence writers, Ann Hood, Hester Kaplan and Taylor Polites with the collective goal of producing and expanding literary events across the state.

The competition has been made possible thanks to support from BankRI, Pawtucket Credit Union, the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities, Stenhouse Consulting, Rhode Island Department of Education, the RI State Council on the Arts, teachers, librarians and educators from around the state. For more information, including a full list of available workshops, visit www.school-one.org or contact Diana Champa at (401) 331-2497 and dianac@school-one.org.