Creative Writing Scribes with the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, 5-6th grade
with Matt Gano and Sara Brickman
Genres: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Memoir, Novel, Short Story, Essay
In Person
Open to all levels
5 Sessions
In this camp, a partnership between Hugo House and the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, students will experiment in a wide variety of prose and poetry, utilizing materials & information from the Burke Museum to inspire their creative writing. Students will examine works from carefully curated authors and will participate in writing activities, craft exercises, and artistic experiences designed to ignite their imaginations and hone their writing skills. Camp sessions will be facilitated by two local teaching artists: Sara Brickman is a published writer and educator and Matt Gano is a published poet, performer, and educator, alongside guest educators from the Burke Museum.
This camp is for students entering 5th & 6th grade in Fall 2022 and will take place in-person at the Burke Museum. Be sure to read the Burke Museum's Covid safety policies before registering for this camp. Scholarships are available by application. Questions? Please email youth@hugohouse.org.
*Note – all Scribes Summer camps are in Pacific Standard Time
Matt Gano
Matt Gano is a Seattle based poet, MC, and Teaching Artist currently writing, recording, and performing as, "ENTENDRES." He is the author of Suits for the Swarm, a poetry collection from MoonPath Press, co-founder of the Seattle Youth Poet Laureate Program, and was the principle bricklayer/Program Director of Abbey Arts' NEXT STAGE program—a career training program for emerging artists. He works as a writer-in-residence for Seattle Arts and Lectures: Writers in the Schools program, and as a guest teaching artist for the Skagit River Poetry Foundation. Gano made waves nationally as a spoken word poet and Slam champion in the early 2000’s while representing Seattle multiple years at the National Poetry Slam. With a voice rooted in and born of 90’s hiphop, Gano studied and built his craft in a rising era of the Seattle poetry and hiphop scene. Performing and writing alongside poets, Anis Mojgani, Buddy Wakefield, Tara Hardy, Iyeoka Okoawo, and many others, he completed multiple tours across the United States as a featured artist performing poetry on some of the world’s most legendary stages.
Sara Brickman
Sara Brickman is a queer Jewish writer and performer born in Ann Arbor, MI. The winner of the Split This Rock Poetry Prize, Sara has received grants and scholarships from the Lambda Literary Foundation, the Yiddish Book Center, 4Culture, and Artist Trust, and their performance have appeared at On The Boards and theaters and community spaces nationwide. A BOAAT Writers Fellow and Ken Warfel Fellow for Poetry in Community, their writing appears in Narrative, Adroit, The Indiana Review, Muzzle, and the anthologies Ghosts of Seattle Past, The Dead Animal Handbook, and Courage: Daring Poems for Gutsy Girls. They are currently at work on a book of poems and hybrid essay collection and performance about community resilience, trauma, statuary, and collective organizing in Charlottesville, VA during the white-nationalist rallies of 2017. Sara holds an MFA from the University of Virginia and lives in Seattle, where they work in a library, teach writing to youth and adults, and parent a cat named Latke.Â
FAQ
Complete FAQEach class description includes a breakdown of what you can expect in terms of in-class activity, feedback, and homework (if any).Â
Generative means you’ll be generating new writing, either in class or at home between classes.
Workshop means you’ll be sharing work to be read and critiqued by your instructor and classmates and that you will also be critiquing the work of your peers.Â
Reading means you’ll be doing close reading of a work with an eye toward craft.Â
Craft discussion means you’ll be looking at the tools writers use to do that thing they do so well and then trying it out yourself.
Class levels are designed for various stages of the writing journey. Simply self-select the level that sounds best for where you’re at.Â
Introductory: This is your first creative writing workshop, first writing class since high school, or first foray into a new genre or form. You’re looking to try something new, kickstart your writing, and/or establish yourself in the fundamentals.
Intermediate: You have a strong understanding of writing fundamentals and are eager to deep dive into craft. You’re honing your writerly identity and voice through independent projects. In workshop, you look for constructive feedback and are ready to do writing and reading outside of class.
Advanced: You’ve written a significant body of work and have taken it through several stages of revision. You’re getting ready to publish or are in the early stage of publishing, and you’re interested in refining the skills that will take you to the next level in the literary industry.
All Levels: You are any of the above and are looking to play with new possibilities.
You’ll get your class information, including Zoom link if applicable, three days before the first day of class.
Write With Hugo House is our free monthly write-in program, operated in partnership with the Seattle Public Library. Two take place onsite at SPL locations, one takes place online.Â
Sliding-scale classes are offered every quarter. Find them in our Class Catalog.
We announce flash sales, early bird periods, and special deals through our e-newsletter; sign up at the bottom of this page.
At this time, we offer payment plans on classes 8 sessions and up. Email education@hugohouse.org with the name of the class you’re interested in to set up a payment plan.
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We charge a 5% nonrefundable administrative fee for all payment plans.Â
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Extended payment plans up to 8 monthly installments and 16 semi-monthly installments are available upon request.
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We are unable to hold seats for prospective payment plan students. Students will be enrolled once their first installment has been paid.Â
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If you need to cancel, Hugo House will issue refunds according to its cancellation and transfer policies. Your 5% nonrefundable admin fee will not be refunded.Â
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If you withdraw from a class after it begins, you will not receive a refund and are still responsible for paying the full course tuition.
Asynchronous classes are perfect for students that need flexibility!
During an asynchronous class, instructors release new lessons once per week. Students then have one week to complete that lesson and any accompanying coursework. You’ll learn as much as you would in a traditional class but with the flexibility to work at the best times for your schedule!
While there are no live sessions, asynchronous classes are still a lively and rigorous experience. Async classes are not static lessons but an adaptable and energetic community space. Be ready to work in a collaborative environment, giving and receiving feedback on your writing, participating in discussions, and growing your writing practice in a way that works best for you.
Asynchronous classes take place through the website Wet Ink. Students receive an invitation to the class and to set up a Wet Ink account on the start date of the class. Each week of the class, a new lesson will be available through the Wet Ink portal. Classes close two weeks after the end date, and students receive an email containing their content from the class when it closes.
Hugo House will only process refund requests that are submitted 5 business days or more before the class start date. To request a refund, log in to your account, go to “My Account,” select the “Orders” tab on the left-hand side, click the appropriate order, and request a refund for your specific class. Administrative fees apply. Please see our full refund policy here.
In general, we do not record classes. However, an exception if a student has specific access needs.
We encourage students to only sign up for classes that fit with their schedule. Â
We do not tolerate racist, sexist, homophobic, ableist, transphobic or any other oppressive behaviors, regardless of who commits them. Please check out our full community guidelines by clicking here. If an instance of community guidelines are violated and not resolved within the classroom, students may let us know by filling out the student incident report.
If Hugo House needs to cancel a class for any reason, you’ll receive a full refund.
You can apply for a scholarship by clicking the red “Request a Scholarship” text on class pages. The scholarship request text is located at the top of each class page, underneath the “add to cart” button.
Hugo House members get to register early for classes – a full week before they open to the general public!, receive a 10% discount on events and classes, and more. See the full list of membership benefits here!
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If you’re interested in contributing your skills, Hugo House accepts volunteer applications for a variety of roles, including event support, administrative tasks, and more. Learn more on our Volunteer page.
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