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Community of Writers at Squaw Valley facts for kids

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The Community of Writers at Squaw Valley is a special place where writers can learn and improve their skills. It's the oldest yearly writers' conference on the West Coast of the United States.

It was started in 1969 by two writers, Oakley Hall and Blair Fuller. The first meeting happened in August 1970 in Olympic Valley, California. This is a beautiful area known for skiing. Even today, the workshops, talks, and readings happen in the ski lodges when there's no snow.

The Community of Writers is a non-profit group. This means it's run to help people, not to make money. It has a group of leaders called a Board of Directors.

In 2003, the group changed its name from "Squaw Valley Community of Writers" to "The Community of Writers at Squaw Valley." They did this because some people, especially Native Americans, felt the word "Squaw" could be offensive. The change made it clear that "Squaw Valley" was just the name of the place, not part of the organization's name. This helped avoid any discomfort with the word.

Workshops for Writers

The Community of Writers offers different types of workshops. These are like classes where writers can learn and get feedback.

  • Fiction: This is for people who want to write stories.
  • Nonfiction: This is for writing about real events or people.
  • Poetry: This helps people write poems.
  • Screenwriting: This teaches how to write scripts for movies.

Many famous writers have helped lead these workshops over the years. For example, Galway Kinnell led the poetry program for 17 years. The screenwriting workshop was started by Tom Rickman and Gill Dennis. Today, Brett Hall Jones leads the Community of Writers.

How to Join the Workshops

It's not easy to get into the Community of Writers. They have a formal process to choose who can attend.

  • People who want to join must send in an application fee.
  • They also need to send a sample of their writing.
  • Only about 33% of people who apply get accepted.

The Community of Writers tries to help as many people as possible. About half of the people who attend get some financial help. This help comes from donations from past attendees, staff, and friends. The conference usually has about 8 fiction workshops and 2 nonfiction workshops. Each workshop has about 12 participants.

Writers Who Have Been Involved

Many well-known authors have been part of the Community of Writers. Some have taught there, and others attended as students.

Famous Authors and Teachers

Some famous authors who have been involved include:

  • Amy Tan (who wrote The Joy Luck Club)
  • Richard Ford (a Pulitzer Prize-winning author)
  • Gary Snyder (a well-known poet)
  • Robert Stone (a famous novelist)
  • Sharon Olds (a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet)
  • Yiyun Li (a MacArthur Fellow)

Gill Dennis taught a special workshop called "Finding the Story" for over 30 years until he passed away in 2015.

Published Alumni

Many writers who attended the workshops as students have gone on to publish their own books. Some of these include:

Other Cool Projects

The Community of Writers also does other interesting things:

  • The Poetry Program publishes a book each year. This book contains poems that were first written during the workshops.
  • In 2007, a book called "Writers Workshop in a Book" was published. It shares writing tips from the Community of Writers. It was edited by Alan Cheuse and Lisa Alvarez.
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Community of Writers at Squaw Valley Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.