Young Writers Gain Great Experience at Workshop

Photo Credit: Deborah Feingold

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the Alice Hoffman Young Writers Retreat with the Adelphi University Ruth S. Ammon School of Education. High school juniors, recommended by teachers and or counselors, are selected from all over the country to attend this full-scholarship week-long program. This year, the workshop will run from July 22 through 26 at Adelphi’s Garden City, Long Island campus at Alumni House.

Writer, actress Renee Watson will be joining the retreat along with faculty and many of the University’s English education graduate students. Ms. Watson received a 2012 NAACP Image Award nomination for her latest book, Harlem’s Little Black Bird and she has been a guest of the First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House. In response to her children’s book, A Place Where Hurricanes Happen, Ms. Watson appeared on the NBC Nightly News about how her writing was helping children having suffered from the trauma of Hurricane Katrina.

Another guest artist, David Flores, New York City photographer and filmmaker, is a returning favorite to the workshop. His motion picture work has been showcased at various film festivals all over the world and his photography has appeared on the covers of magazines and commercial products.

Named for the famed author and Adelphi University alum, Alice Hoffman ’73, the week-long workshop will give 30 exceptional high school students the experience of what it’s like to be on a college campus, some of whom have never experienced such before. “We want to present opportunities to students who may not have seen college in their future,” says workshop organizer Professor Robert Linne.  There will be intensive writing workshops, exercises, performances and interaction between the students, faculty and guest artists.

Hoffman, a workshop partner, had her first novel, Property Of, published while she was still a student. In the next few months she will offer readers two new works, Survival Lessons, a non-fiction short work about the things she wish she knew when she battled breast cancer 15 years ago and Museum of Extraordinary Things. Her novel Here on Earth was an Oprah Book Club choice; two of her novels have been made into movies: Practical Magic, starring Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock, and Aquamarine, starring Emma Roberts. Her novels have received several mentions as notable books of the year.

Adelphi University graduate, Anthony Brienza ’11, M.A. ’12, credits the program with introducing him to writing on a higher level when he attended in 2007 as a junior at Mepham High School in North Bellmore. “This was my first introduction to college classes and how a writing workshop runs,” he said. “I enjoyed it so much.”  Brienza now teaches English at Suffolk County Community College and Briarcliffe College, he has his first novel coming out this fall, Bertram Bishop and the daughters of Hecate.

Find out more about the Alice Hoffman Young Writers Retreat and to view performances from last year’s students, visit adelphi.edu/youngwriters.