The Young Writers’ Celebration presented by the Methow Valley Elementary School and Methow Arts Alliance is tonight, June 6th at 5:30-7pm. Students’ writing will be displayed in the library, students will read original work aloud, and the winners of the Second Annual Writing Contest will be announced.

The Young Writers’ Celebration precedes the Young Writers’ Conference on June 7th: a day-long series of workshops that engage students in writing activities, including attending seminars of their choice presented by adult writers, artists, storytellers, and actors from around the region, hearing inspirational speakers, and sharing their own writing. Poet Linda Robertson, newspaper editor Don Nelson, songwriter Danbert Nobacon, and filmmaker Sarah Berns are among the community members who will be offering workshops at the conference.

The goals of this conference are to provide students with opportunities to:

• View themselves as writers and feel a part of the writing community
• Hear life stories from individuals who have chosen writing as a career
• Observe techniques and skills used by practicing writers
• Integrate art, music, performance, and storytelling into the writing process

Author Kelly Milner Halls, a children’s non-fiction writer from Spokane, will provide the keynote address. In addition to accounts of true stories like the restoration of the Baghdad Zoo, Kelly writes about topics that fascinate and mystify, such as mummies, aliens, and dinosaurs. Weird stuff. Kelly says, “I was always the weird kid, the kid who asked too many questions, the kid who couldn’t stop talking to her neighbors.” Writing “weird stuff” for kids, says Kelly, was ideal. “Weird is a destination we share. Weird is a really fun state of mind.” For more information about Kelly Milner Halls, visit www.wondersofweird.com.

Other workshops and presenters include comics with Erik Brooks, non-fiction with Sam Lucy, character development with Rasa Tautvydas, writing about art with Nicole Ringgold, science writing with Susan Prichard, Native Methow studies with Dana Visalli, and food journalism with Georgina Tobiska, among others.

The Young Writers’ Celebration and Conference, presented by the Methow Valley School District and Methow Arts Alliance, are sponsored by the Public School Funding Alliance, the Methow Valley Fund, and ArtsWA.

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DATE: Thursday, June 6, 2013, 5:30-7pm. LOCATION: Methow Valley Elementary School, 18 Twin Lakes Road, Winthrop, WA 98862. FREE. CONTACT: Methow Arts, 509.997.4004, info@methowartsalliance.org