Tell Your Truth

On the first day of camp, the campers gathered to listen to guest authors from The Poetry Project as they performed their poems through spoken word. These authors use their personal experiences and ideas of the world to create poems to spread messages. They encourage youth to use their voices to speak up. 

Spoken word combines elements of poetry with rhythm and choreography to create visual and auditory expressions of oneself. The authors from The Poetry Project create and memorize large portions of text and practice it repetitively to be able to memorize and perform it. One of the authors spoke about why she writes and encourages others to write: “You tell your truth, no matter what anybody says about it, and stand by it.”

After the author talks, the campers went with their instructors and brainstormed ideas for their writing. 
Once lunch ended, the campers were split into one of five groups: creative nonfiction, fiction for 5-8th grade, fiction for 9-12th grade, spoken word and podcasting.

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