Writing with the Hermit Crab

(MORNINGS: for ages 14+) Hermit crab?! What does this creature have to do with creative writing?! Just as the hermit crab finds a new home in a shell that once belonged to another animal, writing of any genre (poetry, fiction, nonfiction) can find a home in different shaped “shells” or forms. In this camp, students will use alternative structures to explore their ideas—for example, a dictionary entry for grief that explores a writer’s loss, or a soundtrack that explores a time period in a character’s life. Students will read and discuss several published examples of hermit crab forms, generate ideas and drafts of poetry, nonfiction, or fiction using the hermit crab form, and workshop one piece of your choosing.