Writing – Salem Happenings

A Creative Writing Workshop for Kids

Do you have a young aspiring writer in your household or a child that might like to explore the power of the written word? Well, if you do, there’s no better way for a young writer (or any writer for that matter) to improve their writing skills than to study the techniques of others and put those techniques into practice. As a result, if you’re looking for a way to give your young aspiring writer the opportunity to truly hone their craft, you may want to check out the Youth Creative Writing Workshop with Laura Lovett at Storybook Cove. Storybook Cove, which is a bookstore located in the Hanover Mall in Hanover, MA, is hosting a writing workshop for children ages 8 to 11 from 11:30 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. on Saturday (June 4, 2016). This workshop will teach your child to craft plotlines, develop characters, and establish settings for poems and stories so that your child can create their own literary works and share them with the world (or, at the very least, the rest of the people at the workshop). For more information on the Youth Creative Writing Workshop and other Pen to Paper Workshops at Storybook Cove, please visit the Storybook Cove website or call 781-826-6060.

Photo via Visualhunt.com

Free Salem Scavenger Hunt

Are you an art fan planning to be in the Salem area this weekend? Well, if you are, you may want to check out the Salem Art Festival. The Salem Art Festival is a three-day celebration of art in all its forms, including the culinary arts, dance, film, music, painting, performance art, photography, poetry, sculpture, writing, theatre, and a whole lot more. In fact, the festival, which runs from today (June 5, 2015) until Sunday (June 7, 2015) has been giving local artists an opportunity to show off their work for seven years now, so there will be no shortage of things to see and people trying to see him.

However, if you’re concerned that your children may be a little too young for a large amount of family-friendly art, or in other words, will be bored out of their skulls by the time you’ve reached the second painting, you may be looking for something to keep them busy. If this is indeed the case, you’re in luck because this free scavenger hunt designed for children under the age of 12 will have you children looking for all of the famous (and not so-famous) landmarks around downtown Salem while you’re moving from one art location to the next (just so you know, the last location will have your kids looking for ice cream. You have been warned.)

Clue 1:
A very large bird after a long day in the sky,
Would return to his home on these sticks up high.

Clue 2:
Just as water flows down the side of a great mountain,
So too will it flow over you as it leaps from the…

Clue 3:
I have two hands upon my face.
You check my time to keep your pace.

Clue 4:
I ride on this right out of the room,
I’m magically powered with a crescent moon.

Clue 5:
During life, the falsely accused did their best,
But now their memorials all do rest,
By the side of the men who believed them unblessed.

Clue 6:
This museum is dedicated to people who were simply misunderstood
Because sometimes those who seem wicked are actually quite good.

Clue 7:
The first part of this place’s name is a person who uses a broom but has never swept the floor,
The second part of this place’s name is somewhere you live with your very own door.

Clue 8:
Looking for something oh so sweet?
Maria’s has something cold that is sure to help you beat the heat.

Answers: 1. The Stickwork Project’s Giant Bird Nests; 2. Fountain; 3. Almy’s Clock; 4. Bewitched Statue; 5. The Burying Point; 6. Witch Museum or Witch History Museum; 7. Witch House; 8. Maria’s Sweet Somethings.

Where Is All This Stuff? (All Locations are in Downtown Salem, MA):
1. The giant bird nests are part of the Stickwork art exhibit sculpted by Patrick Doherty, and these nest-like sculptures can be found in front of the Crowinshield-Bentley House at 126 Essex Street.
2. There are actually two fountains located on the pedestrian walkway on Essex Street, so you can look for one or both of them if you so choose. The first fountain (if you’re walking from the Crowinshield-Bentley House) is located in front of the Museum Place Mall and the second fountain is located across from Rockafellas at 231 Essex Street
3. The Almy’s Clock, which is the only thing left of the Almy’s, Bigelow, & Washburn Department Store that stood on the site until 1982, is located in front of the Commonwealth Financial Offices at 192 Essex Street.
4. The Bewitched Statue, which is a tribute to the fictional character Samantha Stephens from the famous TV series Bewitched, is located in Lappin Park at the intersection of Essex and Washington Street right in front of the Gulu Gulu Cafe.
5. The Burying Point, which was first established in 1637, is the oldest cemetery in Salem and the site of both John Hathorne, one of the judges that presided over the witch trials, and the site of the memorial to the victims of the trials. The Burying Point is located on Charter Street behind the Peabody Essex Museum.
6. The Salem Witch Museum and the Salem Witch History Museum, which are run by two completely different organizations, are both dedicated to teaching people about the events of the Salem witch trials and the innocent individuals who became victims of the witch hysteria. The Salem Witch Museum is located at 19 1/2 North Washington Square diagonally across from Salem Common and the Witch History Museum is located on the pedestrian walkway at 197 Essex Street.
7. The Witch House, which was the home of Jonathan Corwin, is located at 310 Essex Street. Jonathan Corwin was one of the judges that presided over the witch trials, and his home is one of the only structures from the period with a direct link to the trials that is still standing.
8. Maria’s Sweet Somethings is a souvenir, sweets, and ice cream shop located at 26 Front Street right around corner from most of the art festival’s exhibits.

Photo credit: openroads.com / Foter / CC BY

The Story of Your Life (or Someone Else’s)

Has your life been one long series of unfortunate events? Have you ever had something spiral out of control to the point that everyone was making much ado about nothing. Have you ever met someone that seemed like Dr. Jekyll one moment and Mr. or Mrs. Hyde the next? Do you have a great story to tell?

Well, if you answered yes to any of these questions, you may be looking for a way to convey your story. A way to tell others what you have experienced or show them a world that they have never seen before. A way to demonstrate something new or something that you have re-imagined in a way that only you could. And, if this is indeed the case and you’re looking for a way to pass your story on to others, there are a couple of writing workshops this weekend that are sure to help you convey your story through the written word.

First, if you’re looking for a way to tell your life story or a story that is at least based on an aspect of your life, you may want to check out the Write Your Life Memoir Writing Workshop at the Brushstrokes Art Gallery in Marblehead, MA. The Write Your Life Memoir Writing Workshop, which is scheduled to take place from 10:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. on Saturday (March 28, 2015) is a writing workshop run by Scribbler’s Ink. This workshop will feature a catered lunch, snacks, beverages, and most importantly, writing exercises and techniques that are designed to help you take a single event from your life or a group of events and weave them into a story. For more information on the Write Your Life Memoir Writing Workshop and/or to register for the event, please visit the Scribbler’s Ink website.

Secondly, if you’re looking for a way to write a very short story whether it is fact of fiction, the Flash Fiction Workshop may be exactly what you’re looking for. The Flash Fiction Workshop, which is scheduled to take place at the Jamaica Plain Branch of the Boston Public Library from 10:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. on Saturday (March 28, 2015), is a writing workshop hosted by JP Reads. This workshop will teach you the basic elements of flash fiction and use a series of writing exercises and prompts to help you create your own piece of flash fiction centered around the theme of a “reluctant hero.” Best of all, this workshop is completely free and open to all teens and adults (although space is limited, so you may want to preregister.) For more information on the Flash Fiction Workshop, please visit the Flash Fiction Workshop Facebook page or call 617-524-2053.

Photo credit: William Arthur Fine Stationery / Foter / CC BY-ND

Aspiring Artists, Photographers, and Writers

Last week I talked about some of the ways that we can inspire creativity in our children, but after writing that post, something occurred to me. Why should kids have all the fun? There are plenty of workshops, conventions, and other similar activities that are designed for people of all ages, so what’s actually stopping the adults among us from seeking out ways to inspire our own creativity? In fact, if you’re an aspiring artist, an aspiring photographer, or an aspiring writer, there’s really no reason that you can’t join in on the fun and explore some of the great creative opportunities this weekend.

First, if you’re an aspiring artist or an aspiring cartoonist, there is probably no better place to be this weekend than DrawnCon. DrawnCon, which is scheduled to take place at the Westford Regency Inn & Conference Center in Westford, MA from 9:00 A.M. tomorrow (Saturday, November 15, 2014) to 6:00 P.M. Sunday (November 16, 2014), is one of the largest conventions dedicated to Western art and animation in the Northeast. This convention will allow you to learn what makes a cartoon work and what doesn’t, learn the finer points of voice acting from actual voice actors, learn how to draw your favorite cartoon characters, learn about costuming, learn about the worst and greatest cartoons past and present, audition for your own voice acting role, and a whole lot more. For more information on DrawnCon, please visit the official DrawnCon website.

Secondly, if you’re an aspiring photographer, there is a very interesting workshop this weekend at the Plymouth Center for the Arts (and I don’t mean “interesting” in the “wow, that’s weird” sense.) This is because the Plymouth Center for the Arts is hosting an i-Phonography Workshop with Rad Drew. This workshop will teach you how to use your iPhone to take pictures and use apps and processing techniques to create beautiful images that convey whatever effect you desire. For more information on the i-Phonography Workshop with Rad Drew, please visit the Plymouth Center for the Arts website.

Finally, if you’re an aspiring writer, there is another free talk at the Cambridge Public Library tomorrow (November 15, 2014) that is definitely worth checking out. Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich, a writing professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and an award-winning essay writer, will discuss how to convey a truly engaging character from 2:30 to 3:00 P.M. Saturday. For more information on the talk, which is part of the Free Writing Craft Talk series at the Library, please visit the Cambridge Public Library’s Event Calendar.

Photo credit: Photo Extremist / Foter / CC BY

Beware! Halloween Fun Lurks Here!

With only two weeks left before Halloween,
Salem has again become a mob scene.
Yet, even though the witch city is certainly a fun place,
It is not the only city that can put a smile on your child’s face.
In fact, whether you’re a fan of Salem or Boston or anywhere else in this fine state,
You are certain to find an event that you and your kids think is great!

First, if you are an aspiring horror writer or glassblower and you’re expecting to be in the Boston area this weekend, you may want to check out the Boston Center for Adult Education. This is because the Boston Center for Adult Education (BCAE) is hosting two Halloween themed classes this Sunday (October 19, 2014) as part of their Haunted Halloween at the BCAE event series. The first class, which is entitled the Thriller/Horror Novel Writing Workshop, is a one-day session that is designed for aspiring writers that want to learn more about the characters, dialogue, story structure, suspense-building techniques, and other methods that are in used in some of the great novels of the horror genre. The second class, which is entitled Glass Blowing Workshop: Glass Pumpkins, is a one-day session that will teach you how to make your own hollow glass pumpkin. For more information on these events and other events at the BCAE, please visit the Boston Center for Adult Education’s class page.

Secondly, if you’re not really into horror or glassblowing, but you have some kids that are absolutely obsessed with Halloween and the zoo, you may want to consider heading over to the Stone Zoo on Saturday or Sunday (October 18 – 19, 2014.) This is because the Stone Zoo is combining everything your kids love about Halloween and the zoo into one program entitled “Boo at the Zoo.” This program will allow your kids to enter a costume contest, make their way through a haunted maze, play some Halloween-themed games, trick-or-treat around the zoo, try their hands at some Halloween-themed arts and crafts, and more. For more information on Boo at the Zoo, which runs from 11:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. each day this weekend, please visit the Zoo New England Boo at the Zoo page.

Finally, if you’re part of the mob scene in Salem and you’re looking for something to entertain your kids, there are actually three events on the Salem Common this weekend that may be perfect. The first event is the Annual Children’s Halloween Parade & Costume Party, which is an opportunity for your child to show off their Halloween costume in a parade, partake in some games and crafts, and possibly even win some prizes. The second event is the Providence Grays Baseball Game, which will actually allow you and your family to watch a baseball game played using Civil War style bats, uniforms, and rules. The third and final event on the common this weekend is “The Box.” This event, which is presented by the Gallows Hill Theatre, is an interactive performance that is designed to have children of all ages rolling on the floor laughing. For more information on all of the events on Salem Common this weekend and other events throughout Salem, please visit the Salem Haunted Happenings website.

Photo credit: mattieb / Foter / CC BY-SA