Join | Contact | About Us

Community and Mentorship Project (CAMP)

What is CAMP?

Writers' CAMP (Community and Mentorship Project) is an innovative program that provides college or MFA-level study and links writers to community service. It gives writers the resources they need to hone their craft. And within the community service realm, professional writers donate their time to teach fledgling writers the craft of writing – and then these student-writers in turn teach others what they have learned to "pay" for their study.

Professor Jack Myers, former Director of Creative Writing at Southern Methodist University, designed the initiative when he served as President of the Board of Trustees of The Writer's Garret. His concern centered on the number of talented poets and writers in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex unable to pursue formal training in creative writing because they lacked funds, opportunity, or time.

Myers was equally concerned about the current drive in public schools to improve standardized testing scores at the expense of educating the whole student. During the last few decades, arts' funding has been seriously compromised, and with it, the teaching of creative writing.

How does CAMP work?

In lieu of formal enrollment in a creative writing program at a college or university, writers participate in a flexible, self-directed program of study, creation, and service. This permits writer-students with jobs, small children, or limited income to still pursue a serious study of their craft.  CAMPers (writers studying in CAMP) may either pay for their tuition with cash or by participating in our Work Exchange  program.  Adding a public-service component equally builds the next generation of readers and writers, while cultivating a sense of the importance of volunteerism and community.

Two levels of CAMP

Artist and Professional Levels

Writers' CAMP is evolving. Writers may now enter at two possible levels that correspond to undergraduate and graduate-level: Artist Study or Professional Study. Both levels are non-credit, but the expected level of work remains nevertheless as challenging as that found in the finest creative writing programs in the country. We also have added opportunities to earn tuition in addition to the Work-Exchange program.

Artist Level of Study
At the Artist Level, training begins with Boot CAMP, an intensive program in either poetry or fiction. Writer-students from diverse backgrounds and levels are all brought together to learn the common vocabulary and techniques for improving their craft and teaching it to others. Exposure to, immersion in, and exploration of excellent texts are key components to developing their individual voices as writers, and later, as teachers of writing. Their writing is then evaluated for recommendation for individual placement at the next level of study by both the instructor and the committee that reviewed the students' work upon initial application.

From Boot CAMP, writers move on to Beginning, Intermediate, or Advanced placement, each with its own course of study that is self-tailored to work with busy lives.

Professional Level of Study
Skill level and personal commitment will determine the level of growth and length of time devoted to individual mentorships at the Professional Level. Professional students can receive up to three years worth of mentoring, equivalent to an MFA study, in six-month increments. CAMP students have studied under Galway Kinnell, Kaye Gibbons, Albert Goldbarth, Benjamin Alire Saenz, Al Young, Li-Young Lee, Jimmy Santiago Baca, Mark Doty, and others.

Depending upon teaching skills, all students who "graduate" from the Writers' CAMP program are then expected to serve as Advanced Mentors and / or in Writers-in-the-Schools.

Get more complete details about camp by downloading this PDF

Payment, Applications, and Contact Information

There are a few steps to enrolling CAMP, see the details here.