Programs: Community Projects

The Center for the Literary Arts encourages participation in collaborative projects that bring together members of various departments on campus and citizens of the Columbia community as well.

VSA Arts Workshop

VSA (Vision, Strength, Artistic Expression) is an organization promoting the arts for children and adults with disabilities. Since 2001, the Center for the Literary Arts has coordinated eight-week workshops for adult VSA participants with the assistancce of creative writing students who are enrolled in undergraduate creative writing courses. Led by an advanced graduate instructor, these workshops have been personally enriching for the VSA writers as well as the student assistants who enjoy this rare opportunity to integrate their learning with meaningful community service.

Young Writers Festival

During the Spring of 2005, The Center for the Literary Arts conducted their Young Writers Workshops at two after-school programs, The Intersection and The Boys and Girls Clubs. For seven weeks, four graduate students from the Creative Writing Program acted as writers-in-residence and worked with students on writing poetry and stories. The workshops culminated with the publishing of an anthology of the young writers' work and with a reading and recognition ceremony.

The Young Writers Workshops are a part of The Center for the Literary Arts' ongoing effort to bring the literary arts to the Columbia community. Through these workshops we hope to engage children in the delight and power of reading and writing, foster the growth of the imagination, and awaken students to the adventures of language.