Writing is life! Whether you get excited by the idea of writing, or not so much, you can’t get through life without it – at least not well. The Write Away! Young Adult Programme offers engaging digital content to support online English classes, available to all secondary schools via the Ministry of Education’s School Learning Management System and YouTube Channel.
Produced by the Bocas Lit Fest and sponsored by The Scotiabank Foundation, the project is designed to keep students and teachers motivated and engaged in reading, writing and online learning.
In 2023 the Write Away! focused on Non-Fiction Writing, preparing students for real life and work. How do you write a business proposal or report? How do you become a great feature, news, commercial or technical writer or editor? What are the tools for succeeding as a professional creative practitioner?
The project included an engaging, fun 5-part video series. Throughout the video series, non-fiction practitioners of different genres (e.g. journalism, advertising, academia, comedy, music etc.) will appear to give snippets of expert knowledge. The series was be accompanied by a Workbook featuring key exercises, tips and lesson notes from the video series. This package is available on demand for all Caribbean secondary school teachers and students.
There were also ten free professional non-fiction writing training virtual workshops conducted by faculty at The Ken Gordon School of Journalism, COSTAATT at the beginning of the school year to hone students’ professional writing skills.
The project culminated in internships for students at media houses, advertising and marketing companies and other sectors utilizing non-fiction.
Last year, the Write Away! focused on reading and writing poetry .The project included a 9-part video workshop series available on demand for all Caribbean secondary school teachers and students, as well as free interactive online workshops throughout the school year for budding young poets. Young poets participating in the project this year were invited to submit their poetry.
In the 2020 – 2021 academic year, Write Away! looked in-depth at reading and writing fiction. The project included a virtual creative writing workshop series, as well as a teacher’s guide and a digital booklet of excerpts from award-winning Caribbean YA books, giving students access to exciting, culturally-relevant books of all genres. Led by the award-winning author Lisa Allen-Agostini, the fiction workshops broke down the essentials of creative writing, and covered everything from character building to planning your plot.
