Students from around the Shippensburg area came together this month to present their creative writing at an event known as “Young Voices” at the Shippensburg Arts Programming and Education (SHAPE) Gallery.
To kick things off, Tom Crochunis of the Shippensburg University English Departmen,t read aloud one of his pieces to ease the nervous tension around the room. Crochunis’ writing centered on a somewhat humorous personal experience he had during his teenage years.
An important element of Young Voices focuses on helping students to become more comfortable sharing their writing.
Following Crochunis’s display, students began to perform their works. Ranging from fiction to non-fiction to poetry, an assorted mixture of writing was read aloud. One contributor shared a piece about what she thought her life would be like with Vincent Van Gogh. Another young student even elected to read a chapter from a book he had written himself.
In preparation for the Young Voices presentation, three workshops were held in March at Shippensburg Area Middle School. The workshops were hosted by Crochunis, his student-faculty research experience students and Shippensburg Area Middle School teacher April Hoover.
This is the second installment of Young Voices. There are hopes for reproduction of this event to continue in the future.
The SHAPE Gallery, located at 20 W. King St., is also currently featuring an art exhibit “Finding Everyday Beauty.”
The exhibit features artwork from local artists Mary Hickman and Viktoriya Hoover.
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