“Get Inked” Offers Opportunity for Teens to Improve Creative Writing Skills

October 17, 2019 (Notre Dame, IN) — Saint Mary’s College Department of Education and the Michiana Writers’ Center is proud to sponsor “Get Inked,” a teen writing conference for students in grades 7–12 on Saturday, November 9. The conference will take place from 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. in Madeleva Hall. The all-day event will cost $60 per student which includes lunch and an autographed book by author Patrick Flores-Scott.

This conference provides an opportunity for young students to learn new writing techniques from published and professional authors. Participants will be given the chance to improve their academic and personal writing, learn about the editing and publishing process, and spend time with other teens who like to write. Patrick Flores-Scott, Michigan’s bestselling author of the young adult novel American Road Trip is this year’s featured speaker.

The annual teen writing conference was launched in 2013 by Kathy Higgs-Coulthard. As a former teacher in the South Bend Community School Corporation, she wanted to continue to bring assistance to local students who wanted to expand their writing skills, try new methods, and learn to deepen their characters.

“You don’t have to want to become an author to gain value out of this event,” she shares. “The conference helps those who excel in writing and have a passion for it as well as those who struggle.”

That broad awareness helped to guide the selection of this year’s author. As a young man, Flores-Scott struggled as a reader himself and wanted to write a novel that his students who also shared his difficulty would enjoy. Adopting a style of short paragraphs and chapters, his novels not only become easier to read but prove that there is more than one type of successful author in the world.

Flores-Scott resides in Ann Arbor, Michigan and had his first novel, Jumped In, named in the 2014 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults list. His second novel, American Road Trip is a 2019 Best Fiction for Young Adults pick and explores how kids were dealing with the fallout from the economic recession (December 2007 to June 2009).

The teen writing conference gives young writers a great experience of attending a type of event typically reserved for adults. Students (both girls and boys) are encouraged to register soon due to limited space and more information is available at saintmarys.edu/GetInked. Parents and participants can also contact Kathy Higgs-Coulthard at (574) 284-4472 or email her at higgscou@saintmarys.edu.

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Kathy Higgs-Coulthard, assistant professor of education at Saint Mary’s and the director of the Michiana Writers’ Center, is available for news interviews.