Nine young writers, part of the larger CityLit Teens 2012 class, gathered at The Ivy Bookshop to receive and read from the book they wrote, titled, and helped design.  Titled The Authengers (yes, a similar sounding superhero movie had just released), the 130-page book collects poetry and fiction--and art!--by teens grateful to have found a community of peers who love to write.

For the first time, two sessions of CityLit Teens were held concurrently at the University of Baltimore in Baltimore City and at Harford Community College in Bel Air.  While the HCC sessions drew youth from Harford County, the UB sessions drew youth from as far away as Howard and Montgomery counties.  For six weeks, these busy students rolled themselves out of bed on Saturday to attend writing workshops at 10am.  Their commitment to the program demonstrates that young writers are willing to find the time to improve their literary art, so more opportunities are needed. CityLit Project hopes to expand this program to serve more teens in more parts of the metro region. 

CityLit also appreciates partnering with campuses because the facilities are perfect for workshopping and referencing Internet resources, while giving youth a taste of a college atmosphere.

Thank you to instructors Gina Sabo, an English teacher at C. Milton Wright, and UB interns Cailin Iverson, who lives in Edgewood so helped with the HCC sessions, Sarah Simmons, Katrina Robinson, and Chris Hudson.  Special thank you to the Margaret Alexander Edwards Trust, which made the publication of The Authengers possible. 

Pictured at the right (l-r): Gina Sabo, English teacher at C. Milton Wright in Harford County; Chris Hudson, undergraduate intern from the University of Baltimore; Melanie Batchelor; Roselyn Jones; Esther Jones; Caroline Orth; Rachel Miles; Monica Petzold; Sydney Baxivanos; Susan Gallentine; Vanessa Barksdale.

CityLit Teens 2012 marked the fourth annual series of after-school programs for youth presented by CityLit Project, Baltimore's nonprofit literary arts center. An image of the cover art for The Authengers is posted on citylitproject.org's "news" page.


Three writers from the University of Baltimore workshops,
with UB intern Katrina Robinson (left, back) and Edgar
Allan Poe blessing CityLit Teens.


Writers from the Harford Community College workshops
with instructors Gina Sabo (far left) and UB intern Cailin
Iverson (far right) met in the Havre de Grace building.


Poet and spoken word artist Em Sea Water visited the
UB workshop after youth expressed an interest in learning
more about performing their poetry.


CityLit Teens writers Sue Gallentine and Steven Nam
work on their poetry during a session at HCC.


MFA in Creative Writing graduate student Sarah Simmons
leads a discussion on crafting more interesting sentences
during a session at UB.

 
CityLit Teens writer Melanie Batchelor (from Montgomery
County) checks out her free copy of The Authengers,
which she received at a special event at the Ivy Bookshop.


CityLit Teens writer Vanessa Barksdale adjusts to her
new role as published author by autographing a copy
of The Authengers for a fan.


Final cover of the 2012 CityLit Teens' book, The Authengers.