NORTHWOODS YOUNG WRITERS a teen writing camp founded by Mary Casanova
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Camp Details

Camp is now full for the 2025 sessions. Please email us if you'd like to be put on the notification list for 2026.
CAMP OVERVIEW
Northwoods Young Writers Camp centers around writing, yet its scope extends beyond the written word. Be prepared to get inspired and amazed with your writing progress!

You will be mentored by Minnesota authors Mary Casanova, Margi Preus, and/or Cristina Pippa each day, meeting with them in large and small groups, as well as individually. 

Teachers and chaperones will also be there to support and advise you, and you will have opportunities to mentor your peers as well. 

Before camp, you will read a novel/work written by one of the host authors. This is an amazing opportunity to gain insight into the art and craft of writing. Come prepared for an in-depth discussion of the book on the first evening of camp. It will also function as an anchor text during group work.

At camp, you will be invited to write in a location to suit your needs--at various locations in the lodge or outdoors on a deck or around the property.

In between meetings and writing time, you will also have time to relax--to read, explore the island, kayak, swim, sauna, play games with friends, or sit around a campfire, share stories and create or deepen friendships.
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You will walk away from this camp, not only as a better writer, discovering your capabilities for expressing your thoughts and creating stories, but also with skills to receive and give constructive criticism. We hope you’ll find new friendships, an appreciation for the art of writing, and energy and ambition to follow your passions into the future.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

About MARY CASANOVA
Mary Casanova is the author of 39 books, from picture books (One-Dog Canoe) to novels for young adults and adults. Her awards and honors include two Minnesota Book Awards, ALA Notable, and a Booklist “Editor’s Choice.” For research, she travels as far as Norway (The Klipfish Code) and France (Curse of a Winter Moon), but she always loves returning home to the north woods of Minnesota, the inspiration for many of her novels (Wolf Shadows, When Eagles Falls) and her YA historical novels (Frozen and Ice-Out). The Mpls. Star Tribune called her newest novel, WATERFALL, “The Great Gatsby" of the Border Waters. It is inspired by Atsokan Island on Rainy Lake and its history. (Atsokan Island is where camps were held in previous years.)

About MARGI PREUS
Margi started making up plays in kindergarten and has since written or co-written dozens of shows for kids, thirty-some comedy revues, a couple of re-envisioned Shakespeare plays, and the libretti for a handful of comic operas. Late in life she started writing “fascinating, page-turning stories” for young readers, including the Newbery Honor book Heart of a Samurai, the Minnesota Book Award winning West of the Moon, and other books which have landed on the NYT Bestseller list and many other “best of” lists, been honored as ALA/ALSC Notables, translated into several languages, and chosen as community reads. At home in Duluth, she likes to hike, ski, paddle a canoe or sit quietly with a book on her lap.
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About CRISTINA PIPPA
Cristina Pippa is a playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. She’s written musicals for 92NY, adapted numerous books for Stages Theatre Company, and will have three productions in NYC and Minneapolis in 2024. One of her films premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival Kids Festival and won the Golden Gateway Award for the Best Short Film at the Mumbai International Film Festival. She also received an Artist Initiative grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board for her prose. Cristina completed the Undergraduate Creative Writing Program at Columbia University and her MFA in the University of Iowa Playwrights Workshop. She is the Director of the MFA in Dramatic Writing and Screenwriting Programs at Missouri State University, and she can't wait to return to Northwoods Young Writers Camp this year.
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  • HOME
  • 2025 PHOTOS
  • Publicity Flyer
  • Camp Details
  • OUR HISTORIC STORY-2018-2024
  • IN THE NEWS!
  • 2024 PHOTOS
  • 2023 PHOTOS
  • 2022 PHOTOS
  • PAST YEARS
  • VIDEOS
  • DONATIONS
  • CONTACT