WriteCon25

WriteCon25 is day for young writers and those interested in exploring options in writing. From world building to erasure poetry; journalism to science fiction, there is something to spark the imagination and inspire new creative writing projects. For middle-school and high-school aged students.

Sessions are held at MUSE Sturgeon Bay, 330 Jefferson St., and Door County Community Foundation, 222 N. 3rd Ave., downtown Sturgeon Bay.

SCHEDULE 

9:30 am – 9:55 am

Orientation and Welcoming Remarks

10:00 am – 10:45 am

MIddle School Breakout Sessions: Dystopian Fiction with Allison Haus at MUSE

High School Sessions: choose from World Building with Chris Bower or Erasure Poetry Workshop: Finding Words in the Unspoken with Sara Dennison at Door County Community Foundation

11:00 am – 11:45 am

Middle School Breakout Sessions: choose from World Building with Chris Bower or Card Collage Creations: Start Your Wish Deck! with Sara Dennison at MUSE

High School Breakout Sessions: choose from Creating Podcasts with Bryan Carr or Writing the College Application Essay with Alessandra Simmons Rolffs at Door County Community Foundation

11:45 am – 12:30 pm

Lunch: Bring Your Own! at MUSE

12:30 pm – 1:00 pm

Choose from a creative walk or playing word-related games

1:15 pm – 2:00 pm

Middle School Breakout Sessions: choose from Nature Writing with Alessandra Simmons Rollfs or Science Fiction with Richie Zaborowske at MUSE

High School Breakout Sessions: choose from Fiction Writing with Scott Bohmbach and Phillip Kirchner or Ekphrastic Poetry with Carrie and Peter Sherrill at Door County Community Foundation

2:15 – 3:00 pm

Middle School Breakout Sesssion: Ekphrastic Poetry with Carrie and Peter Sherrill

High School Breakout Sessions: choose from Journalism with Eleanor Corbin or Science Fiction with Richie Zaborowske

3:15 – 3:30 pm

Closing Remarks by Benjamin Martin

SESSION DESCRIPTIONS

10:00 – 10:45 am

MIDDLE SCHOOL SESSIONS

Dystopian Fiction with Allison Haus

The world as we know it will end, and writing about it makes for great fiction. Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is popular; some recent and classics include Fahrenheit 451, Animal Farm, The Hunger Games, The Road, and The Shadow Children. Whether by virus, asteroid-impact, climate change, or artificial intelligence, these stories allow us to explore our anxieties about the future, and also highlight human resilience. In this session, we will explore dystopian fiction, respond to writing prompts, and talk through story arcs.

HIGH SCHOOL SESSIONS

World Building with Chris Bower

Every story needs a place, and every place shapes the people who live in it. In this workshop, we’ll write our way into new possibilities–whether that means reimagining your hometown with a twist, inventing a city that runs on impossible rules, or charting life on a distant planet. With prompts, discussion, and focused writing time, you’ll develop characters and settings side by side, exploring how imagination can give both depth and energy to your stories.

Erasure Poetry Workshop: Finding Words in the Unspoken with Sara Dennison

In this innovative workshop, you’ll discover the power of ‘erasure’ as a way to create poetry from existing texts. Using pages from found texts like books, magazines, or newspapers, you’ll “erase” (or black out) words to reveal hidden poems within the lines. Whether you’re starting with a story, article, or even a random page, this technique lets you find new meanings, emotions, and rhythms. It’s a creative way to explore language, challenge your perspective, and discover poetry in unexpected places. No prior poetry experience required–just bring your curiosity and ready-to-erase mindset!

11:00 – 11:45 am

MIDDLE SCHOOL SESSIONS

World Building with Chris Bower 

What if your story began in a haunted attic, a neighborhood park, a distant planet, or even a tiny world hidden inside the fridge in your garage? In this workshop, we’ll spend our time writing–letting imagination lead us into strange, funny, or everyday worlds and then filling them with characters who belong there. Through playful prompts and group activities, you’ll experiment with new ideas, build your own settings, and bring your characters to life on the page.

Card Collage Creations: Start You Wish Deck! with Sara Dennison

In this colorful workshop, you’ll create a card collage that represents a personal goal, dream, thing you want to focus on, or be reminded of this year! Using magazines, colorful paper, other materials, and glue, you’ll build a visual piece that speaks to what matters most to you. On the back of your collage, you’ll use cut out words to craft a short message, goal, affirmation, or wish to keep as a reminder! Take a blank card or two and keep building your deck this fall!

HIGH SCHOOL SESSIONS

Telling Stories with Sound: Writing for Podcasts with Bryan Carr

Have you ever listened to a podcast and thought, “well, I can do that?” Now is your chance to learn how! In this session, you will learn the basics of writing for podcasts in multiple genres. We will cover conversational scriptwriting, using soundbites and background sound to tell the story, fundamentals of fair use, and performance — as well as answer your questions about how to get started in the wide-open world of podcasting!

Writing the College Application Essay with Alessandra Simmons Rolffs

College essays are a chance to share your character. What kind of person are you? What will you bring to campus as a student? We will use the workshop to mine our lives for stories that demonstrate qualities of character you want your application reviewers to know about you and get started writing the intriguing beginnings that will keep the reviewers wanting to learn more about you.

1:15 – 2:00 pm

MIDDLE SCHOOL SESSIONS

Nature Writing with Alessandra Simmons Rolffs

When I say the word ‘tree,’ what do you imagine? A pine tree, an apple tree, a palm tree? The natural world resists language — no matter how well we describe a tree, the language we use will never be the tree itself. A great writer once said that art exists to “make the stone stony.” We will use our senses, language, memory, natural objects, and all the tools of a writer to practice making the stone stony.

Stranger in a Strange Land: Writing Science Fiction with Richie Zaborowske

In science fiction, your opening needs to shine as bright as a freshly waxed droid. In this hands-on workshop, you’ll learn techniques to introduce readers to your world, and your main character. Through writing exercises and by reading the first paragraphs of several classic works of science fiction, you’ll discover ways to create intrigue and hook your readers from the very first lines.

HIGH SCHOOL SESSIONS

Writer’s Dare with Scott Bohmbach and Philip Kirchner

Start with a dare. Every single person has a story waiting to come out if you are willing to accept the challenge. We will show you the writing practices we used to finish our own self-published novels. Giving you our do-it-yourself tips and tricks, you can take a simple idea and transform it into your own unique masterpiece. From a self-proclaimed outsider’s perspective, we will show you the ways we stayed engaged during the marathon of writing a novel. Showing you every step we took, discovering unique ways to love the process. Most importantly, we want to encourage you. Never forget the most critical piece to making your story unique is you, the writer! Great stories are waiting to be written, if you are willing to accept the Writer’s Dare.

Ekphrasis with Carrie and Peter Sherrill

Ekphrasis is writing that is inspired by visual art. While ekphrastic writing typically applies to poetry, many stories, essays, novels, and plays have been inspired by works of art. Think of “Ode on a Grecian Urn” or The Girl with the Pearl Earring. We will read some examples of ekphrastic writing, look at various pieces of visual art and spend time writing, sharing, and discussing, with each other.

2:15 – 3:00 pm

MIDDLE SCHOOL SESSIONS

Ekphrasis with Carrie and Peter Sherrill

Ekphrasis is writing that is inspired by visual art. While ekphrastic writing typically applies to poetry, many stories, essays, novels, and plays have been inspired by works of art. Think of “Ode on a Grecian Urn” or The Girl with the Pearl Earring. We will read some examples of ekphrastic writing, look at various pieces of visual art and spend time writing, sharing, and discussing, with each other.

Building History with Jerod Santek

All buildings hold stories. We’ll look at the history of one particular building close by — the Scofield Building — and create stories and poems about the many lives the building has led.

HIGH SCHOOL SESSIONS

Journalism with Eleanor Corbin

This session will focus on journalism and what separates it from other forms of writing. As a group, students will examine real articles to identify examples of good and poor journalist and use those ideas to create a definition of “news.” Students will then use what they learned to write a headline and a lede (opening sentence or sentences) using the plot of a well-known fairytale.

Stranger in a Strange Land: Writing Science Fiction with Richie Zaborowske

In science fiction, your opening needs to shine as bright as a freshly waxed droid. In this hands-on workshop, you’ll learn techniques to introduce readers to your world, and your main character. Through writing exercises and by reading the first paragraphs of several classic works of science fiction, you’ll discover ways to create intrigue and hook your readers from the very first lines.

PRESENTERS’ BIOGRAPHIES

Scott Bohmbach is the author of the must-read novel  after, Life. The highly anticipated sequel, LIFE, beyond, is due to be released in 2026. He lives as the king of his castle in the northwoods, surrounded by nature, family, and a vast array of books.

Dr. Bryan Carr is a professor of Communication, Information Science, and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay, where he teaches courses in mass media and game studies and is the unit chair for the Communication and Information Science programs. He has been a podcaster for nearly 17 years and has produced and guest-starred on numerous shows. He currently produces and hosts Serious Fun on the UWGB Phoenix Podcast Network and manages the award-winning Radio GBX student radio station.

Chris Bower is a Chicago-based teacher, playwright, and the author of the short story collection Little Boy Needs Ride (Curbside Splendor) and the novella “The Family Dogs”, which was part of the My Very End of the Universe novella collection published by Rose Metal Press. He is the creator of the Cafe Neckbeard (an imaginary Chicago cafe) performance series and an ensemble member of Curious Theatre Branch. His latest theatrical production, The Ship and the Sea, a play inspired by the sinking of the Swedish warship VASA, was at the Facility Theater in Chicago in Fall 2024.

Eleanor Corbin is the general assignment and education reporter for the Peninsula Pulse. She graduated from Grinnell College in 2024 with a degree in political science with a concentration in statistics. She served as the editor-in-chief of the college’s independent student newspaper, The Scarlet & Black.

Sara Dennison is a writer, educator, and environmental steward with a passion for using beautiful words and images to tell important stories. She is a photographer, mixed media artist, and nature enthusiast who finds much of her inspiration in the outdoors. With over 20 years of experience teaching in outdoor, indoor, and college classrooms, she creates engaging, hands-on learning experiences that inspire creativity, self-expression, and critical thinking. Sara has a BFA in Writing, an MA in English, and Outdoor Education minor from Bemidji State University in Minnesota and an MFA in Fiction from the University of Alaska, Anchorage.

Allison Haus grew up in Middleton, WI, longing for summer to arrive so she could get back to grandma’s cabin on Garrett Bay. The lake, big bluffs, and nearby family inspired the move to Door County five years ago. Allison is a geochemist and professional geologist who works remotely as an environmental consultant and lives in Sturgeon Bay with her four sons and husband. When not otherwise occupied at the fraternity house, Allison loves to read, write poetry and prose, play piano, plan family adventures, and go hiking in the woods.

Philip P. Kirchner, author of The Last Zefinite Trilogy, creates a thrilling page turning adventure for the ages. Having accomplished this long saought-after dream, Philip is far from finished in the realm of writing. As one story ends, another begins.

Benjamin Martin is a student at Sevastopol High School in the class of 2026. He has written three fantasy novels, all currently unpublished, and is working on his fourth. He is a lover of all things fantasy; J. R. R. Tolkien, Brandon Sanderson, and Patrick Rothfuss are among his favorite authors. Ben serves as the student representative on Write On, Door County’s Board of Directors. He wants to show teenagers the beauty of literature and encourage them to be creative. When not in school, Ben is probably pursuing his love of theology, hanging out with friends, working on novels, or immersed in a good story. His goal in service is summed up by the prophet Micah: to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly.

Alessandra Simmons Rolffs is a poet and writer and the executive director of Gathering Ground on Washington Island, where she lives and farms vegetables and flowers with her husband and two young sons. She holds a PhD in English from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, an MFA in Creative Writing from Indiana University, and a BA from the University of California – Santa Cruz. Her creative writing can be found in her nature column in the Washington Island Observer as well as in The Southern Review, Smartish Place, Rewilding: Poems for the Environment, and elsewhere.

Jerod Santek is the founding and artistic director of Write On, Door County. He has published poetry, fiction, and nonfiction in a variety of literary journals.

Carrie and Peter Sherrill are the 2025-2027 Door County Poets Laureate. They facilitate Art/Speaks, Write On’s popular free creative lab held at art galleries and museums throughout the county.

Richie Zaborowske is a librarian from the Midwest. He puts a contemporary twist on traditional library offerings; his monthly Short Story Night packs the local brewery and features trivia, comedy, and author interviews. His writing appears in McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, New World Writing Quarterly, Brevity, JMWW, HAD, Fractured Lit, Cease Cows, Jet Fuel Review, and others.