Many aspiring writers dream of the opportunity to learn from a pro, and at UAY Wordology, junior high and high school students are given the chance to do just that. The program, led by Stephen Lovely, author of “Irreplaceable”, invites students to learn from a published author and have fun with writing.

“The Iowa Young Writers Studio and UAY started Wordology to provide a regular creative writing workshop where high school students who enjoy writing can practice their craft and develop as writers,” said Lovely. “Wordology participants do fun, innovative creative writing activities designed to generate short bursts of poetry and prose, read and share what we’ve written, provide one another with constructive critique and encouragement, and talk about writers and books we love.”
Wordology meets every Wednesday from 4:30 to 5:30 at the UAY center downtown. It is very informal, and on any given day there may be three students or none. They do a variety of activities, including writing to different songs. One song the students wrote to was soft, mellow, and slightly upbeat. What came from this piece of music was different for the two students who were there.

One student wrote about a lonely soul.

“The soul drifted past its home, running into spots of color and floating diamonds in the clouds. The sun set its colors across the sky as its final goodbye to the day.”

Her story had an eerie mood, whereas the other student had a more cheerful one.

“I tuned my guitar silently and tried to make sense of it all. It had started with a strange dream…”

After writing to music, Lovely tries to tailor the class to fit how the students are feeling on a particular day. They might do poetry, or fiction, or an exquisite corpse (one student writes a sentence, passes it on, repeat). It all depends on the students.

Wordology is under-attended and welcomes everyone who loves writing, meeting new people, and having fun.