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Baron to lead camp for young writers

Summer program will be offered at Summerland Arts Centre in early July
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Summerland writer Chelsey Baron will be taking over the leadership role of what used to be known as the B.C. Youth Writers Camp.

Not only has the name changed to “Write for the Summer” but the location has also changed. Baron is bringing the camp to the Summerland Arts Centre. It will be held July 3 to 7.

Remaining the same is the purpose of the camp, which has always been for young writers between the ages of eight to 18, to be able to meet professional writers, illustrators, poets and others, receiving instruction, inspiration and encouragement from them.

The presenters for this year’s camp will be, in the mornings, Calvin Jay, a Vancouver writer and editor and Petra Holler, a multi-disciplinary artist. Presenting in the afternoons will be the co-founder of ET2 Media, Eric Thompson, who has a background in journalism, Zoe Baron, a digital artist and award winning artist Denise Howie.

Baron herself attended the camp when she was 16 years old, so was very motivated to keep it going, saying “there is not a lot available in Summerland for youth, especially for writers.”

She described herself as a “nerdy art kid” who found something to do during the summer which kept her out of trouble.

“I loved it! It was the first time I got to be around other kids that wanted to tell stories. It was very energizing, very inspiring and it kind of just felt like home,” Baron explained. “Getting feedback from professional writers had a huge impact on my writing. Nothing feels better than having this person who is presenting, sit you down and say, ‘I really liked the short story you did.’ That is a special memory for me.”

Baron was born in Abbotsford and moved to Summerland with her parents and two younger sisters in 2001.

She discovered writing when she was eight years old, while waiting for a new book to read in the Harry Potter series. She decided to start writing her own stories to read.

“My parents said that I had a history of telling stories…so they kept an eye on that without trying to push me into anything, Baron said.

When she was 11 years old she took her first actual writing class at the Okanagan School of the Arts. Her father also accompanied her to the Penticton Writers and Publishers, where she would read her short stories and listen to other writers read theirs.

After graduation from high school, Baron went to UBC Okanagan, where she got her degree in Political Science. She recalls handing in her first essay and being told that although it was really well done; it was the wrong kind of writing for university.

“I was more of a creative writer, more descriptive and character based,” she explained. “That’s been the process over the last two years, re-learning how to write, combining what I learned as an essay writer with my creative writing. It’s been a journey.”

A lesson she learned from the writer’s camp was that not many writers make it big in Canada and that it is very hard to get consistent paid work as a writer, so it is important to always have a backup plan.

It is for this reason that Baron is planning on returning to University for another four years, hopefully to study law, possibly in Victoria.

She is currently working at a casino in Kelowna as a table dealer.

Although the writers camp consists of a smaller group registered this year than in previous years, Baron hopes to see it grow naturally as she slowly gets a feel for her new role as leader.

“My goal is to make sure it stays affordable, that it stays accessible and that it expands to the entire province of B.C. again,” she said. “I still want to keep the camp in Summerland. It gives me a reason to come back home to see family and friends.”