Cabin Fever

Young writers have much to say. They need support in developing their voices and a place of their own to say it, to share it with friends. They need this for themselves, and for their own purposes.

As part of their audience, it is important to listen, to hear their concerns, interests, hopes, fears, joys. Grace Paley, who was a fierce advocate for children’s writing, wrote that, "… by writing, by putting down words, by reading, by beginning to love literature, by the inventiveness of listening to one another, [young people] could begin to understand the world better and to make a better world for themselves."

The Cabin has published young writers for the past dozen years in Field Notes, Writings from the Idaho Writing Camps, and in school-wide anthologies as part of the Writers in the Schools program. The future includes many visions for young voices, possibly an evolving Cabin Fever Web page as an after-school or weekend club; or a student-run publication—one written by, edited by, designed by and produced by young writers—with guidance from publishing professionals at The Cabin. We hope to see such projects, and others, develop as The Cabin grows.

Stay tuned.