Events

Upcoming Events

Teacher-Writer Retreat at Trinity Retreat Center

DATES: Friday, November 13th to Sunday, November 15th, 2026

The CWP-Storrs has been successfully providing writers retreats for teachers since 1990. Our retreats offer educators the opportunity to devote time to their writing, share feedback, network, and learn from other writers. For more information, please visit our retreats page.

Jason Courtmanche Memorial Writing Marathon 2026

Jason Courtmanche Memorial Writing Marathon 2026

The Connecticut Writing Project-Storrs invites you to join us for a writing marathon to honor the life and legacy of Jason Courtmanche, who served as CWP Director from 2007–2024.

For more information and access to links and RSVP, click on the above image.

Past Events

Jason Courtmanche Memorial Writing Marathon 2025

Jason Courtmanche Memorial Writing Marathon 2025

The Connecticut Writing Project-Storrs invites you to join us for a writing marathon to honor the life and legacy of Jason Courtmanche, who served as CWP Director from 2007–2024.

For more information and access to links, click on the above image.

Connecticut Student Writers 2024 (Virtual) Recognition Night

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Emily Inouye Huey

Emily Inouye Huey writes historical fiction for children and teens. Her first novel, BENEATH THE WIDE SILK SKY, won the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators’ Golden Kite Award and the Malka Penn Award for Human Rights in Children’s Literature. Her first picture book, WAT KEPT PLAYING, releases in 2024. Emily holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Lesley University and is a former teacher.

Emily is Japanese American and her work often draws on her family’s experiences. During World War II, the Inouye family was forcibly removed from their homes and farms in California and Washington State. Her grandparents, Charles and Bessie, met and married in an incarceration site at Heart Mountain, Wyoming. Her father was born in the prison hospital. When the war ended, the family was sent to Utah, where they started over and where Emily still lives, now with her husband and four children.

Besides books, Emily’s passions include education, the arts, the outdoors, and her family.

https://emilyhuey.com/about/

2026 Student Recognition Night

On May 14, 2026, from 5:30–7:00 PM EST, the Connecticut Writing Project-Storrs will celebrate our student writers and artists with our Student Recognition Night, an annual event that invites students and teachers recognized by our yearly student writing and art contest to a celebration of student work at UConn’s Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts. Selected student speakers from grades K-12 will read their winning pieces from the stage. 

About - Jennifer De Leon

This year, we are proud to welcome keynote speaker Jennifer De Leon—award-winning author, Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Framingham State University, and faculty member of the Newport MFA Program directed by Ann Hood. Jenn is known for the YA novels, Borderless, featured on the TODAY show, and Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From. She is also the author of White Space: Essays on Culture, Race, & Writing, which won the Juniper Prize from the University of Massachusetts Press. She is currently at work on two children’s picture books—Sammy and Samuel, and a biography of Nobel Peace Prize winner, Rigoberta Menchú. Jenn is the editor of Wise Latinas: Writers on Higher Education, an International Latino Book Award-winning anthology. You can hear her discussion of the essay collection, White Space, here.

 

2025 Scholastic Celebration

Keynote Speaker Alicia D. Williams

The 2024-2025 Scholastic Celebration featured keynote speaker Alicia D. Williams, a highly acclaimed author known for her poignant and impactful middle grade novels and picture books. Williams's work often explores themes of identity, self-discovery, grief, and the complexities of growing up.

She is the author of Mid-Air, which was longlisted for the National Book Award. She is also widely recognized for her Newbery Honor-winning novel, Genesis Begins Again, which also received Kirkus Prize honors, was a William C. Morris Award finalist, and for which she won the Coretta Scott King - John Steptoe Award for New Talent.

In addition to her novels, Alicia D. Williams has penned several beloved picture books, including Jump at the Sun, Nani and the Lion, and The Talk, the latter of which was a Coretta Scott King Honor book. An oral storyteller in the African American tradition, she currently resides in Charlotte, North Carolina. Click here to learn more about Alicia D. Williams and her books.

Experience her inspiring keynote address from the 2024-2025 Scholastic Celebration by watching the video below:

Click here for the 2025 Scholastic Regional Awards Celebration You Tube video.

Click here for the 2024-2025 Scholastic Award Winners

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