Youth Writing Workshop in Chinatown

Story Matters Foundation and the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame teamed up with CASL for a free youth writing workshop. Sahar Mustafah led participants through simple craft lessons as they used stories to explore facets of their personal experiences. Several Chicago poems from Wherever I'm At: An Anthology of Chicago Poetry were incorporated in the lessons. Sahar started them off by telling a 90-second story in concentric circles. They also wrote and told about food and places they cherished. Sahar guided student writing through preliminary brainstorming lists before expanding into rough poems or short stories. Most participants ended up with complete paragraphs at the conclusion of the half-day workshop.