This print publication is designed to be a place for teens living in the North Country to publish their creative writing. A public book launch is scheduled for April 27 at Harrietstown Town Hall in Saranac Lake. Copies will be available for a small donation.

Teens ages 13-19 living in the North Country of New York state are eligible to submit writing for consideration in the anthology, which will be published in the spring of 2024. ACW has provided an online toolkit for organizations and teachers who are interested in sharing this opportunity with members of their communities, available at adirondackcenterforwriting.org/wildwords. The toolkit provides marketing materials as well as accessible creative writing prompts designed to get teens writing. Submissions are due by midnight on Feb. 29.

Last year’s 2023 anthology featured 70 teen writers from all corners of the Adirondack region, including poetry, short stories, plays, memoirs, personal essays, book excerpts, science fiction and fantasy writing. Over 300 copies of the 2023 anthology have been distributed to date, and 200 teens, family members, friends and community supporters attended the 2023 book launch.

The Wild Words anthology is a collaboration between visiting writer Erin Dorney and the Adirondack Center for Writing as part of the Creatives Rebuild New York Artist Employment Program. Dorney will work with ACW through June 2024 on a variety of projects designed to encourage creative writing and readership throughout the Adirondacks.

For more information about the Adirondack Center for Writing and its latest programs, visit www.adirondackcenterforwriting.org.