Rhode Island Students Let Words Fly in Writing Marathon

Publication: Providence Journal
Date: October 21, 2009

Summary: Dozens of fourth- and fifth-graders fanned out across the Rhode Island College campus on the National Day on Writing as part of a writing marathon organized by the Rhode Island Writing Project.

Excerpt from Article

Welcome to Marathon Writing, which is sort of like speed dating for writers. Led by Richard Louth, a Brown University graduate and director of the Southeastern Louisiana Writing Project, students of all ages engaged in a three-hour bout of writing to mark the first National Day of Writing, a celebration of words that drew participants from public schools and universities across the country.

At RIC, the marathon was sponsored by the Rhode Island Writing Project, a professional organization for teachers whose purpose is to improve the teaching of writing.

Writing teachers say it should be a joyous affair, an adventure, a jump into the unknown. Too often, however, it is seen as a chore. Write to this length, about this subject, in this amount of time. The Writing Marathon frees the writer at the same time it roots him or her in a specific place.

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Read The joy of writing on the wing in the Providence Journal.