Looking for a summer experience that sparks creativity and ignites a lifelong love for writing? Day Eight’s Writing Camp is a place for 6th-9th grade youth to embark on a journey of self-expression and literary exploration.
Update 7/11: Due to the ongoing a/c outage at Shepherd Library, the last two weeks of camp this season will take place at Lamond-Riggs Library.
Join us summer 2025 for five week-long camp sessions: June 23-27, June 30-July 3, July 7-11, July 14-18, and July 21-25. Camp will be closed on July 4.
Update 6/10: The second and third weeks of camp, June 30-July 3, and July 7-July 11, are now fully enrolled. Registration requests received for those dates of camp will be added to the waitlist for those weeks. We anticipate waitlist movement — one or two spots — each week and encourage you to complete your registration request if you are on the waitlist for a requested week of camp. Waitlist admit occurs Monday afternoon each week and for Tuesday attendance.
The camp day runs 10am to 4pm, at the Shepherd Park / Juanita Thornton Library, 7420 Georgia Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. Thursday morning of each week the campers will take a field trip off-site, departing from the Library. Late Friday afternoon each week the campers host a reading of their work — open to families and the community!
Thanks to support from Learn24, the Friends of the Shepherd Park Library, and individual donors to Day Eight, our summer 2025 camp is FREE for DC residents. The camp is open to rising 6th – 9th graders, only.
To ensure equitable access, each youth may enroll for 1 or 2 weeks of Writing Camp. Campers enrolled for 2 weeks may request to be added to the waitlist for additional weeks and if space is available will be permitted to attend. A maximum of 16 campers are enrolled per week. The camp observes the laws of Kashrut.
Day Eight’s camp is designed to support youth development through engagement with language. Each day begins with recitation of a short poem followed by consideration of a model poem. The curriculum, designed by camp co-directors Robert Bettmann and Regie Cabico, introduces youth to “classic” and contemporary written work, including poems by camp guest faculty and writers-in-residence. The writers-in-residence at the 2025 are: Brandon Douglas (2023 DC Poet Project winner, author of Dipped in Cerulean), Kim B Miller (Poet Laureate, Prince William County, VA), Jessica Genia Simon (author of Built of All I Shape and Name), and Pi-anir (spoken word artist.) Writing by participants is collected throughout the summer and published in a book at the end of the summer.
Through engaging workshops and art exercises we aim to help your child unlock their unique voice and discover the joys of language. At Day Eight’s Summer Writing Camp, creativity knows no bounds! Campers are encouraged to experiment with literary techniques, wordplay, and embrace the infinite possibilities within their own words.
To enroll, submit the online registration request form linked below. After completing the form, you will be emailed forms required to complete enrollment. A form must be submitted for each sibling in a household.