Are you a writer between 14 and 18 years old? Would you like to perform your own poetry for an audience? And do you not suffer from seasickness? Then we have good news: for the upcoming series of Young Writers classes, we’ll be taking you to the Oerol Festival! Between June 19 and 21, you’ll perform at the festival heart on the island of Terschelling.
The accompanying course will be taught by none other than Yentl van Stokkum. This poet, playwright, and performer will prepare you in detail for your own performance.
Below you will find the conditions for signing up for this special course package, including a boat trip to the beautiful island of Terschelling. There are only a limited number of spots available on the Young Writers Ship. You’ll also find more information about the selection process and dates below. You can apply until Sunday, March 22 at the latest.
You are available on the following days
• Sunday, March 29 – day trip / location visit to Terschelling
• Wednesday, April 1 – 18:30–21:00 – Podium Explore, Leeuwarden
• Wednesday, April 15 – 18:30–21:00 – Podium Explore, Leeuwarden
• Wednesday, April 22 – 18:30–21:00 – Podium Explore, Leeuwarden
• Wednesday, May 13 – 18:30–21:00 – Podium Explore, Leeuwarden
• Wednesday, May 27 – 18:30–21:00 – Podium Explore, Leeuwarden
• Wednesday, June 10 – 18:30–21:00 – Podium Explore, Leeuwarden
• Friday, June 19 to Sunday, June 21 – Oerol – full days
Apply with a short text about an island
There are only a limited number of places available for this block, so we work with a kind of audition. You will write a short text in which an island plays a role. The text may be up to 500 words and can be poetry, theatre, or a short story. A selection for this course series will be made based on these submissions.
Additional information
• You must be available on all the dates listed above, including the location visit to Terschelling on March 29.
• Wednesday classes take place at Podium Explore, the home base of Explore the North, located at Bagijnestraat 59 in Leeuwarden.
• The trip to Oerol from Friday, June 19 to Sunday, June 21 includes the boat trip, accommodation, lunch, and dinner. Be prepared for camping.
• This course series costs €50.
Young Writers is a writing program for young people in Friesland, organized by Explore the North and Meeuw jonge theatermakers. Prose, poetry, theatre, songs, and film scripts—everything is covered in the writing classes. ✍️
About the teacher
Yentl van Stokkum (1991) graduated from the HKU program Writing for Performance. She writes poetry, prose, essays, and theatre. Yentl is part of the editorial team of the online platform Hard//hoofd and directed the radio play Lichtblauw for the radio program Fluiten in het Donker.
Poems written by her have been included in the anthology NYX, published by Uitgeverij Chaos. She has performed at events such as Mooie Woorden, Betweter Festival, Brainwash Festival, and Dichters in de Prinsentuin.
In 2017 she was selected for the talent development program Slow Writing Lab at the Dutch Foundation for Literature (Nederlands Letterenfonds). There, she writes poems about Emily Brontë and researches the tension between poetry and the séance.