Virtual Event
Free
In this FREE virtual creative writing workshop mini-series, teens will partner with experienced teaching artists to empower the creative writing process, from drafting to performance to publishing, to boost literacy and empower youth in Miami through community-based writing activities.
This Fall’s theme is Best of the Vault, a curated selection of fan-favorite presentations from previous Speak Up programs. Join us weekly for creative writing Throwback Thursdays after school!
The program is open to all teens (ages 13-19) and is as free of charge as it is free of homework. No previous experience necessary!
October 29
So You Want to Be an Author: Conversations with a Literary Agent with Melissa Danaczko & Von Wise
Melissa Danaczko became a literary agent after more than a decade of publishing experience, most recently as Senior Editor with the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Today, Melissa represents a wide-range of Adult fiction and non-fiction titles. In fiction, she gravitates towards high-concept novels with a fresh perspective, energetic writing, deep emotional connection, and an immersive sense of place. Favorite categories include contemporary book club fiction, mystery, crime, psychological thrillers, speculative fiction, horror, and historical novels. She also represents history, science, memoir and idea-driven non-fiction books that are rigorous, emotionally compelling and have something big to say about our world. Her authors have won or been nominated for the Pulitzer, Edgar, Anthony, International Thriller, Bram Stoker, Shirley Jackson, Lambda, Stonewall, NAACP, Hurston Wright Legacy, among other awards. Originally from Houston, TX, Melissa has lived in Miami, FL and now calls New York City home.
Von Wise received his MFA from Florida International University and is the author of Grow a Cowboy, winner of the 2025 Beyond Words Poetry Chapbook Awards. His poetry and prose have been published and anthologized by Lucky Jefferson, Inverted Syntax, Gulf Stream Literary Magazine, Philadelphia Stories, Red Ogre Review, and elsewhere. His work has been nominated for Best of the Net and selected as a finalist in the Bateau Press chapbook contest and the Letter Review poetry contest. He was a runner-up in the Philadelphia Stories National Poetry Contest, and his chapbook Celebrity Poems was shortlisted for the Letter Review Prize for unpublished manuscripts. He teaches English and Creative Writing in Philadelphia, where he lives.