Austin Bat Cave hosts a number of half-day creative writing summer camps all over the city. Summer camps explore genres like Fan-Fiction, Poetry Writing, Horror Writing, Songwriting, and more. Whatever your interests, we have a camp for you!
Austin Bat Cave is closely following the Austin Public Health data and safety guidelines for mitigating the spread of Covid-19 in the community. As we transition back into in-person summer camps, we are making the wearing of masks voluntary for students and instructors while Travis County is in Stage 2. Austin Bat Cave reserves the right to change this policy at any time should cases of Covid-19 rise in the greater Austin area or should Travis County move to a higher stage of Covid-19 risk-based guidelines.
Half-Day Summer Camps
Below are our 2022 Summer Camps!
3rd–5th Grade
Nature Journaling
June 20th–24th, 9am–12pm each day; In-person at the Bat Cave (address provided upon registration)
In this workshop, campers will use writing and drawing to capture inspiration from the great outdoors and its many mysteries! Through nature walks and field trips, students will observe animals, plants, and other natural phenomena and create poems, stories, and illustrations to express the natural wonder they experience. Students will also learn about journaling and mindfulness and ways in which nature can help us better understand ourselves. *Note: This workshop will take place at various locations outdoors and may involve transportation provided by ABC teachers.
6th-12th Grade
Poetry Camp
June 6th-10th; 1pm–4pm each day; In-person at the Bat Cave (address provided upon registration)
We all have a story to tell, and expressing these stories through poetry can be a great way to share your experiences with others. In this workshop, you will learn about a variety of poetic forms and how to share your memories and personality through the art of poetic writing. Campers will learn the different styles of poems and, using inspiration from published poets, will write a few poems about different expressions of love and care, as well as meaningful experiences from their lives.
3rd-10th grade
Dungeons & Dragons Camp
June 14th–17th,
1pm–4pm each day,
(location provided upon registration)
In this camp, students will create a D&D character, designing everything from their physical traits to their backstory. Campers will then work together in small parties to solve problems, defeat monsters, and save the day as they invent fantasy stories and keep a journal of their daily adventures. Join a wonderful team of adventurers and Dungeon Masters and lead your party on an unforgettable quest!
5th–9th Grade
‘Til Death Do Us Part: A Ghost Story Camp
June 13th–17th, 9am–12pm each day, In-person at the Bat Cave (address provided upon registration)
Does love continue in the after-life? Do spirits remain entangled in our lives from the beyond? Write your own haunting with us this summer as we explore terrifying tales from Austin, get real inspiration from a local cemetery, and together create the next generation of scary stories to tell around the fire or for the next time you need to prove that you’re totally cool and not afraid of anything!
5th–9th Grade
Create Your Own Comics Camp
June 20th–24th, 1pm–4pm each day, (location provided upon registration)
Do you love reading manga and comics? Have you always wanted to learn how to create your own? Look no further than our Create Your Own Comics Camp, where we will explore different styles of comics, graphic novels and manga and work on creating our own self-contained characters and stories. You will leave the camp with a storyboarded comic of your own creation!
8th–12th grade
For the Love of Fandom: A Fanfiction/Cosplay Camp
June 27th–July 1st, 1pm–4pm each day; In-person at the Bat Cave (address provided upon registration)
Do you have a fandom that you love but wish the story had ended differently? Want to explore your own story and play around in that universe? Then this workshop is for you! This camp will explore how we can celebrate fandoms we love from books, movies, TV and video games by honing our writing and storytelling skills. Writers will learn how to adapt characters from your favorite fandom to a new and original fictional scene and reimagine what the story could look like. You will also learn about fanfiction communities and about DIY publishing through fanfiction. Plan your best character to cosplay and sign up today!
Overnight Retreat
This camp will be offered again in 2023.
6th – 9th Grade
Summer Writing Retreat for Young Authors
July 13th — 17th, 2020
St. Edward’s University
Join Austin Bat Cave for our week-long overnight writer’s retreat dedicated to fiction, poetry, and autobiographical storytelling. Perfect for young authors who want to immerse themselves in their craft! Campers will engage in daily creative writing workshops taught by local Austin writers, guest speakers, and educators, all while experiencing the lifestyle of a university campus. Past ABC instructors and guest speakers have included Karen Russell, Natalia Sylvester, and Carrie Johnson, Naomi Shihab Nye, and more!
Our interactive workshops will encourage students to delve into their imaginations while learning forms and structures of literary genres and subgenres. As students develop poems and stories, they will learn to critique and receive feedback, edit and revise, working closely with instructors and fellow campers to develop pieces they are proud to share and publish. As a culminating project, students will work together to prepare for a public reading (parents invited!) on the final evening of camp!
Following a full day of writing, students will spend evenings engaging in art and leisure activities guided by camp counselors, along with team-building and relationship-building games and adventures. Opportunities for one-on-one mentorship and feedback on writing will be provided each evening as well. Each camper will stay in a private, single-bed dorm room in St. Ed’s residence halls, chaperoned by program staff, and eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the university cafeteria.
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