On the last Monday of my WriCampia “career,” I had the honor of co-hosting the Portfolio Track’s first end-of-camp Showcase. This is my fourth and final year at WriCampia, and I have been a part of the Portfolio Track every year, surrounded by fellow authors who wanted an extra hour to write beyond the three hours of workshop each morning.
Members of the track often work on projects they’ve been dedicated to for long periods of time: novels, memoirs, poetry collections, and plays, to name a few of the types of endeavors that happen in the “Danbee Den,” also known as Old Wel-B-Yon. My wonderful co-host Flynn K. and I eagerly stepped into our roles as CITs of the track and approached our fellow track members to ask if they’d be interested in reading excerpts of their pieces aloud.
After a few hasty Google Forms and important conversations about approved content, our lineup was finalized, and during Evening Activity on Monday (8/18), the Showcase began.
Siobhan B.-D. was the opening act, presenting an excerpt of her comedy script via a group of three actors who performed the script complete with a basic set and props. I went next, reading my college essay titled “Recipe For a Desi Girl” for the first time outside of my workshop. Three more college essays followed, read by co-host Flynn K., Adella T., and Kate S. Like true members of the Portfolio track, each essay contained a beautifully written appreciation for the craft of writing, and all essays were met with raucous applause from the audience seated on the Amphitheater steps.
Sonali B. performed a poem she wrote about her best friend, which touched the hearts of many and garnered many “aww”s. Juliana N. was the first to read a novel excerpt, building suspense around the idea of Project Sol. The next to read was Brian L., who read a portion of his post-modern speculative fiction novel rife with visual sensory detail. Lina K. kicked off the final portion of the showcase by reading a poem with so much visual language that painted vivid pictures for the audience.
Rosalie W. read a poem about the unique grief of missing someone who is still around. It was short and sweet (and sad), and very relatable. The final piece of the night was presented by Miriam T., conveying heavy topics with gorgeous language complete with a rhyme scheme. The writing was so powerful that it produced tears in many an eye within the audience.
The Showcase was a massive success and will hopefully be the first of an annual tradition. All the writers, those who performed on Monday night and those who didn’t, have done such wonderful work in Portfolio Track and the Showcase was a beautiful way to celebrate that work in front of the entire camp—work that wouldn’t have been possible without Léna, Rita, and all of the Portfolio instructors.
