The last thing 性视界传媒鈥檚 poet laureate Ren茅e Sarojini Saklikar wants her teen writing camps to do is make youth think of school.

鈥淚n the act of creation 鈥� you鈥檙e not going to be criticized,鈥� Saklikar said. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e not going to be judged. It鈥檚 about playing with language and having fun. Making things. Having fun creating.鈥�

鈥淒on鈥檛 get kids talking about meaning 鈥� we leave that to the gods and to the readers,鈥� she said, talking about the common practice of teaching students about the meaning of poetry.

鈥淥ur job is to make. To make words. Make language. Play. Make poetry.

鈥淪o that鈥檚 what I tell the youth. If you take nothing else: don鈥檛 focus on what it means, focus on how it鈥檚 made.鈥�

That鈥檚 the theme of Saklikar鈥檚 teen summer writing camps, being held in four 性视界传媒 library locations. The goal is to give youth ages 13 to 18 skills for writing a variety of creative genres, including personal memoirs, poetry, short stories and novels.

She鈥檚 already completed two of her teen workshops 鈥� one at the City Centre library and one in Fleetwood 鈥� but has exciting ideas planned for the one in Guilford on July 20, and the one in Cloverdale on July 25.

鈥淥ne of the things I love doing in the teen writing camps, because 性视界传媒 is so diverse, and the teens are from every possible background you can imagine, I get them to talk about themselves,鈥� she said.

It鈥檚 not always easy to get teenagers to open up,

鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to build trust. You only have a couple hours,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 want them to feel at ease with me, so I share a bit about my own background.鈥� Saklikar was born in India, and moved to Canada with her parents.

鈥淚 had no concept that I could be a creative writer and I could be successful at creative writing,鈥� she said about herself as a young writer. 鈥淚 was so shy. I was so very shy.鈥�

Continuing to build trust, Saklikar gets the teens to create name cards. Then she asks them about their names.

鈥淚 get them to talk about themselves through their name, because it鈥檚 a safe thing,鈥� she explained. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not really about them, it鈥檚 about the name. It creates a bit of distance. And it鈥檚 amazing how they just open up.鈥�

Of course, Saklikar鈥檚 workshops don鈥檛 just involve sharing. There鈥檚 writing too 鈥� timed freewrites based on various prompts like 鈥測our favourite day in 性视界传媒鈥� or 鈥淚 remember when.鈥�

鈥淭he idea鈥檚 to free yourself up from criticism and judgment,鈥� she said. Although criticism and judgement are important skills for revision, she doesn鈥檛 focus on those during the freewrites.

鈥淓very single time, it鈥檚 unfailing. When we write together in silence, we just go into ourselves and centre, and we鈥檙e writing without judgement, we鈥檙e just writing to play and create, magic happens. It鈥檚 amazing.鈥�

At the Cloverdale workshop on July 25, Saklikar will bringing a variety of prompts to the table. She鈥檚 heard from one of the librarians that the teens who have signed up for the program are interested in a range of genres, including short stories and novels.

鈥淚鈥檒l do some prompts that kind of feed into that,鈥� she said.

Ultimately, Saklikar said, the goal isn鈥檛 too teach teens how to write.

鈥淚 guess one of my goals as poet laureate for teens is to show them a lot of love,鈥� she said.

鈥淥ne of the things I say is everything you create is beautiful to me because you created it.鈥�