Free kid's activities at inaugural Word Wave festival

An interactive, and free, book festival will be held at Valhalla on October 10, 2015 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and some activities are meant for kids.

Tahoe Wordwave will have several opportunities for the younger set to get creative, from bookmaking and printmaking to a novel writing camp. There will also be book arts, poetry, travel writing, fiction and songwriting workshops.

From 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., and again from 1 p.m. to 2:15 p.m., longtime creative writing teacher and the author of three novels for young readers (including Steinbeck’s Ghost) Lewis Buzbee will lead young writers ages 9-12 through his “Amazing, Fool-Proof Start Your Own Novel Kit.” In this sixty minute-session Buzbee will coach kids on not only how to start a novel, but also how to choose your narrator’s voice, how to move from the big picture of your novel to the small picture of your setting, and how to jump to the ending and then work back.

From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., there will be a "Makers Station" where people of all ages can learn Hands-On Storytelling Techniques. Join makers of all stripes and create your own books, poems, and art. Featured makers include letterpress printers, ‘zinesters, book artists, drum makers and more.

From 3 p.m. to 4:15 p.m, novelist Christian Kiefer (author of The Infinite Tides and his newest, The Animals) who has also spent nearly a decade as a singer-songwriter, will offer "The Structure of the Song." Come with ears open to new sounds as he discusses various songwriting structures as a way into an broader understanding of what a song is, what a song could be, and how a song’s structure can (and should!) inform its content—all lessons that can be applied just as easily to fiction and poetry.

On Sunday, October 11, there is a free writer's workshop to high schoolers. Call 530-573-1513 for more details.

For a complete schedule on the free activities on Saturday as well as the whole weekend series of events, visit their website.