Dare County Arts Council is now accepting applications for the 6th Annual Outer Banks Veterans Writing Workshop, which is returning to the Outer Banks November 10 and 11, 2018.
The two-day workshop, which will be held at the UNC Coastal Studies Institute in Wanchese, is free for Veterans, active-duty military and their family members.
Modeled after the DC-based Veterans Writing Project, a non-profit foundation that teaches combat Veterans to express their military experiences through literature, the goal of the Outer Banks Veterans Writing Project is to teach enrolled applicants the art of writing.
Beginner and experienced writers are invited to participate in this special workshop that is being led by founder and director of the National Veterans Writing Project Ron Capps.

Capps served 25 years in the Army and Army Reserve and is a Veteran of the war in Afghanistan. He is an award-winning writer whose work has appeared in Time and The New York Times. His published works include Writing War: A Guide to Telling Your Own Story and Seriously Not All Right: Five Wars in Ten Years. Capps is also a faculty member at the University of Maryland.

“I am really thrilled to extend our partnership with the Dare County Arts Council for another year,” said Capps. “I love working on the Outer Banks and with the Veterans and their family members there. The community is rich in stories and it’s a privilege for me to help get these stories down on paper and in front of an audience. This year’s workshop is designed to help participants develop new skills and unlock new areas of creativity using targeted writing prompts. Participants can write fiction, non-fiction, poetry, screenplay or play formats.”

Former and current service men and women and members of their families in North Carolina, Virginia and surrounding areas are encouraged to sign up for the writing workshop online at DareArts.org/veterans. The workshop will accommodate up to 25 participants.
The Veterans Writing Workshop is one of five free workshops that Dare County Arts Council organized for Veterans, active-duty military and their families this year. Through a grant from the Military and Veteran Arts Programs at the North Carolina Arts Council, DCAC hosted workshops in painting, pottery, metalsmithing and photography this spring. During the painting workshop led by mural artist Sam Ogden of Venice, CA, students also painted a new patriotic mural inside the Kill Devil Hills American Legion building.
“The dynamic that these workshops bring to our community has been so exciting,” said Army Veteran and Dare County Arts Council Board Member Kelli Harmon. “We have Veterans and family members that haven’t previously been involved coming out to participate. The hands-on experience creates a very open environment to discuss the unique situations the participants face. More than helping tell their stories through art, these workshops are also helping to build a network with others who are having similar experiences.”
The Outer Banks Veterans Writing Project is part of the Veteran-friendly events sponsored by the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau during November’s Outer Banks Veterans Week, which hosts numerous Veteran celebrations from Corolla to Cape Hatteras.
Groups interested in listing their Veterans events in the Veterans Week calendar of events should send an email to DareArtsInfo@gmail.com.
For more information about the Veterans Writing Workshop, visit DareArts.org or call 252 473 5558.
This project is supported by the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural & Cultural Resources. This project is also supported in part by the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau.
Dare County Arts Council is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts organization dedicated to encouraging the arts in Dare County through advocacy, enrichment and opportunity.