Taj Greenlee to attend the National Book Foundation’s nine-day Intergenerational Writing Camp in Massachusetts
By: Jane Karlicek
For 23-year old Taj Greenlee, attending the National Book Foundation’s nine-day Intergenerational Writing Camp in Massachusetts will give him the time and opportunity to focus on his passion – writing.
Mr. Greenlee, who has lived in Princeton Borough for the last year, was accepted as one of 38 people nationwide, aged 14 to 75, to attend the Intergenerational Writing Camp. All 38 participants were selected based on writing samples and financial need.
"It’s a program for young writers who otherwise couldn’t afford the luxury of having time to write," Mr. Greenlee said. "I was just looking for some time to write and time to be with other writers. I was very surprised to have been selected."
The National Book Foundation, sponsor of the prestigious National Book Awards, is hosting the program at Simon’s Rock College in Great Barrington, Mass.
In its seventh year, the program immerses participants in a wide array of writing exercises designed to enable them to explore the creative process and experience "the writing life," under the guidance of five literary talents, a foundation press release said.
The five literary guests appearing at this year’s camp are National Book Award Finalist Norma Fox Mazer; award-winning poet and playwright Cornelius Eady; two-time Coretta Scott King Honor Book Award-winner Jacqueline Woodson; poet, actor and playwright Kirk Wood Bromley; and poet Kimiko Hahn.
"I enjoy creative writing," Mr. Greenlee said. "My main focus is poetry but I’m dabbling in playwriting and essays. I’m really excited (about the camp). I’m curious to see what this opens up."
Besides getting to work on all of his writing skills with published authors, Mr. Greenlee expects to learn something from the other participants, of all ages, he said.
"I’m excited to be in that kind of a mix of generations," Mr. Greenlee said. "The age differences are very exciting."
Mr. Greenlee, originally from South Carolina, came to Princeton last May after he received his undergraduate degree in English from Gilford College in Greensboro, N.C. He came here to participate in The Bonner Foundation’s alumni internship program, of which there is one available each year.
The Bonner Foundation is a Mercer Street-based family foundation. Mr. Greenlee was part of The Bonner Scholars Program, which is offered at 25 selected colleges in the Southeast and provides four years of financial support to students in significant financial need.
Mr. Greenlee became interested in poetry while in the 10th grade after he won a contest in his honors writing class. After that, he said, "I just kept writing. In a poem you can do something very intense and deliberate. It’s not something that gets diluted with more and more words."
Mr. Greenlee’s poetry is about observations he has made, on pieces of art he has seen, among other things, he said.
He recently started combining poetry with his music skills. While at Gilford, Mr. Greenlee was a music minor, training to be a classical singer, he said. He has also been playing the guitar for a few years.
"I’ve recently started writing music and lyrics," he said.
When Mr. Greenlee returns from the National Book Foundation’s Writing Camp, he will take his new writing experiences to New York, beginning in September. Mr. Greenlee has received a full scholarship to New York University’s two-year master of fine arts program, focusing on creative writing, he said. The idea of living and writing in New York has him very excited.
"I just wanted to be in the city," he said.