Columbia --  Lt. Governor Bob Peeler and Columbia College of South Carolina will host the second annual Lt. Governor's Young Writer's Summer Workshop June 8-10. The workshop will be attended by approximately 105 fifth and eighth grade writers who were selected as winners from the 110,000 participants of the 1997 Lt. Governor's Writing Awards Contest. Participants will include students from throughout South Carolina.

Acclaimed children's book writer Lynn Floyd Wright, a Columbia College alumna, will speak to students during the opening ceremonies on Monday, June 8, at 6:30p.m. in the Spears Music and Art Center. On Tuesday, June 9, from 10:00a.m.-12:00p.m. and from 1:00p.m.-2:00p.m. in the Breed Leadership Center, the media is invited to join students and speakers for a glimpse of the students' work close-up. Lt. Governor Peeler will address students and parents on Wednesday, June 10, at 9:30a.m. in the Spears Music and Art Center. During the ceremony Peeler will present participants with certificates of achievement for their completion of the workshop.

The camp was first conceived in 1996 by Dr. Peter Mitchell, former President of Columbia College, who witnessed the success of the eighteen year old Lieutenant Governor's Writing Awards Program and broached Peeler about the possibility of Columbia College hosting a winner's workshop. Together, they enlisted the professional writers, support staff and approximately $16,000 necessary in private financial support to make the idea a tuition-free reality. This marks the second annual workshop.

Says Peeler, "The goal of this program is to give these bright students new insights, new skills and above all else, a first-class learning experience. By bringing in South Carolina's best writers to share their knowledge, we are providing a once in a lifetime experience that will help to steer these students toward a successful and fulfilling future."

During the camp students will receive one-on-one attention and have their individual writing critiqued. South Carolina writers participating in the workshop include WLTX news anchor Trinnell Moore, WIS-TV personality Keith Landry, Associate Editor of The State newspaper Claudia Smith Brinson, novelist and poet Libby Bernardin, writer in residence at Wofford University John Lane, Editor of the Lexington Dispatch Bill West, comic writer Jason Gantt, and high school journalists from Dutch Fork High School.