News release Public Information Office   SLU 10880   Hammond, LA 70402   phone: 985-549-2341   fax: 985-549-2061 publicinfo@selu.edu Spring 2004 news releases Public Information home News archive Contact: Christina Chapple Date: 8/4/04   Click on image for publication quality photo INSPIRING YOUNG WRITERS – Award-winning author Olympia Vernon, a Southeastern Louisiana University graduate and writer-in-residence in the university’s English Department, was the guest speaker for the final day of the Southeastern Louisiana Writing Project’s Young Writer’s Camp 2004. To illustrate the “hard work it takes to make a book,” Vernon showed the campers a table covered with the more than a dozen edited versions of her first novel, “Eden,” as well as multiple proofs for book covers. She advised the young writers, “Don’t give up, no matter what happens.” More than two dozen students participated in the camp, which also included a “writing marathon” at businesses in downtown Hammond.