DANBURY, CONN. — Last August, two dozen talented young writers attended a conference at Western Connecticut State University where they participated in workshops to hone their budding literary skills. This month, the fruits of their labor will become apparent when the 2009 Young Writers Conference Journal is distributed at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 9, in Warner Hall on the university’s Midtown campus, 181 White St. in Danbury. The event will be free and the public is invited to attend. A limited number of copies of the journal will be available for purchase.

The students whose work is featured in the journal are 8th through 12th graders from Danbury, New Fairfield, New Milford, Newtown and Brewster, N.Y. Their writings have been compiled into a bound, 102-page publication.

Dr. Linda Vaden-Goad, dean of WestConn’s School of Arts and Sciences, is hosting the celebration at which the journals will be distributed.

“The WCSU 2009 Young Writers Conference journal is ready, and it is gorgeous,” Vaden-Goad wrote in an invitation to the students. “To celebrate, we are sponsoring an autograph party. Please come and reunite with your fellow young writers from last summer and get their signatures on your journal copy. We are confident that some of you are going to be best-selling authors some day, and we want to get your autographs now!”

The Oct. 9 event also will serve to announce the launch of a new series of writing workshops that WestConn will offer on campus this fall for students in grades 9 through 12. The topics being offered will include: Writing the Short Story, Memoir Writing, Advanced Poetry Writing, Feature Writing and the College Admissions Essay. Each topic will be covered in two, two-and-a-half hour sessions for $150. Registration is underway for the sessions that will be offered in October and November. For information, interested students should visit www.wcsu.edu/youngwriters or send an e-mail to parispurtlel@wcsu.edu.

For more information, call the Office of University Relations at (203) 837-8486.

Western Connecticut State University offers outstanding faculty in a range of quality academic programs. Our diverse university community provides students an enriching and supportive environment that takes advantage of the unique cultural offerings of Western Connecticut and New York. Our vision: To be an affordable public university with the characteristics of New England’s best small private universities.