Carol Stream woman has a nose for prose

Writing has always been a not-so-secret passion for Rosemary Calkins.

The English teacher and co-founder of the DuPage Writers Group organizes regular seminars and round-table discussions for budding wordsmiths in a local library.

A few years ago, she helped organize the formation of an arts group in the community.

And this past summer, the Carol Stream woman extended that outreach effort to some of Carol Stream's younger residents, organizing a writer's workshop for kids in her home.

For several days nearly two dozen kids met to churn out short stories, poetry and essays that Calkins eventually bound into a literary magazine titled Kid's Possibilities.

A few still too young to jot down their thoughts on paper had a ghost writer at their disposal.

"It was kind of scary because I didn't know how it'd turn out," Calkins said. "But it was a leap of faith that kind of evolved day by day."

Calkins took her new venture a step further, organizing a reading of the material in October by the pint-sized authors at The Bookstore in Glen Ellyn. Following the reading, the kids got a chance to play famous author for a day, signing their creation for the adoring audience of moms and dads.

"The best part was planting that seed of loving to write," Calkins said. "Hopefully, we could do it again next year."