Welcome to the website of the Quaker Youth Book Project of QUIP!

The Quaker Youth Book Project has two goals: to produce a multilingual anthology that will feature short non-fiction prose, poetry and visual art by international young Quakers ages 15-30 from all branches of the Religious Society of Friends, including programmed, unprogrammed, conservative and evangelical traditions, from meetings and churches affiliated with Friends United Meeting (FUM), Friends General Conference (FGC), Evangelical Friends International (EFI), Conservative yearly meetings and independent yearly meetings. The writing and art included will focus on the personal spiritual experiences, beliefs, and identities of contemporary young Friends.

By encouraging reflection, contemplation, and creative work by young Friends – and by lifting up the voices of those Friends for broader consideration – the project will realize its second goal: the nurturing of young Quaker ministers and leaders, and the continued growth and renewal of the Religious Society of Friends.

PROJECT NEWS - June 2008

The Call for Submissions is now available and includes submission guidelines for writing and art and suggested topics and queries. All Friends ages 15-35 are invited to submit their creative work. Click here to get the full Call for Submissions as text and as a pdf download to share with your Friends meeting, church, youth group, community etc. Submissions are being accepted NOW and the final deadline is February 28th, 2009.

Click here to meet the editorial board -nine young adult Friends from all branches of the Religious Society of Friends and all over the world, including the United States, United Kingdom, Kenya, Bolivia and Canada.

Note the new e-mail address for the project: quipyouthbook@gmail.com.

Stay tuned for writing and art workshop opportunities in the near future!

How can you help the Quaker Youth Book Project? Consider one of the following:

1. Spread the word. Share this information with young Quakers and older Friends who work with younger Friends. Encourage a young Friend you know to begin to think about submitting his or her creative work.
2. Make a donation. QUIP is committed to a geographically and theologically diverse Editorial Board and is actively fundraising to provide financial support to young Friends so that they can travel to two Editorial Board meetings over the next two years. If you would like to make a donation to support the Editorial Board or the project in general please contact Angelina Conti, the project coordinator, at quipyouthbook@gmail.com or 215-561-1700. Donations of any size are welcome in dollars or pound sterling and are tax deductable in the United States.
3. Offer your services as a translator. Though the Editorial Board will do its work in English, we hope to be able to accept written submissions in many languages, including but not limited to Spanish, French, Welsh and Swahili, and are considering publishing the book in more than one language. Can you support that work?

This is the second youth book project for QUIP. Whispers of Faith: Young Friends share their experiences of Quakerism was published jointly in 2005 by Quaker Press of Friends General Conference and Quaker Books of Britain Yearly Meeting. Whispers is a collection of writing from younger Friends ages 13 to 20 on a wide variety of topics related to Quaker identity, and was the first comprehensive and widely available book of its kind to be published in decades. It has been well received in both the US and UK: it is given to younger members by several monthly meetings in England and promoted as a teaching tool by Illinois Yearly Meeting and other yearly meetings. The successes and lessons of Whispers have inspired QUIP to pursue a second project, this time including young adult friends and seeking broader geographic and theological participation. Whispers is available for purchase from QuakerBooks of FGC and the Quaker Bookshop of Britain Yearly meeting.

See also:

• Minutes of Support
• List of Donors
• More about QUIP
• QUIP and FGC