Young Writers Institute

Western Pennsylvania Writing Project (WPWP)

Since 1989, WPWP's Young Writers Institute (YWI) has offered young people exciting and engaging environments to explore writing. Young writers from across the Western Pennsylvania region come together and meet to have the opportunity to develop their skills as writers. Our outstanding staff includes certified classroom teachers, esteemed writers, and advanced writing students from regional colleges and universities. Learn more about registration and the institute here: https://www.wpwp.pitt.edu/offerings/youth

YWI is committed to ensuring that every young writer has meaningful access to opportunities to write. We offer the following discount options to support families with varying needs. We ask that families use these options thoughtfully so that our shared resources can continue to support writers who need them most.
  • YWI25 - 25% discount
  • YWI50 - 50% discount
  • YWI75 - 75% discount
  • YWI100 - 100% discount
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Writers & Makers: Stories With Artifacts - Grades 5-6

What if every story came with an object and each story gave the object its power.? A mysterious map tucked into a pirate’s coat. A timeworn letter from a lost explorer. A broken compass that points to something no one expects… Intrigued? At YWI, writers are authors and artists, creating original stories and the artifacts that bring them to life, storytelling will leap off the page and into your hands. Young writers will be inspired to write, design, build, and imagine across genres and formats. Where will your imagination and creativity take you—fantasy adventures, historical mysteries, speculative tales, mini memoirs, poetry, comics, zines, and fictional-factual hybrids that blur the line between truth and imagination. Your voice, your choice! Together, we’ll explore how physical objects can deepen world-building, develop character, and add mystery or meaning to a narrative.

Write it. Make it. Tell the story behind it. Join us for a week of imagination, creativity, and hands-on storytelling where words and objects work together to create something truly magical.

Writers and Makers: Words Change Worlds - Grades 7-8

Calling all curious, inventive, opinionated, AND wonderfully weird writers! This summer, YWI will be a joyful playground for you to stimulate your imagination, speak your mind, dream, and be heard as we dabble in various genres including creative storytelling, poetry, comics, and micro-fiction. Elevate your words, elevate your writing, and elevate yourself as you write and revise with passion for ideas and change. Young writers will write in unexpected ways, explore real-life stories (yes, nonfiction!), and experiment with words just for fun. Unconventional ideas welcome. Peculiar styles encouraged. Along the way, you will discover your own voice, learn how words can express what matters to you, and explore how stories—both true and imagined—can reflect the world around us.

Writers and Makers: The Truth Told Slant - Grades 9-12

What happens when you tell the truth—but tell it slant? In this eight-day institute, young writers turn real experiences into bold, original work that lands. We’ll play with story, voice, and form—blending personal narrative, poetry, and visual elements to create writing that moves, surprises, and lingers. Through images, sensory prompts, and contemporary mentor texts, young writers craft hybrid pieces that live on the page, on the wall, or—if they choose—on the stage. Whether you’re a poet, a prose writer, or still discovering your style, this institute meets you where you are. No formulas. No clichés. Just risk-taking, revision, and your voice—sharper, braver, and unmistakably yours.

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