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Encouraging Young Readers and Writers

kid writing outside on a bench

NewPages maintains two guides where young readers and writers can find print and online literary magazines to read, places to publish their own works, and legitimate contests: Publications for Young Writers and Writing Contests for Young Writers. Both of these are ad-free resources regularly updated with carefully vetted content, and “young” can be from K to college undergraduate. As long as there is clearly “dedicated” space to a young age group, we will consider listing it here.

Please share these with any young creatives in your lives and with adults who want to encourage youth in the creative arts – parents, teachers, community organization leaders, librarians, etc.

If you know of any great resources for youth that we do not have listed, please contact us. We love to keep these resources alive and growing!

Contest :: 2023 Virginia B. Ball Creative Writing Competition

2023 Virginia B. Ball Creative Writing Competition from Interlochen Arts Academy

Interlochen Arts Academy’s creative writing program is accepting applications for its Virginia B. Ball Creative Writing Competition. This is open to students in grades 8-11 during the 2022-23 school year and awards a full-tuition scholarship.

Stop by the NewPages Classifieds to learn more.

Event :: 2022 Daphne Review Online Mentorship Program Session I

Daphne Review Online Mentorship banner

Every year literary magazine The Daphne Review hosts an online mentorship program for rising seniors. This year they will be hosting three sessions. The first session will take place from July 25 – August 15. In these sessions 5-7 students work with professional writers on a one-on-one basis. See their ad in the NewPages Classifieds to learn more. Mentors and students need to apply for Session I by July 11.

Magazine Review :: Youth Communication

Youth Communication My Parents are Anti Vaxxers story image

I curate the NewPages Publications for Young Writers Guide, and as much as I do this to provide a resource for young readers, writers, teachers, and parents, we could all benefit from spending some time reading the voices of young people. I was distracted from my work (a regular occurrence here, as you can imagine) when I came across “My Parents Are Anti-Vaxxers” by an anonymous contributor to YouthComm Magazine. In it, the author recounts how shocked they were when their parents went down the Facebook “Covid hoax” rabbit hole, declined vaccinations even in the face of losing a job/income, and then what they put their children through when one parent contracted the virus and declined medical care. The plaintive yet matter-of-fact style in which the author presents their perspective is frustrating to read, even heartbreaking, “It has made me question the people that I idolized growing up. The people that I believed, in my childhood innocence, could do no wrong.” Yet there is some consolation, “This experience has taught me a lot about the complexities of humans. It’s hard to accept that we can be good people and still go down the wrong paths. That things aren’t always simply black and white, though it’d be easier if they were.” And the final resolution, “But I’ve learned other people can provide guidance when your parents can’t.” It’s a sad commentary on the kind of division this experience created, and that we see continue among family, friends, and communities. It’s tough to imagine these youth experiencing the need to break away from their parents’ ideologies, but at the same time, encouraging that they (and we all) may be better off as adults as a result.

Youth Communication offers short, nonfiction stories and related lessons to help students improve their reading and writing skills, and improve the social and emotional skills that support school success. They provide workshops and publications, including Represent Magazine: Stories by Teens in Foster Care.

New Lit on the Block :: Chicago Young Writers Review

Chicago Young Writers Review literary magazine Winter 2022 cover image

NewPages welcomes Chicago Young Writers Review to the scene, “a space uniquely created with the K-8 students in mind” says founder Daria Volkova. A native Chicagoan, Volkova wanted to preserve Chicago’s influence on her as a dynamic, diverse, multiethnic and multicultural city in their organization’s name. “We encourage young authors from all backgrounds to submit their work. In fact, we’ve had the most enthusiastic response from the communities of color and immigrant communities in and around Chicago. We also wanted the name to speak to our mission. There is an abundance of literary magazines for older writers, but there are less accessible spaces for the younger kids with whom we work. By including the ‘young writers’ within our name, we are stating exactly what we are and who we were made for. We are a playground (forgive the pun) for young creators to gain confidence in their work and blossom into stronger readers, thinkers, and writers.”

Continue reading “New Lit on the Block :: Chicago Young Writers Review”

New Lit On the Block :: The Prose Train

The Prose Train is a unique online publication that is more than just a place to find great reading, it is also a place for young writers to engage in the writing process with other writers. The concept is in the name, according to Founder and Executive Director Irene Tsen, “’Prose’ refers to the short stories we create, and ‘Train’ refers to the collaborative aspect of how writers add sentences sequentially. Our slogan, ‘train your prose,’ is a rearrangement of our name, encapsulating how writers who join The Prose Train improve their skills with a different type of writing.”

Continue reading “New Lit On the Block :: The Prose Train”

Young Writer Summer Mentor Program

Adroit Journal logo

Now in its tenth year, The Adroit Journal Summer Mentorship Program is an entirely online program that pairs experienced writers with high school and secondary students (students in grades 9-12 and gap year students, high school class of ’21 or ’22) interested in learning more about the creative writing processes of drafting, redrafting, and editing. The program offers mentorships in the genres of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. The aim of the program is not formalized instruction, but rather an individualized, flexible, and often informal correspondence. Poetry students will share weekly work with mentors and peers, while fiction and creative nonfiction/memoir students will share biweekly work with mentors and peers.

Participation in the mentorship for students who do not qualify for financial aid will cost $450 per mentee. There is no application fee. Mentee applicants for whom tuition will be a barrier are assured that fee remission and robust financial aid will be available.

Applications will be open through March 15, 2022.

Publications for Young Writers

Drawn image of a face in profile looking at a full moon with the words Community Journalism Project

NewPages maintains two guides where young readers and writers can find print and online literary magazines to read, places to publish their own works, and legitimate contests: Publications for Young Writers and Writing Contests for Young Writers. Both of these are ad-free resources regularly updated with carefully vetted content.

Many of the magazines listed on NewPages Publications for Young Writers include resources to inspire and mentor writing. One such publication is the Young Writers Project that features a full year’s worth of writing and visual art “Challenges.” These are organized by week, with all entries in response to these prompts being considered for various publications, including the monthly digital magazine, The Voice, as well as for the YWP annual anthology.

In addition to this, YWP’s Community Journalism Project runs weekly prompts based on “newsy, issue-based challenges” as well as a special Climate Change Project.

These are wonderful resources for teachers to use in the classroom as well as for anyone mentoring young readers or writers in their lives.

Girls Right the World Seeks Submissions

NewPages maintains two guides where young readers and writers can find print and online literary magazines to read, places to publish their own works, and legitimate contests: Publications for Young Writers and Writing Contests for Young Writers. Both of these are ad-free resources regularly updated with carefully vetted content.

Girls Right the World is one of those listed, their mission is to provide an “an international literary journal advocating for young, female-identified writers and artists. This journal values and promotes diversity of culture and expression.” The publication is edited by students at Miss Hall’s School in Massachusetts. Currently, Girls Right the World has extended their deadline for submissions.

Female-identified writers and artists, ages 14–21, are invited to submit poetry, prose, and visual art of any style or theme for consideration for the sixth annual issue by January 31, 2022. For full submission information, visit their site here.

Contests for Young Writers

Image of a poster for the I Matter poetry contest

NewPages maintains two guides where young readers and writers can find print and online literary magazines to read, places to publish their own works, and legitimate contests: Publications for Young Writers and Writing Contests for Young Writers. Both of these are ad-free resources regularly updated with carefully vetted content.

The Lions Club International Peace Essay Contest is one of those listed, and the 2020-2021 winning essay “Peace Through Service” by 13-year-old Australian Joshua Wood is a beautiful example of the kinds of writing these contests can inspire. He can be seen/heard reading his essay on the site here, and his essay is available to read online or download to print.

If you know young readers and writers in your life, or if you yourself enjoy writing for young readers, check out these guides today!

[Image: National Youth Foundation poster for the “I Matter Poetry Contest.”]

RYPA 2021

I am delighted each time the annual Rattle Young Poets Anthology appears wrapped in the package with the companion issue of Rattle. Over twenty poets ranging from age five to fifteen are featured in this year’s publication. It would be easy to fall into the trap of saying, “These are great poems for writers so young,” when the truth is quite simply: These are great poems. The opening work by Maria Arrango, “¿Identity?” which begins “El president Donald Trump said / they’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. // My brown sugar skin delicately / compresses me with warmth / as I try to understand / the anatomy of my body.” is the immediate indicator that these young poets hold their own among their elder peers. Age is indeed just a number.

There are poems that disrupt the idea of idyllic youth, such as Matthew Burk’s “The Roller Coaster” and Maria Gil Harris’s “Like Magic,” as well as those that confront reality, like Adrianna Ho’s “Pasta Sandwiches in Quarantine” and Ivy Hoffman’s “Only Days Before Leaving for College, I Note the Existence of My Brother.” Some poems reach deep to connect imagery and emotion: Ha Trang Tran’s “A Love Letter for Home,” imagining a “grand return” to Hà Nộ, and Hannah Straub’s “Cadillac Mountain” with haunting lines like, “Though I was not falling / I was stumbling, in the way I clung to people / I could not reach, memories as useless / As the wire guardrails.” And there are plenty of works that raised a smile through their intellectual rhetoric, like “The Weight of Heavens” by Emma Hoff, which begins with the barb, “Was the minotaur / Really / A monster?” Kakul Gupta’s “Ten Haiku” are each effective meditations, and Mackenzie Munoz’s “Catching Dreams” reaches the metaphysic, while other works were just plain fun, like Paul Ghatak’s “Counting to One,” Grant’s “Lions Roar,” and Melissa A. Di Martino’s “Saive Me By Thes Wendrous.” Shreya Vikram’s “DIY Project” is the kind of poem that can only be experienced, and with good reason, as, in response to the Contributor’s Note question, “Why do you like writing poetry?” Vikram’s answer begins, “Without poetry, I’d waste language.”

For any readers out there with young writers in your circle, please introduce them to Rattle and this annual collection. It’s essential for young writers to connect with other young writers and find encouragement for their own reading, writing, and submissions. For more resources, check out the NewPages Young Writers Guide to Publications and NewPages Young Writers Guide to Contests.

[It is challenging to include mention of every work in a review, but I want to acknowledge the remaining poets from this collection and commend them for their contributions, all of which brought me immense pleasure to read: Natalia Chepel, Natalie Friis, Kevin Gu, Jessie Johnson, Dahee Joy Kang, Chloe Lin, Naomi Ling, Joseph Miner, and Perry Sloan.]

Event :: the daphne review online mentorship for high school students

The Daphne Online Summer Mentorship 2021 bannerRegistration Deadline: May 31, 2021
Event Dates: June 14 – July 2, 2021
Event Location: Virtual
Love writing but need professional guidance to help you develop your voice? Apply to the 2021 Daphne Online Mentorship Program! We will be selecting 5-7 dedicated students to work with caring, accomplished professional writers on a one-on-one basis. Recent Daphne mentees have been accepted to Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Stanford, Columbia, and top creative writing programs, e.g., Iowa!

Session I: June 14 – July 2. Currently seeking online MENTORS! Please send resume to [email protected].

Students/program applicants, applications NOW OPEN. DEADLINE IS MAY 31, 2021. Any question, feel free to email us at [email protected].

“I Matter” Youth Poetry Contest

In the wake of daily despair locally, nationally, and globally, what joy it was to be contacted by fifteen-year-old Isabella Hanson to help her promote the “I Matter” poetry contest she started last year. Penny Bauder interviewed Isabella in January for Authority Magazine. In their discussion, Isabella shared the motivation for her effort:

As an African American in America, I recognized that George Floyd’s and Breonna Taylor’s deaths were due to the lack of respect and value for Black people in America. I created the “I Matter” poetry program to help myself and other youth to process the pain they felt after watching the killing of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor on the news. Utilizing poetry and art as the medium, the “I Matter” program provided the inspiration and forum for youth to be heard on the vital subject of why Black Lives Matter.

Isabella’s effort is supported through the National Youth Foundation. “Founded by Black women with a vision for change,” their mission is to “promote diversity, inclusion, and gender equality through innovative literary programs.” The NYF offers youth writing workshops and has held the Student Book Scholar Contest to publish books such as “From Bullies to Buddies” and the Amazing Women Edition Contest to publish books on local heroines.

The first “I Matter” poetry contest published its 2020 selections and can be read online here. It features over twenty beautiful and searingly memorable works, both poetry and art, by youths from second through twelfth grade. First place winner “Hey Google” by twelfth grader Khabria Fisher-Dunbar is a sobering call to the internet giant to take responsibility for the manner in which the search engine responds to inquiries related to Black Lives. It begins:

Hey Google
What are some images of three black teenagers?
Oh no I didn’t mean mug shots
I meant black teenagers laughing, hanging out with their friends
For recreational purposes
Not selling or drugs or stealing
Just living their lives

It is a reckoning to us all to consider the why and the how of the information we all participate in creating and sharing, both shaping and defining the lives of those in our communities.

This year’s “I Matter” contest is open to youth in grades K-12 and closes for submissions July 23, 2021.

Please help Isabella and all concerned and engaged young readers and writers by sharing this information as well as by reading the powerful 2020 contest publication.

As Isabella says to young people through her interview, “…it is empowering to empower others…when young people set their minds to do something, they can make a difference.”

Call :: Girls Right the World Extends Submission Deadline for Issue 5

Extended Deadline: January 31, 2021
Girls Right the World is a literary journal inviting young, female-identified writers and artists, ages 14–21, to submit work for consideration for the fifth annual issue. We believe girls’ voices transform the world for the better. We accept poetry, prose, and visual art of any style or theme. We ask to be the first to publish your work in North America; after publication, the rights return to you. Send your best work, in English or English translation, to [email protected] by January 31, 2021. Please include a note mentioning your age, where you’re from, and a bit about your submission

Call :: Girls Right the World Issue 5 Closes to Submissions on December 31

Deadline: December 31, 2020
Girls Right the World is a literary journal inviting young, female-identified writers and artists, ages 14–21, to submit work for consideration for the fifth annual issue. We believe girls’ voices transform the world for the better. We accept poetry, prose, and visual art of any style or theme. We ask to be the first to publish your work in North America; after publication, the rights return to you. Send your best work, in English or English translation, to [email protected] by December 31, 2020. Please include a note mentioning your age, where you’re from, and a bit about your submission.

Call :: Girls Right the World Seeks Work for Fifth Issue

Deadline: December 31, 2020
Girls Right the World is a literary journal inviting young, female-identified writers and artists, ages 14–21, to submit work for consideration for the fifth annual issue. We believe girls’ voices transform the world for the better. We accept poetry, prose, and visual art of any style or theme. We ask to be the first to publish your work in North America; after publication, the rights return to you. Send your best work, in English or English translation, to [email protected] by December 31, 2020. Please include a note mentioning your age, where you’re from, and a bit about your submission. Please read our first four issues for an idea of work we like.

Call :: Girls Right the World Seeks Work from Female-Identifying Writers for Issue 5

Girls Right the World is a literary journal inviting young, female-identified writers and artists, ages 14 to 21, to submit work for consideration for the fifth annual issue. They believe girls’ voices transform the world for the better. They accept poetry, prose, and visual art of any style or theme. They ask to be the first to publish your work in North America; after publication, the rights return to you. Send your best work, in English or English translation, to [email protected] by December 31, 2020. Please include a note mentioning your age, where you’re from, and a bit about your submission.

New Lit on the Block :: Cathartic Youth Literary Magazine

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“Breaking the Silence” has been the long-time effort of The National Alliance on Mental Health, and now a new outlet sharing this mission is Cathartic Youth Literary Magazine, an online publication featuring contributions from youth 12-22 years old, and particularly works covering mental health conditions and the teenage experience.

Founder and Editor-in-Chief Anna Kiesewetter [pictured] shares the publication’s genesis, “The word ‘cathartic’ has always perfectly encapsulated what writing is to me. I realized that some of the most powerful writing I’ve read and created was used for catharsis – to deal with emotions, to make sense of life, to put trauma into words. I’m a firm believer in the power of vulnerability, and I’ve realized that writing has helped me with a lot of my own mental health struggles. Writing has made me more mindful of what goes on within my head and provides me with an outlet that I can’t really get anywhere else; I thus hoped it might provide similar benefits for other young people. Mental health is also a subject that has been almost taboo to discuss in the past, and even now it still carries quite a bit of stigma. Especially during this pandemic, which seems to be exacerbating existing conditions. Youth mental health is such a prevalent and important issue, yet one that isn’t often talked about. I felt like this magazine could serve a threefold purpose: to open up discussion about mental health, to encourage mindfulness and writing for catharsis, and to provide a platform for young writers as a sort of steppingstone to larger publications.”

Continue reading “New Lit on the Block :: Cathartic Youth Literary Magazine”

Call :: Girls Right the World Open to Submissions from Young, Female-Identified Writers

Girls Right the World is a literary journal inviting young, female-identified writers and artists, ages 14–21, to submit work for consideration for its fifth annual issue. We believe girls’ voices transform the world for the better. We accept poetry, prose, and visual art of any style or theme. We ask to be the first to publish your work in North America; after publication, the rights return to you. Send your best work, in English or English translation, to [email protected] by December 31, 2020. Please include a note mentioning your age, where you’re from, and a bit about your submission.

Call :: Girls Right the World Seeks Submissions from Female-identifying Writers Ages 14-21

Deadline: December 31, 2020
Girls Right the World is a literary journal inviting young, female-identified writers and artists, ages 14–21, to submit work for consideration for the fifth annual issue. They believe girls’ voices transform the world for the better. They accept poetry, prose, and visual art of any style or theme. They ask to be the first to publish your work in North America; after publication, the rights return to you. Send your best work, in English or English translation, to [email protected] by December 31, 2020. Please include a note mentioning your age, where you’re from, and a bit about your submission.

Call :: Girls Right the World Issue 5

Deadline: December 31, 2020
Girls Right the World is a literary journal inviting young, female-identified writers and artists, ages 14–21, to submit work for consideration for the fifth annual issue. We believe girls’ voices transform the world for the better. We accept poetry, prose, and visual art of any style or theme. We ask to be the first to publish your work in North America; after publication, the rights return to you. Send your best work, in English or English translation, to [email protected] by December 31, 2020. Please include a note mentioning your age, where you’re from, and a bit about your submission.