School One's Write Rhode Island program is open to young writers from grades 7 to 12

YOUTH WRITERS

Our Write Rhode Island programming is open to young writers in grades 7-12. From our annual flagship creative writing contest, to after-school classes, to an intensive summer program, we offer students the opportunity to find their voice and explore their creativity, while strengthening their writing skills. Classes change regularly, so check back to see what’s on tap next!

Annual Writing Competition

Each Fall, in collaboration with Goat Hill, School One offers a short fiction competition for Rhode Island students, grades 7-12. Write Rhode Island provides students opportunities throughout the state to work with professional writers and to be published in a high-quality print anthology.

Learn More

Write Where You Are Nonfiction Program

Write Rhode Island presents Write Where You Are

Write Where You Are is a flash nonfiction program, co-created by School One and authors Hester Kaplan and Taylor Polites, that invites young writers in grades 7-12 in the state of Rhode Island to document what they see, think and experience in their hometowns. A reading panel will review every submission and propose entries for posting/online publication on the Write Rhode Island Facebook page, website, and inclusion in a RI sound map. Select stories will be published in a print anthology.

Submit one written, flash non-fiction reflection of 1000 words or less, and one recording of the same story. Students are not required to attend a workshop to submit a story. The competition is free to enter. Only one entry per student.

Submit your short essay here.

Our Lives Now Flash Non-Fiction Program

In 2019 we launched a flash non-fiction program that invites young people in grades 7-12 in the state of Rhode Island to reflect on their current experience during the Covid-19 outbreak. Norma routines were dramatically altered. Most of us stayed home. Schools were all online.

We asked the young people of our state to reflect on their experiences and tell their your stories. What did you see and do? How have these changes affected your school and family life? What moments have you observed in the world around you?

The resulting stories have been published online and are part of the RICovidArchive.org, a digital archive co-managed by the Providence Public Library and Rhode Island Historical.

To read about the extraordinary time and how teenagers in Rhode Island experienced that time, read their stories.

Write Rhode Island’s Creative Writing Summer Institute

Write Rhode Island’s Creative Writing Institute provides young writers the opportunity to develop their writing skills in a fun, relaxed, and motivating environment.

Write Rhode Island's Creative Writing Institute is an intensive one-week writing camp offered to young writers in grades 7-12. Our institute is a chance for students to immerse themselves in a community of young writers with shared creative interests and to learn from professional writers and teachers who are as passionate about their craft as they are. Students will have the opportunity to write an original story, poem, play, essay or try out a new genre. Options include Visiting Writers Series, Dungeons & Dragons, Silkscreen Studio, Introduction to Comics, Writers Playground, Book Arts and more.

Dungeons and Dragons Writing Class- Virtual

Evan Flesicher

If you're reading this, consider yourself cordially invited to a game of Dungeons & Dragons. (What is D&D? Dungeons & Dragons is a collective storytelling game played amongst friends with dice telling you what you can and can't do. And it's fun. A lot of fun.) What makes our session unique is that we will be taking a break over the course of the game to give players the space to write, illustrate, and expand the story of their character on their own terms, with the hope that -- at the end of our mini-arc -- the story will continue.

Grades 7-12 | 6:00 - 8:00 PM | March 15-April 26 | $25 (Scholarships available)

All classes are virtual. A link will be sent before the first class.

Scholarships are given out based on financial need. To request an application, please contact Diana at (401) 331-2497 or dianac@school-one.org.

Page to Stage

Rodney Witherspoon, II

Come learn the ins and outs of writing a script for the stage! Students will create an original ten minute play of their own. This class is a great foundation for students who want to enter Trinity Rep's Write Here Write Now competition for young playwrights.

Grades 9-12 | 12:30-2:30 PM | February 18 | $25

This class is virtual

Mini-Memoir: Personal Essays and Stories

Sarah

A weekly writing group for students in 7th-12th grade where we talk about why someone might write a memoir and the different types of memoirs they can write. They can workshop each others' work, receive some feedback, and I'll give prompts to help guide their thoughts.

Grades 7-12| 11:00 - 1:30 PM | February 4 - 25 | $25 (Scholarships available)

This is a hybrid class, some classes are in-person and some are online. In-person classes are held at School One, 220 University Avenue on the east side of Providence.

Scholarships are given out based on financial need. To request an application, please contact Diana at (401) 331-2497 or dianac@school-one.org.

Lit Lab

Tara F.

Lit Lab is a weekly, after-school writing group for students in grades 7-12. Think of it as an informal writing group where students get prompts and encouragement, it's casual and fun.

Grades 7-12 | 3:00 - 4:30 PM | January 24 - February 28 | Free

All classes are in-person and at School One. School One is located at 220 University Avenue on the east side of Providence.

Please contact Diana at (401) 331-2497 or dianac@school-one.org with questions.

“The challenge for every writer is to draw her reader fully into the character's experience. Scenes are where the action of a story comes alive and invites the reader in. Scenes are where the story is lived.”
– Hester Kaplan, Author and Goat Hill writer

“Writing is like detective work: to reveal the story, you pull at the threads which will force the story to reveal itself. My goal as a teacher is to help you understand how to spot the clues.”

– Mark Fogarty, Writer and GrubStreet Instructor

“We turn to fiction to be transported, thrilled, immersed in the new and strange. Science Fiction and Fantasy takes us to these other worlds, and provides perspective on our own.”

– Amanda Kallis, Writer and School One Faculty

“We’re at a point in the world right now where we need empathy if we’re going to make any kind of progress. This is the best time for theater; it’s the antidote to apathy”.

– Ben Jovilet, Writer and GrubStreet Instructor

“I believe that openness and innovation are integral to teaching. This is certainly reflected in School One’s philosophy.”

– Victor Wildman, Frequency Writers and Creative Writing Instructor

YOUTH WRITERS

Annual Writing Competition

Dungeons and Dragons Writing Class- Virtual

Page to Stage

Mini-Memoir: Personal Essays and Stories

Lit Lab

At School One, we teach students to think, write, analyze, and create. As a community, we treat each other with care and respect. We appreciate each other’s differences as people and as learners.

Admissions Open House Registration