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The Summer Residential Program

Every summer, 144 high school aged writers from across the country come together to share their work, practice craft, and improve their writing in Iowa City, Iowa, home of the University of Iowa.
Time to Write

We want you to have uninterrupted hours to lose yourself in your work, to dream forward into your story or poem, to “get words down” or revise and polish something you’ve already written.
Online Courses

If you’re a high school student, you can study creative writing with us from anywhere in the world.

A summer, residential, creative writing program for high school students

Summer 2018 Residential Program: June 17-30 (Session 1) & July 8-21 (Session 2)

A group of students work on their writing at Prairie Lights

Summer Residential Program

At the Iowa Young Writers’ Studio’s summer residential program, you will choose a single Core Course of study—Poetry, Fiction, or Creative Writing (a survey that includes poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction)—as your focus for the two weeks of the program.

View Program

Two students posing for a picture together during the Summer Residential Program

Life at the Summer Residential Program

If you’re a writer, you’ve experienced the heated frenzy of creation, the joyful and/or grueling experience of distilling your ideas and visions into language. Now, how do you turn what you’ve written into art?

A teacher speaking to a class during the Summer Residential Program

Teachers and Counselors

Teachers and counselors at the Iowa Young Writers’ Studio are chosen, with rare exceptions, from among the students and graduates of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa.

Iowa Young Writers’ Studio Experience

Watch this short video for an inside look at the Iowa Young Writers’ Studio experience.