The Ohio State University Young Writers Workshop is a week-long summer program for high school students in Ohio.
YWW students live on campus and attend daily workshops and courses taught by Ohio State Department of English creative writing faculty, alumni of our graduate MFA program, and current MFA students. There are also readings, sessions with visiting writers in various fields, and other events, including an open mic reading of the participants’ own work, and (of course!) time for their own writing every day. YWW participants study prose (fiction and creative nonfiction) and poetry, with a major emphasis in one of these two genres. The program concludes with a capstone event honoring the Young Writers.
Each year, 30 students from the application pool are invited to the program. Participants are selected based on the promise of their writing—we don’t ask for grades or letters of recommendation, just a statement of intent and a writing sample—and every admitted student receives a full scholarship. There are no costs associated with participation.
APPLICATION INFORMATION
Participation in the workshop is limited to students of current sophomore and junior ranking (those who will be rising juniors and seniors in the summer of 2026). All rising 11th and 12th graders are welcome to apply.
Please be prepared to submit the following:
- A statement (no more than one page long) about your interest in writing, and why you would like to be a participant in the Young Writers Workshop at Ohio State
- A sample of your creative writing, in any genre(s). No more than 20 pages (excerpts from longer works are fine) and no fewer than five pages. This writing sample, along with your statement of interest, is the single basis for your admission into the Young Writers Workshop, so choose it carefully. (It can be something you’ve written for school or something you’ve written on your own, or a combination of the two.)
- Do not submit academic/analytical papers or other essays that are samples of your critical writing: we are interested in your fiction, poetry or creative nonfiction (by the latter, we mean — for example — a true story about your life, a reflective personal essay that expresses your thoughts and ideas about something you’ve observed or experienced, a piece of literary journalism or any other piece of writing that showcases your own creativity).
Note: Do not put your name or any other identifying information on your writing sample or your statement. These will be separated from your cover page and assigned a code that matches your application; they will be evaluated anonymously by the director of the YWW Program.
The application deadline has been extended to May 31!
For more information, please email Connor Beeman at Beeman.41@osu.edu.