University College | Arts & Sciences

The 14th annual Washington University Summer Writers Institute and third annual Young Writers Institute will be held in St. Louis June 15-26, 2009. Workshops will include fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and the Young Writers Institute. The faculty is TBA.

Held each June, The Summer Writers Institute consists of two weeks of intensive writing workshops. Choose from fiction, poetry, or creative nonfiction. The two weeks include personal conferences, readings, craft talks, and panel discussions. Participants may attend on a non-credit basis or choose to earn three college credits.

The Young Writers Institute is a Writers' Institute workshop for St. Louis-area high-school juniors and seniors. Students can study with working writers, become acquainted with the St. Louis literary community, and can choose an option to earn three college credits, as well as receiving helpful guidance on their poetry or prose.

In the workshops that are held every morning at the Institute, teachers provide instruction and constructive criticism of participants' work. Participants give each other feedback within the workshop setting, and have the chance to talk with writers from other genres outside the workshop. In addition to group feedback, participants receive one-on-one instruction in individual conferences with their teachers.

In the afternoons, accomplished writers from Missouri and Illinois read from their work and discuss writing and publishing. Past faculty members include William Gass, Mary Troy, Gerald Early, Marjorie Stelmach, Wayne Fields, David Carkeet, Jane O. Wayne, Ruth Ellen Kocher, Glenn Savan, Jason Sommer, Catherine Rankovic, Rockwell Gray, Donald Finkel, Allison Joseph, Allison Funk, and Qiu Xiaolong, just to name a few.

Traditionally, Institute participants finish up the two weeks with an open mike reading of their own work.

How to Apply:

The application period will open in January. Your writing sample should be work in progress (not published) in the genre of the workshop you are applying for. The submitted writing sample will be discussed by your workshop group the first week of the Institute. Questions? Telephone (314) 935-6720, or email the Summer Writers Institute.

Schedule of Events

Mornings, Mon.-Fri.: Workshops with Instructors, 9:30 – 12 noon

Afternoons (Below are the 2008 events, as a sample; the 2009 events are TBA):
Monday, June 16, 12:15 pm: Welcome Luncheon
2:00 – 3:00 pm: Daniel Stolar, Keynote Address
3:00 – 3:30 pm: Reception
Tuesday, June 17
1:30 – 2:30 pm: TBA
2:45 – 3:45 pm: Fiction craft talk by Robert Earleywine
Wednesday, June 18
1:30 – 2:30 pm: Jane Wayne, "Awake and Dreaming: How Poems Often Start"
2:45 – 3:45 pm: Ice Cream Social
Thursday, June 19
1:30 – 2:30 pm: "So Our Story Begins: Elements of a Good First Chapter," fiction craft talk by John Dalton, novelist.
2:45 – 3:45 pm: "Electronic Publishing" talk by Catherine Rankovic.
Friday, June 20
1:30 – 3:00 pm: Faculty Reading: Adrian Matejka, Kathleen Finneran, Dave Schuman

Monday, June 23
1:30 – 2:15 pm: Mary Troy, fiction craft talk
2:30 – 3:15 pm: Faculty reading: Maud Kelly and Steve Lattimore
Tuesday, June 24
1:30 – 3:00 pm: Literary Panel: editors from River Styx, Land Grant College Review, Natural Bridge, and 52nd City
Wednesday, June 25
1:30 – 3:00 pm: Publisher-in-residence Greg Michalson and Timothy Scheffert, novelist
Thursday, June 26
1:30 – 3:00 pm: Greg Michalson and Timothy Schaffert
Friday, June 27
12:30 – 2:00 pm: Farewell Luncheon
2:00 – 4:00 pm: Participants' Open-Mic Reading

Frequently Asked Questions About the Workshops

Summer Writers Institute Admissions, Tuition, and College Credit Option

Contact the Summer Writers Institute or Young Writers Institute