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  • Seminar
  • Online: Zoom
  • Teen (13–18)
  • YAWP/Teen

Young Adult Writers Program (YAWP): Writing the Things That Scare Us and Shape Us (REMOTE)

No Longer Enrolling

  • $0.00 Non-Member
  • $0.00 Member

Class Description

This class will be hosted remotely! You will be able to participate in class via Zoom videoconference from wherever you’re most comfortable. All you’ll need is a laptop or a phone! About 15 minutes before your class is scheduled to begin, you'll receive an email from your instructor with a link to join the class meeting via Zoom–no need to download anything or sign up for Zoom in advance! If you have questions about remote learning, please feel free to reach out to [email protected] for more information.

Description: Writing about the personal aspects of our lives can be daunting. But our lives also inform what we write, even when we aren't trying to put them on the page. So what happens when we intentionally sit down to write about ourselves? What does it mean to consider our pasts and our choices and weave them into stories? In this course, we will explore two genres of nonfiction: the memoir and personal essay. We will talk about their similarities and differences and how to get over our fear of writing about the self. We'll read memoir excerpts and personal essays by authors such as Roxane Gay, Carmen Maria Machado, Hanif Abdurraqib, and Alexander Chee. We'll work on writing memoir scenes and personal essays by following guided prompts designed to get you thinking about the things that make you and shape you, which can often be the scariest things to write.
Takeaways: By the end of this class you'll have some scenes and the beginnings of essays that you can continue to expand on.

Who Should Register?
For writers ages 13 - 18 ONLY. Writing notebooks are available, but feel free to bring your own.


Remember, parents/guardians must also complete this permission form online before the start of the class. Otherwise, registrations could be voided and the cancellation policy will apply. If the student is 18, simply let us know at [email protected]


*If you are registering on behalf of your teen, add their email information in the “For a Friend or Child?” field on the right-hand side of the screen before you check out. This will send them a direct link and reminder to create their own profile with GrubStreet.
(After adding the class to your cart, click "Checkout" and click “Add” next to “For a Friend or Child?” on the right-hand side to fill in their email. This is an easy way of linking the class to your child and encourages them to create their own account.)

Scholarships Format/Location

Thanks to the excellent literary citizenship of our donors, scholarships are available for all GrubStreet classes. To apply, click the gray "APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIP" button. In order to be considered for a scholarship, you must complete your application at least one week before the start date of a class. Please await our scholarship committee's decision before registering for the class. We cannot hold spots in classes, so the sooner you apply, the better. Scholarships cannot be applied retroactively.

For more detailed information about GrubStreet scholarships, including how to contribute to scholarship funds for other students, click here.

This class will take place using Zoom videoconferencing. After registering, a yellow Resources tab will appear in this section containing a link to join class. Please note that you will need to be logged into view the Resources tab.

Zoom Participation:

In our experience, the intimate nature of a writing workshop benefits from on-camera participation. Students are of course welcome to turn their camera off whenever they need to, but it is a community norm for cameras to be on most of the time. You can learn more about using Zoom here.

Zoom Accessibility:

You can enable closed captioning at any time during the meeting by clicking the CC button at the bottom of the screen. If you'd like to access the transcript after class, please make sure to let your instructor ahead of time that you'd like a copy.