Juniper Institute for Young Writers
Applications for the summer 2026 program are now open!
Program cost:
Residential tuition is $5,200 and commuter tuition is $2,330.
Program Dates:
- Session 1: July 12-25, 2026
- Session 2: July 26-August 8, 2026
Location: UMass Amherst Campus
Application deadline: March 16, 2026.
Program Overview
The Juniper Institute for Young Writers (JIYW) provides an immersion in the writer’s life, a pre-college experience on the UMass campus, and an unforgettable two weeks of writing for rising 10th, 11th, and 12th graders, and the high school class of 2026.
Our two-week residential creative writing program is designed for young writers who are passionate about creative writing and ready to take their writing practice to the next level with the one-on-one guidance of a Creative Writing Instructor. At this residential program, participants can spend two weeks living and writing in community with peers on the campus of the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Participants will gain firsthand experience of student life at UMass—living in dorms, eating meals in the university’s award-winning dining halls, and participating in programming in the College of Humanities and Fine Arts building. Throughout this immersive writing experience, participants will have the opportunity to interact with the vibrant literary and artistic culture of Western Massachusetts, home of the poets Emily Dickinson, Sylvia Plath, Robert Francis, and Robert Frost, changemakers Sojourner Truth and W. E. B. Du Bois, and the UMass Amherst MFA for Poets and Writers.
Participants will have the opportunity to attend a variety of programming offered from 9AM to 4PM Monday through Friday of the two-week residential Institute. Learn more about each of these events below.
Programming
Scholarships and Application
Learn more about our scholarships and apply to the two-week residential Institute program below.
The University of Massachusetts reserves the right to cancel any program it deems necessary. In the event of program cancellation, payment will be refunded in full.