Juniper Institute for Young Writers

The Juniper Institute for Young Writers’ summer programs for high school students are dynamic and community-building. We bring teens together who want to share their poetry and prose with others who are as passionate about writing as they are. We look for writers whose work shows curiosity and risk-taking, and who are eager to experiment with forms and ideas new to them in the company of their creative peers.

Our talented, devoted and empathetic instructors help motivated young writers take their creative work to the next level. High school students who are seriously considering a major or minor in creative writing or English will have the opportunity to work with talented and devoted creative writing instructors who are working on their Masters of Fine Arts degrees at one of the top creative writing graduate programs in the country. Our participants leave the program with revised work, new drafts, and plenty of inspiration to sustain them once the program ends.

Applications are open for Juniper Young Writers residential programs, with an application deadline of March 7, 2025. 

There are no application fees for Juniper!

We will run two sessions of a 2-week residential program in the summer of 2025:

Sunday, July 13–Saturday, July 26  

Sunday, July 27–Saturday, August 9

The cost of tuition, room, board, and all weekday & weekend activities is $5,100.

There are limited spaces for commuter students (students who live locally and would attend the program 9am-4pm on weekdays) during the July 13th session, with a cost of $2,200.

Scholarships are available; see our website for more information.

Acceptance to Juniper’s in-person program is competitive; admissions from our general applicant pool are limited to 20 for the session starting July 13th, and 48 for the session starting July 27. Applicants for the in-person Juniper Institute for Young Writers can indicate in their application if they would like to be considered for acceptance to Juniper Young Writers Online program if they are not admitted to the in-person program.