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Richmond Young Writers creates space for kids ages 9–18 to harness the power of their authentic voices. We write, we read, we laugh, we cry, we get messy, we polish things up, we bond.
We make each other better.
Get signed up today for workshops, camps, open mics, and college essay tutoring!
UPCOMING WORKSHOPS
BIG NEWS: FREE VERSE
Our Free Verse GoFundMe campaign ends on December 31st, and it’s doing well - but it’s not all the way there yet! We need your help to ensure that the program finds it most robust expression in 2025. Thank you so much for supporting kids experiencing incarceration and providing some light for their visions!
Make a gift today
Free Verse is a language-based skill-building program developed for youth in the justice system by Bird Cox at Richmond Young Writers. Programs like this one that help develop self-understanding and affirm identity have been shown to make significant improvements in outcomes for kids who have experienced incarceration.
Through writing projects, creative expression, employment preparation, and college application groundwork, Free Verse engages students in the Chesterfield Juvenile Detention Center in an active process of defining who they are, what they want, and what steps are available to them to make progress toward their goals.
The utmost gratitude to supporters of Free Verse:
The Hawkins Project
Amanda Uhle
Dr. Mark Ryan
Marcella Zahn Richardson
Sandra Cox
Thea Brown
Cindy Cunningham
Jessica Cocciolone
Natalie Taylor
Lisa Sebastian
Mary Anne Hensley
Tesni Stephen
Valley Haggard
Suzanne LaVenture
Luiza Dale
Melanie Barker
Elizabeth Layne
Angela Patton
Penn Ward
Julie Turner
Jane Chappell
Donna Kaye Leahey
Alex Trivas
Miwa Kamras
Joy Heaton
Suzanne Stone
Kimmothy Cole
Books from past Picture Book Project collections
“I learned that if I sit down and write with no limits that I can surprise myself in the best of ways.”
— Zoe