Ready to get your thoughts down on the page?
Excellent.
Richmond Young Writers creates space for kids ages 8–18 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, and high school/college application assistance!
UPCOMING WORKSHOPS + CAMPS
Need the perfect gift for a young visionary in your life? Give a RYW gift certificate!
Click here to make a gift certificate request in any amount. We can email a printable version to you, or directly to your recipient on the date of your choice!
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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
Marcella Zahn Richardson
Sandra Cox
Thea Brown
Garinther Family
Miwa Kamras
Carla Pillsbury
People Via Plants
Camille DeAngelis
Erin Archuleta
Cindy Cunningham
Donna Kaye Leahey
Kristin Hott
Carol Olson
Jessica Wessel
Katharine Herndon
The Bryan and Kathryn Harvey Family Memorial Endowment 2025
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