Thank you for your interest in Writers in Residence! By completing this application you are applying to become a student volunteer who participates in our Creative Writing Workshop.

Mission: to teach creative writing to youth who are incarcerated to empower their voices and assist in their re-entry into society.

Vision: to reduce the recidivism rates of our residents and participate in the transformation of the juvenile justice system.

Goals:

1. Increase our residents’ literacy levels and writing dispositions. 
   
2. Build our residents’ self-esteem, self-efficacy, and self-awareness. 
   
3. Provide our residents with positive peer mentorship. 
   
4. Publish our residents’ creative writing into chapbooks to showcase and distribute within juvenile facilities, on campuses, and throughout the local communities.
   
5. Advocate for our residents by raising awareness and educating our communities about the criminal justice system/juvenile justice system.
   

The Creative Writing Workshop occurs in the spring and fall seasons with weekly workshops that last 12 weeks. Each session runs for 1-1.5 hours either in-person or remote, teaching its residents writing techniques, texts, and themes from diverse and dynamic authors. At the end of every workshop, Writers in Residence publishes chapbooks filled with the residents’ poetry and prose and distributes printed copies inside juvenile facilities, on campuses, and throughout the local communities to raise awareness about the juvenile justice system and advocate for juvenile justice reform.

We expect student volunteers to spend at least 1-3 hours/week for the duration of the service experience. Please reconsider applying if you cannot meet this expectation.

Visit writersnresidence.org for more information or email zthomas@writersnresidence.org.