We empower young people to write their own stories.
An exciting, challenging, and supportive community where young authors thrive
Based in Washington Heights, Uptown Stories offers after-school, weekend, and summer creative writing workshops for children ages 8-18, led by rockstar teachers, who are also professional authors and artists.
Students learn the art and craft of writing, how to revise their work, and how to give and receive constructive feedback. Each workshop ends with a celebratory reading at the WordUp Bookshop in Washington Heights, and the publication of a paperback anthology, so every student leaves our program as a published author.
To ensure our program is accessible to our ethnically and economically diverse community, our tuition is “Pay-What-You-Can.” Uptown Stories creates an exciting, challenging, and supportive community where young authors thrive.
Why Creative Writing?
We believe that writing is an essential tool for:
Tallulah
Student
Lori
Parent
Kimberly
Parent
Isabella
Student
Gerry
Parent
Nina
Parent
Anna
Student
HK
Parent
Ready to Join a Workshop?
We’re going back to the roots of animation, using just watercolors, ink, pencils, and the magic of flip books.We'll look at examples from flip book artists that tell pocket-size stories you’ll be mesmerized by. We’ll also learn about how animators use layers of hand illustrations to bring stories to the screen. Then we’ll break down movements of the illustrated stories we want to tell, bringing our vibrant worlds to life in our own amazing flip books.
There’s always more to learn, fiction writers! Come build on the skills you’ve already got, and dig deeper into the qualities that give all the best stories that extra POP.
Whichever genre of fiction you prefer (historical, fantasy, realistic, etc.) is welcome! We’ll focus on the fine details that will take your writing from good to great: natural, character-driven dialogue; proper pacing; inciting incidents; raising the stakes; plot-twists; and, of course, the art of the satisfying ending. We’ll look to our favorite fiction writers for inspiration, and discover new works worthy of your attention.
This workshop is for students who are familiar with the basics of fiction writing, and who would like to grow as writers.
Get ready to run faster and jump higher, one frame at a time! Together we’re taking your stories and transforming them into comics. You’ll take an ordinary day (or the wildest story you can imagine) and use comic-book language, illustration, and frames to share with everyone the next super-adventure. You don’t need to be an artist to join us – just bring your best ideas. You’ll learn all the steps to comics illustration and development, including pin-ups, single-frame and multi-frame pages, using pencils, pens, paints, crayons, and other art materials.