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 Word Up 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:

Developing
Communication Skills

Creative writing helps young people develop their communication skills.
By learning to express their thoughts and ideas in writing, they become better able to articulate their ideas verbally, which is beneficial in all areas of life.

Stimulating Imagination

Creative writing encourages young people to use their imaginations and think creatively. This helps them become more innovative and adaptable in their thinking, which is useful in many different contexts, from problem-solving  to artistic expression.

Enhancing
Self-Expression

Creative writing provides young people with a medium for self-expression. This can be especially important for those who struggle with expressing themselves verbally or who may feel misunderstood or marginalized in other areas of their lives.

Building Confidence

As young people develop their creative writing skills and see their work improve, they gain confidence in their abilities. This translates to other areas of their lives, such as academics or social situations, where confidence and self-assuredness can be valuable assets.

Promoting
Critical Thinking

Writing creatively requires young people to think critically and analyze their own work. This helps them develop their critical thinking skills, which is needed in a wide range of academic and professional pursuits.

I would not be the writer I am today without Uptown Stories.

Elias

Alumnus

I love the teachers, love the community, have made SO many new friends. I feel like I can express myself through writing, and I couldn’t do that before. Everyone should be a part of Uptown Stories!

Isabella

Student

My daughter takes her writing seriously because Uptown Stories takes her seriously.

Kimberly

Parent

I've met a fantastic group of people and become a much better writer. Kate and the rest of the staff are hardworking and fun to work with.

Joseph

Student

My daughter’s writing has improved tremendously. She loves writing now. She can sit for hours and let her imagination fly.

Annie

Parent

Writing used to be something that was just work; something we have to do at school. However, now it's a way for me to express different things, and it's much more enjoyable now that there is a place where everyone has the same passion for writing that I do.

Anna

Student

Being able to expand my mind in a loving and supportive environment has shaped my mind in so many wonderful ways, and I'm eternally grateful for it. I've come a long way, and it's all thanks to the community at Uptown Stories.

Susannah

Student

I feel like if I hadn't taken Girls Rising, I wouldn't have become a better writer, and I wouldn't have met some friends who have changed my life.

Xanthe

Student

Ready to Join a Workshop?

Game for Poetry

In this workshop, students will see that approaching writing playfully has very serious results. Using ideas and techniques we encounter reading master poets such as Walt Whitman, Langston Hughes, May Swenson, and Wislawa Szymborska, our writing will be inspired by language games, traditional forms, and imitation-of and response-to master poems.

We welcome everyone to join in the fun, from the reluctant writer to the experienced poet - you will find joy, magic, and mystery playing with words.

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Poetry at The Met Cloisters

Want to spend time with unicorns, jewels, tombs, and all things medieval? Ever look at a painting and find yourself spinning an epic story behind it? If that’s you, join us in our Poetry at The Met Cloisters workshop! In this special workshop in collaboration with the Met Cloisters, we’ll be creating our own ekphrastic poetry. This big word is simpler than it looks. Ekphrastic means “description” in Greek, and so our ekphrastic poetry will be vivid descriptions of paintings, statues, tapestries, and other works of art at this iconic site. Every week we’ll make our way through the park to The Met Cloisters, taking in our surroundings, sketching, looking closely at art, and expressing all it sparks in our imaginations through writing. The class will end with a super exciting reading at The Met Cloisters!

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Advanced Fiction

This workshop is for writers who feel familiar with the basics of character, setting, plot, and description, and want to continue to grow. Each of the four weeks we’ll tackle a different writing exercise, which will improve our techniques, develop our voice, and inspire our imaginations. But it’s not as serious as it sounds! This workshop is mostly to have fun together with Kate talking about writing, our lives, and the world, and whatever else comes up in the room. You are the curriculum — just bring your whole self!

Please note — the first two sessions are in person, the last two are virtual.

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