About

The 92NY Young Writers Workshop is a summer creative writing program for high school students run by the Unterberg Poetry Center at the 92nd Street Y in New York City. Founded in 1939, the Unterberg Poetry Center is one of the most storied literary institutions in the United States, and the Young Writers Workshop extends that tradition to high school writers in an intensive day-program format.

The program offers two formats for students ages 15–18. The two-week workshop (July 13–24, 2026) and a stand-alone one-week workshop (July 27–31, 2026) both run Monday through Friday, 10 AM to 3 PM, at 92NY's Upper East Side location. Both require an application including a short writing sample reviewed on a rolling basis; the one-week workshop is independent and does not require participation in the two-week session. Genres across both options include poetry, narrative nonfiction and personal essay, and journalism and cultural criticism. Students work toward longer, polished pieces through daily workshops and rigorous peer feedback, culminating in an Open Mic on the final Friday of the two-week session.

A separate two-week workshop for ages 12–14 (July 13–24, 2026) is registration-only with no application required, and focuses on flash fiction, spoken word, and found writing through prompt-based exploration. BSP's focus here is the 15–18 track.
Visiting writers for summer 2026 include poets, fiction writers, and nonfiction writers alongside a screenwriting instructor, reflecting the program's range across forms. Scholarships are available. Tuition for the two-week session is $2,050 (early bird, January–March) or $2,250 regular; the stand-alone one-week session is $1,025 early bird or $1,125 regular. The program is a day program only — no residential option is available.

The Unterberg name and the caliber of its visiting writers make this one of the stronger local options available to students eager to pursue creative writing across various mediums.