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.

When it's Monday, I'm so excited for class to start! Favorite time of the week! Uptown Stories made me like writing even more.

Tallulah

Student

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

Annie

Parent

The quality of teaching is superb. The teachers have the chance to get to know each child, and due to the small class size, the feedback is very specific. Also, witnessing the other children critique the writing is remarkable - the children are kind and respectful, but very honest.

Lori

Parent

Uptown Stories has helped my writing in the sense that it allowed me to realize that this is my passion and that I want to pursue it as a career. It opened my eyes to the possibilities that creative writing has to offer. I think that anyone can get something out of attending Uptown Stories.

Graydon

Alumnus

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

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

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

Elias

Alumnus

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

Ready to Join a Workshop?

Screenwriting Lab

What do K-Pop Demon Hunters, Star Wars, and The Hunger Games have in common? They all started as great ideas, that were turned into awesome stories, then into unbelievable movies. If you have a great movie idea, here's your chance to get busy writing it down. Make your story jump off the page and onto the screen!

We'll show you how to write a mini-script just like the professionals that includes scene headings, dialogue, transitions, and camera shots. You'll work with your fellow screenwriters to get and give suggestions as you all write the next summer blockbuster. Ideas for action, comedy, drama or anything in between are welcome! At the end of the session, you'll bring your film to life, acting it out with your classmates in front of an audience packed with your family and friends.

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Art in the City

Stan Lee. Junot Diaz. Jocelyn Bioh. Lin-Manuel Miranda. These are just of the few amazing artists and writers that proudly boast that they’re from Uptown NYC. And why wouldn’t they? Living uptown is clearly where it’s at, and in this workshop, we’re going to write and draw all about it.

We’ll be out and about, visiting the some of the best known (and unknown!) art spots Washington Heights and Inwood have to offer. We’ll explore our neighborhoods and get inspiration from the museums, murals, people, history, and culture that make Upper Manhattan the beautiful mosaic it is. Then we’ll get busy adding our art and writing to that legacy. Show the city your uptown pride!

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Obsessions, Accidents, & Questionable Decisions (An Essay Workshop)

Do you have something you care way too much about? Or an unforgettable story you love telling people? A moment that went a little (or very) wrong? Maybe it’s how you got that scar on your shoulder, or a weird adventure that began when you got lost at a concert, or how you first fell in love with anime. This workshop is about turning those moments into personal essays that readers can’t put down.

Personal essays are rooted in real life — your obsessions, your accidents, your “why did I do that?” stories. In this workshop, we’ll learn how to take a real experience or passion and shape it into a compelling narrative with a clear voice, strong structure, and a clear sense of meaning. Essays can be funny, uncomfortable, emotional, or all three, but the goal is always the same: tell a true story that takes the reader somewhere and leaves them thinking.

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