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

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

Uptown Stories redefined "after school enrichment" for me. The kids were learning the fundamentals of good writing, but in a way that felt like a fun romp, rather than a two-hour slog through rules and thesis statements.

HK

Parent

I really appreciate the fact that every every student has a voice in their class. They trust each other and they listen to each other. All of this is happening because Uptown Stories has created a community of learners where everyone learns from each other.

Nina

Parent

Thanks to [Uptown Stories], a passing interest has become a passion.

Gerry

Parent

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

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

Elias

Alumnus

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

Annie

Parent

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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Crafting Stories

When we think of storytelling through time, what usually comes to mind is oral history and the written word, but storytelling through arts and crafts has made just as big an impact! 

Crafting Stories is a storytelling class made tactical! We’ll explore all different kinds of handicrafts throughout history, like bookbinding, weaving, paper sculptures, and clay modeling, to tell tales that spring to life. In the end, these storytellers will have molded a whole world with their hands and have a story to go along with it, all the while learning some really special and useful skills along the way. Artmakers and writers, unite! Every young person is a visual storyteller — Crafting Stories will give them all new skills to share their wonderful imaginations with us all.

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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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