Our Mission
To empower young writers around the world
Word UP! is a nonprofit writing education service focused on creating creative writing and academic opportunities for students in grades 3-12. We help young writers through workshops, competition prep, guest speakers, mentorships (pairing new writers with established ones), career options for writing, fundraisers, and writing for life/better communication. Word UP! aims to democratize access to writing education and make writing more accessible, especially for students from underserved communities and Title I schools.
Mentorship Program
About the Mentorship Program
This program is designed to match young writers from underrepresented backgrounds with mentors who both genuinely care and are qualified, experienced writers. You do not need to be a "writer" to apply. Our mentors have received national recognition from writing competitions like Scholastic Arts & Writing Awards, YoungArts, Bennington Young Writers' Awards, National Youth Poet Laureates, and more. They are alumni of highly selective writing programs like Iowa Young Writers' Studio and Kenyon Young Writers' Workshop and editors at global literary magazines like Polyphony Lit, the Dawn Review, Incandescent Review, Hominum Journal, and Rosetta Literary.Our belief is simple: if you give a young person from an overlooked background the space to write, they will fundamentally reshape what writing is. We are here to find those voices and give them the community and creative fuel to write intensely, urgently, and without apology.
FAQs
What is the WordUP! Mentorship Program?
A free, remote writing mentorship for young writers. We pair accepted mentees with experienced young writers for 1-on-1 guidance, feedback, and support on an as-needed basis.
How does mentorship work?
You'll meet with your mentor weekly over Zoom or Google Meet, or asynchronously. Outside meetings, you’ll get written feedback, reading recs, prompts, and optional challenges.
Who’s behind this?
We’re young writers too. Editors, poets, storytellers. We built the program we wish we had.
What will I work on?
Anything you want: poems, stories, essays, college apps, portfolios, submissions — or just finding your voice. Your mentor tailors support to your goals.
Is there a set curriculum?
No rigid syllabus. We believe mentorship should be personalized. You and your mentor co-create the journey.
How are matches made?
We match based on your writing interests and goals, not by GPA or awards. Every mentor is vetted and trained.
Join Our Team
Help shape the next generation of writers. In joining WordUP!, you have the option to work 1:1 with a young writer and offer the guidance you wish you had starting out. Along the way, you’ll join a community of editors, poets, storytellers, and changemakers building something that matters.
8/11/25-8/15/25
Poetry & Prose on the Patio
Join two-time Scholastic Art and Writing Awards gold medalist Claire Yang for a week-long class designed to inspire and guide young writers in expressing themselves through poetry, short fiction, and creative nonfiction. Each of the five classes will focus on a different topic, and include writing prompts and personalized feedback. On the last day of the program we will have a small celebration on the patio during which kids will have the option to share their work and will learn about publishing pathways.Spots are full.
What It Is
A 5-day creative writing workshop designed to help young writers express themselves, improve their skills, and build community. No prior experience is needed!
Workshop Topics
• Day 1: Poetry – The Art of Compression and Expression
• Day 2: Flash Fiction – Big Stories in Small Spaces
• Day 3: Argumentative Writing – How to Write for Impact
• Day 4: Creative Nonfiction – Memoir & Storytelling
• Day 5: Publishing Pathways
RSVP Now!
Spots are limited - RSVP by Friday, July 26 to secure your spot Questions?
Reach out to us at [email protected] or via our Instagram @worduporg.
2 - 3:15 pmWestfield Memorial Library
Coming Soon!
Coming Soon!
CLAIRE YANG
Founder & Executive Director
Claire Yang is a Chinese-American writer from New Jersey. She has been nationally recognized by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers and edits for the Dawn Review and Polyphony Lit. She has had her work published in Eunoia Review, Aster Lit, Crashtest Magazine, and more. She loves the Big Bang Theory, sour plum drinks, and her mini goldendoodle, Simba.
JENNY CHU
Mentorship Director
Jenny Chu is a high schooler from Dallas, Texas. The founder and co-editor-in-chief of Rosetta Lit, her poetry has been nationally recognized by YoungArts and the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers. She really loves Swedish Fish.
MICHELLE LI
Mentorship Director
Michelle Li has been nationally recognized by Scholastic Art and Writing, Bennington Young Writers Awards, and Apprentice Writer. An alumna of the Kenyon Review Young Writer's Workshop, her work is published in Aster Lit, wildscape. literary, and Third Wednesday. She is editor in chief of The Incandescent Review, executive editor for Hominum Journal, and reads for Ex-Puritan. You can find her at michelleli.carrd.co.
JOVINA ZION PRADEEP
Competitions Director
Jovina Zion Pradeep is the 2025 National Youth Poet Laureate of the Western U.S. and 2024 Alameda County Youth Poet Laureate. Her work appears in Poets for Science, The Louisville Review, Wayfarer, and more. A Stacy Doris Award finalist, she’s been honored by Scholastic Art & Writing, Urban Word, the U.S. Congress, and has performed at Beast Crawl and Roosevelt House. Jovina edits for Blossomer and Polyphony Lit, directs competitions at WordUP!, and uplifts youth voices through fearless, polished work.
JUA KIM
Competitions Director
Jua Kim is a writer from Southern California. An alumna of the Iowa Young Writers' Studio and the Sewanee Young Writers' Conference, she has been recognized by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers and the Leyla Beban Young Authors Foundation. She also edits for Polyphony Lit and her school's literary magazine. When she's not writing prose, she's trying to finish her graphic novel.
ABIGAIL KOEN
Publishing Director
Abigail is a passionate teen writer and the founder of StoryBridge, a creative platform that connects young writers and readers through storytelling, interviews, and writing advice. Her work has appeared in Dis Lit Youth Magazine and Brooke Edge Academy, and she shares her literary journey on her blog, storybridgeteens.blogspot.com.
PAIGE PORCIELLO
Outreach & Partnerships Director
Paige is an ambitious student based in New Jersey who is excited to work with the WordUP leadership team! Her favorite subjects are math, science, and art. In her free time, she practices color guard, draws, and listens to Hozier. In the future, she hopes to pursue a career in astrophysics.
MAKAYLA BARTE
Outreach & Partnerships Director
Makayla Barte is a Filipino high schooler from New Jersey whose main goal in life is to experience everything the world has to offer with no regrets. As a child, she had always been immersed in unique storytelling and devoted to creating stories, like comics! Makayla has been recognized through various means including her favorite William H. Lonney Memorial Award for excellence in creative writing. She is also an editor for her academy’s Newspaper Club. Outside of writing, she loves drawing, crafting, and collecting. Every item she owns, from her phone to her notes, is lovingly decorated to the max.
State Program Directors
ANANYA KHARAT
Illinois Program Director
Ananya Kharat is a writer based in the Chicagoland area, where she spends her days on LetterBoxd and making chais. Alongside being recognized nationally by the Scholastic Art and Writing awards, she is either published or forthcoming in The Stirling Review, Pen & Quill, Frighten the Horses, and others. Her Instagram handle is @ananyakharatt. One day, she'll backpack across Europe.
SIENNA MORRIS
Texas Program Director
Sienna Morris is a young writer hailing from Texas. She lives amongst dreams and the unbearable southern heat, and loves to collect memories to doodle during the day. Her work has appeared in or been recognized by Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, Tadpole Press, and Polyphony Lit, among others.
ANGIE YEUNG
Hong Kong Program Director
Angie Yeung is a summer child who loves the smell of candy stores. Her works have been published in the Eunoia Review, Ink & Marrow, Fleeting Daze among many others. A keyboardist and rock music enthusiast, she obsesses over Syd Barrett and other rockers on her Instagram art account (@delucienal_). She hopes you have a great day even if it’s raining.
JAIDEN GEOLINGO
Georgia Program Director
Jaiden Geolingo is a Pinoy writer based in Georgia, United States, and the author of How to Migrate Ghosts (kith books, 2025). His work has been recognized by the National YoungArts Foundation, the Georgia Council for the Arts, Bennington College, and the Alliance for Young Writers & Artists, among others. A finalist for the Georgia Poet Laureate’s Prize and a 2025 National YoungArts Winner, his writing appears or is forthcoming in diode poetry journal, The Poetry Society, Atlanta Magazine, The Shore, and elsewhere. He is the editor-in-chief of Hominum Journal. Someday, he will be good at math.
COLLIN KIM
California Program Director
Collin Kim is a rising junior at Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles, California. When not immersed in his highly caffeinated school life, he is an avid surfer and violist, enjoys reading and editing submissions to the multiple literary magazines he is involved in, and of course, writing. He has been nationally recognized by American High School Poets, Scholastic Arts & Writing Awards, Pulitzer Center, Poetry Society of Virginia, and more.
Creative Writing Opportunities
Literary Magazines
Polyphony Lit is by far the most recommended literary magazine to submit to due to the extensive feedback they provide on each submission (regardless of acceptance status, you will receive two Junior Editors’ feedback and one Senior Editor’s feedback). However, turnaround and feedback can be notoriously slow. ~5% acceptance
Crashtest is a “biannual online magazine founded and run by the creative writing students at the Fine Arts Center, a public arts high school in Greenville, South Carolina, so that students in high schools all over the country will have a place to publish work that tests limits, asks questions, rejects the easy answers, risks obliteration, believes in failure, is suspicious of scripted success.” ~28.57% acceptance
Eunoia Review is a “Singapore-based online literary journal committed to sharing the fruits of ‘beautiful thinking’. Each day, [they] publish four new pieces of writing for your reading pleasure.” Eunoia Review generally responds within 24 hours and is run by Ian Chung. ~28.93% acceptance
Aster Lit is an international youth literary community founded by young writers. ~4% acceptance
The Dawn Review - however, this is a magazine open to all authors of varying ages, so it can be more competitive. ~3% acceptance
Chinchilla Lit is “an online literary magazine for young writers. Here at CHINCHILLA LIT, we care about honesty, courage, and personality. We seek work that we can relate to and cherish because it is so sheerly you. The literary world out there can be daunting, but we’re here to show you otherwise.” ~25% acceptanceIt is super important to read widely and broadly, and these literary magazines can provide lots of inspiration. You can submit to these as well, but keep in mind they are highly competitive markets:
https://sundoglit.com/
https://okaydonkeymag.com/
https://theoffingmag.com/
https://www.smokelong.com/
https://www.gasherpress.com/
http://www.theadroitjournal.org/
https://www.upthestaircase.org/
https://www.poetlore.com/
https://www.theshorepoetry.org/
http://www.birdfeastmagazine.com/
http://www.softblow.org/
http://thediagram.com/
http://pankmagazine.com/
http://www.freezeraypoetry.com/
http://bodyliterature.com/
https://rustandmoth.com/
http://www.rattle.com/
http://strangehorizons.com/
http://diodepoetry.com/
http://www.muzzlemagazine.com/
http://www.thrushpoetryjournal.com/
http://waxwingmag.org/
Programs
The following is a list of competitive but reputable summer programs for writers, listed from highest competitiveness to slightly less so. All will give you a great experience.
Iowa Young Writers’ Studio. Their 2-week residential summer program is HIGHLY selective with about a ~7% acceptance rate. From their website: “Admissions decisions are based almost entirely on the writing sample.” https://iyws.clas.uiowa.edu/how-to-apply/summer-residential-program
Kenyon Young Writers’ Workshop https://kenyonreview.org/event/young-writers-summer-residential-workshops/; also highly competitive. ~8% acceptance rate.
Adroit Journal Summer Mentorship https://theadroitjournal.org/about/mentorship/
SUNHOUSE Summer Writing Mentorship https://sunhousementorship.com/
Sewanee Young Writers’ Conference https://new.sewanee.edu/sywc/
Juniper Summer Writing Institute https://juniperinstitute.umasscreate.net/
Incandescent Summer Studio https://www.theincandescentstudio.org/If you are interested in a specific college/campus/location, you can look into their websites, as lots of colleges/universities run their own pre-college summer writing programs (Columbia, Brown, etc.), which are probably excellent, albeit less well-known.If you would like to try your hand at writing a novel, in November, a free worldwide program called National Novel Writing Month http://nanowrimo.org/ takes place, where participants write a novel in a month. WordUP! will partner with the Westfield Memorial Library in NJ to provide incentives and gifts for writers with the highest word count during the month of November (coming soon!).
Competitions
Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards http://www.artandwriting.org/ is by far the biggest writing and arts competition for middle through high schoolers. WordUP! will offer a free writing workshop specifically tailored to Scholastic submissions (coming soon!).
YoungArts https://www.youngarts.org/ is quite competitive as well.
Foyle Young Poets http://poetrysociety.org.uk/competitions/foyle-young-poets-of-the-year-award/ is an awesome one.These ones are the most significant because they offer travel opportunities and cash prizes. There’s some smaller contests too that are very good, and may also offer some cash prizes and publication opportunities:
Leonard L. Milberg High School Poetry Prize https://arts.princeton.edu/about/opportunities/high-school-contests/poetry-contest/
Patricia Grodd Poetry Prize http://www.kenyonreview.org/contests/patricia-grodd/
The Adroit Prizes http://www.theadroitjournal.org/adroit-prizes/
Claudia Ann Seaman https://www.polyphonylit.org/claudia-ann-seaman-awards
The Claremont Review Contest http://www.theclaremontreview.ca/#!contest/c1yh2
Gigantic Sequins http://www.giganticsequins.com/teens.html
JUST POETRY!!! http://www.justpoetry.org/
Nancy Thorp Poetry Contest https://www.hollins.edu/academics/majors-minors/english-creative-writing-major/nancy-thorp-poetry-contest/
River of Words http://www.stmarys-ca.edu/center-for-environmental-literacy/river-of-wordsWhen submitting to contests and competitions, remember that writing is truly such a subjective and personal venture, and sometimes, competitions can be toxic.
Glossary of Writing Terms
Author Bio – A brief paragraph describing the author. It can include your school, previous publications, and interesting hobbies.First Publication Rights – This basically gives the journal the exclusive right to publish your piece first. Generally, literary magazines want to be the first to publish work, which means they do take reprints. If a piece is published in an anthology or collection after a journal required first publication rights, that means the first journal must be acknowledged as the place where the work first appeared.Genre – Category of literature. The most common types in literary magazines are: fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction (CNF).Masthead – The staff of a journal. Whenever you are sending a submission/email to a journal, it is helpful to address it to the genre editor to which you are submitting rather than the generic name of the journal. If you cannot find the genre editor, you can address it to the Editor-in-Chief.Simultaneous Submission – This is a submission sent to many literary journals simultaneously. Some journals will not accept simultaneous submissions and will mention it in their submission requirements, so keep an eye out. If you are submitting simultaneously, make sure to mention that this piece is a simultaneous submission in your email. In the event one journal accepts your piece, you should accept it immediately and withdraw all other simultaneous submissions as soon as possible.