red-cheeked & giddy with hope
we plan sledding days at the country club with a hill
& reminisce about them when summer comes,
recall hours spent tumbling
head over heels into mounds of snow, clutching
Young Writers Project
The Daily Read
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Who Inspires You?
The person who inspires me the most right now is an amazing woman named Amit Elore. She is a 2024 Olympic gold medalist in women's wrestling, along with many more national and international gold medals in wrestling.
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Promises
Weren’t we supposed to be
Different?
Didn’t we fight warsDidn’t we sign papers,
Promising we were something?
Something
New?
But papers are just inkAnd quills
Gallery
Challenges
Visual Art
Deadline
Desert
Imagine a desert. Draw, paint, or use any other visual arts medium to make an image of this desert.
Writing
Deadline
Valentine's Day
Valentine’s Day celebrates love––any kind of love. Think about all the people you love and the different kinds of love in your life. Friends, family, pets, etc. Write an ode to them to celebrate the love you all have for one another.
Writing
Deadline
Shoes
Shoes carry us everywhere we go, through everything we experience, even shaping our feet as we grow. Write a short story from the shoes’ perspective or an ode to your shoes.
Visual Art
Deadline
Winter 2026 Art Contest
With your artist's eye, observe, interpret, and create. Choose a subject — an everyday object, a person, a landscape — and give yourself time and space to study it. Use the medium of your choice to convey the subject the way you uniquely see it.
Writing
Walk for Peace
Share your thoughts about the Buddhist monks who walked from Texas to Washington — 2,300 miles over 108 days — to raise awareness about peace and compassion.
Writing
America?
The fatal shootings of U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti by ICE agents on the streets of Minneapolis have induced fury, disbelief, sadness, and an overwhelming sense of betrayal. This isn't America. Is it? Share your thoughts.
News & Events
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'Mountains of Strength'
Thank you to everyone who donated so generously to our Annual Appeal, and for the messages of support and encouragement for the YWP community, such as this one: "We're sending you mountains of strength and abundant appreciation for everything!"
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Tomorrow Project: January 2026 Award
Congratulations to Goldenrose, the January 2026 award winner in YWP's monthly Tomorrow Project contest!
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2026 Vermont Youth Poet Laureate
Vermont writers: You could become the 2026 Vermont Youth Poet Laureate!
