YWP’s hub of inspiration: All our challenges are here!
Challenges
Weekly
Visual Art
Deadline
Time
Time: No matter how badly we wish to slow its steady march, march on it does. Communicate the concept of time in any form it takes.
Writing
Deadline
Vows
Write the vows for a character’s wedding day. Do you tell the love story of the pair? Wax romantic about their quirks and qualities?
Writing
Deadline
Dreaming
Would you know if you were dreaming right now? How? Write about the experience of dreaming or daydreaming in poetry or prose.
Great Artists
Visual Art
Ed Ruscha
With a consequential election on the horizon, we celebrate a U.S. painter who incorporates the words of our times in his art. Words such as "President."
Visual Art
Marc Chagall
"If I create from the heart, nearly everything works; if from the head, almost nothing."
- Marc Chagall
Visual Art
Emily Carr
Along with the Group of Seven, Emily Carr was a key figure in Canada's first modern art movement. She gained acclaim at home and internationally, but she struggled to be noticed during her lifetime. Learn more about her.
Great Writers
Writing
Naomi Shihab Nye
"Before you know what kindness really is, you must lose things," writes poet Naomi Shihab Nye.
Writing
Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison, the first Black woman to be awarded the Nobel laureate in literature, gained worldwide acclaim for her unvarnished exploration of Black identity in America. Have you read her work?
Writing
Danez Smith
Their poetry is intersectional, inclusive, and powerful.
Online Workshops
Writing
Free Verse Poetry: Summer Workshop 4
Free verse is freeing! You can write any way you like, break lines wherever you decide, and end a poem whenever you want.
Writing
Odes: Summer Workshop 3
Celebrate a certain place, person, or object that’s important to you by writing an ode. It can follow a format or be free-form and lyrical.
Writing
Ekphrastic Poetry: Summer Workshop 2
"Ekphrastic poetry is a great way to practice writing vivid descriptions and explore your voice in a new exciting way," says YWP Intern Sam Aikman. Find out more in Sam's online workshop.
Contests
Writing
Deadline
Autumn '24: Writing
Autumn is a season of transitions and contrasts, beginnings and endings. In poetry or prose, fiction or nonfiction, make this ephemeral season come to life.
Visual Art
Deadline
Autumn '24: Visual Art
Illustrate autumn as you see it – in the artistic medium of your choice. Consider a traditional aspect or try an abstract interpretation.
Opinion & Commentary
Writing
Headlines
News headlines can be distressing. Do you ignore? Discuss? Take action? Write about the way you or others around you respond to recent news.
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Writing
Election '24
What do you want the next President of the United States to focus on, fix, change? Write to one or both major party candidates in the Nov. 5, 2024 presidential election with your appeal.
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Writing
SM-Impact
In "Social Studies," a new documentary about the impact of social media, a teenage boy says, "It's up to us to figure out how we can still be people." What do you think of that comment? Does it reflect your own experience?
Learn More