Challenges

YWP’s hub of inspiration: All our challenges are here!

Weekly

  • Writing

    Deadline

    Desk

    Imagine you are floating above your body, looking down on yourself drawing in response to this prompt. Sketch the view of yourself bent in concentration over your desk, pen in hand, materials spread out.

  • Writing

    Deadline

    Meliorism

    A meliorist is one who believes that the world is on a steady path toward improvement and that humans can aid in its positive evolution. Are you a meliorist? If not, or your feelings are complicated, do you believe we have the power to change?

  • Writing

    Deadline

    Bears

    The bears came out of hibernation early that spring. Little did everyone know they were actually an omen…

Opinion & Commentary

  • Writing

    Resistance

    U.S. attorneys are resisting Justice Department orders. Vermont schools are holding firm on sanctuary status and transgender rights. Resistance is bubbling up in the first weeks of the Trump administration. What are you seeing and thinking?

  • Writing

    Protests Begin

    Americans are starting to rally against the Trump administration in a grassroots effort to build a national movement. Read about it. Write about it.

Great Artists

  • Visual Art

    Mark Bradford

    From hair stylist in his mom's beauty salon in Los Angeles to world-renowned artist, Mark Bradford explores issues of class, race, and gender through his art.

  • Visual Art

    Ted Walsh

    Recipe for a striking painting? Limited color palette, a spare style, and the gorgeous play of light and shadow.

  • Visual Art

    Claude Monet

    How did the Impressionist movement get its name? It started with this painting by Claude Monet and an art critic's insult.

Great Writers

  • Writing

    Toni Morrison

    In Black History Month, we honor 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? 

Online Workshops

Contests

  • Writing

    Deadline

    Winter Tales

    Tell a winter story in short descriptive or narrative poetry or prose. The best will be selected for presentation by Vermont Stage performers at the annual Winter Tales production in Burlington in December 2025!

  • Visual Art

    Deadline

    Teenager: In Visual Art

    What does it mean to be a teenager in America in 2025? Responses can be abstract, literal, symbolic, interpretive, realistic – whatever best conveys your message. 

  • Writing

    Deadline

    Teenager: In Writing

    What does it mean to be a teenager in America in 2025? How would you describe your daily life? When and where do you most feel like your true self? Where do you find inspiration? What keeps you awake at night? What brings you joy?