YWP’s hub of inspiration: All our challenges are here!
Challenges
Weekly
Writing
Deadline
Forest
Write a poem using a forest as a metaphor for either confusion or indecision.
Writing
Deadline
Once
What is one thing you think everyone should do at least once in their life? Write from your own experience or research.
Visual Art
Deadline
Illustrate
Find a piece of writing you like on YWP. Create a piece of art — a drawing, a photo, a painting — based on that piece. Include a link to the piece that inspired you.
Great Artists
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.
Visual Art
Petrit Halilaj
Petrit Halilaj's dramatic sculptures relay stories of Kosovo based on the school desk doodles of generations of children, including those who lived through years of war.
Visual Art
Julie A. Davis
Vermont artist Julie A. Davis often features the home state she loves, as well as neighboring Massachusetts, in her landscape paintings. Davis likes to paint en plein air, in all kinds of weather. See her work for inspiration for your own creations.
Great Writers
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.
Writing
Mary Oliver
Clear, evocative, simply beautiful – words that describe this poet's work.
Online Workshops
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.
Writing
Prose Poetry: Summer Workshop 1
Let your poetry flow! YWP Intern Sam Aikman guides you through an online workshop to discover the joy of prose poetry.
Visual Art
Photo Workshop: Color
Color is vital to photography, conveying emotions, setting the mood, and enhancing the overall visual impact of an image. Respond to YWP's Photo Workshop 3: Color with your own creations.
Contests
Visual Art
Deadline
VT Youth Poet Laureate Illustration Contest
Vermont Artists: Illustrate a poem by Vermont Youth Poet Laureate Harmony Belle Devoe to be created as a broadside print. The winning submission will receive $200, a copy of the broadside, and the opportunity to experience the printing process.
Opinion & Commentary
Writing
Deadline
Best of Fall
We know, we know! It's summer and we love it! Why think about fall? Well, here's a challenge from Vermont newspaper Seven Days: Describe fall in beautiful detail or explore the "back-to-school" experience – for publication in an upcoming issue.
Learn More
Writing
Kamala Harris
With Vice President Kamala Harris stepping in where President Joe Biden left off, how do you see the presidential race now?
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Writing
Floods
Floods, hurricanes, punishing heat. Have you experienced extreme weather this summer? Write about it.
Learn More