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Salt Lake Teens Write & Anthology

The Salt Lake Teens Write (SLTW) program is a series of intensive writing workshops to help middle school aged teens develop their skills and passion for creative writing.

All teens entering grades 7-8 this fall are eligible to participate in this program.

The first cohort will meet for an intensive workshop series, “School’s Out for Summer,” that runs from July 17-20, 2023, from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at the CWC. There will be other intensive workshop series throughout the academic year. Participants in each cohort will work together and individually to create amazing works of writing and engage in their creative passions. Teens are welcome to participate in all of the SLTW workshop series offered.

Please check back for updates on 2024 programming.

We encourage all teens 11-19 years old in the Salt Lake Valley to submit their poetry, short stories, short memoirs, personal essays, photography, artwork, etc. for publication in our SLTW Anthology.

Meeting Times For SLTW Writing Cohorts

Salt Lake Teens Write: Fall Horrors and Monsters 

1-part workshop

Saturday, September 30, 10-12 pm

Get your spooky on and come and see why we love to be scared and how monsters are used to show us what we fear. Participants will work together and individually to create amazing works of writing and engage in their creative passions. 

Participants in this SLTW cohort will have the opportunity to submit their work to the SLTW anthology that’s published at the end of the year! 

Cost: Free. Registration is required.

Location: CWC, 210 East 400 South #8

Register for SLTW: Fall Horror & Monsters

Sign up for Salt Lake Teens Write

SLTW ANTHOLOGY CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Participants in all SLTW cohorts and all teen writers will have the opportunity to submit their work to a SLTW anthology that is published at the end of the year. All of the writing cohorts will come together to collaborate on this anthology publication.

We encourage all teens 11-19 years old in the Salt Lake Valley to submit their poetry, short stories, short memoirs, personal essays, photography, artwork, etc. for publication in our SLTW Anthology.

There will be a celebration and reading gala in January 2024.

Deadline: November 27, 2023

CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT FOR THE 2023 SLTW ANTHOLOGY

VIEW THE 2022 SLTW ANTHOLOGY "GRAY MATTERS"


Participant Experiences

“Having only had a public education setting for my English instruction so far, it sounded like heaven when our teacher told us about an opportunity to get connected with a personal writing mentor! Working with someone one-on-one has been extremely valuable to me. I love being able to bounce ideas and brainstorm with someone. Going over what I’ve written so far has been so helpful. Right now we are working on flash fiction and short stories, and I am focusing on how to create better imagery and engage the reader more fully. I love the freedom of subject I have here! In school our writing is so restricted and regimented; on our own it’s really difficult to find anyone to help you. I feel like this program has really given me the opportunity to grow so much more than I would have otherwise.”

Patti Keene

“My Language Arts teacher told me that I should participate in Salt Lake Teens Write because it will help me become a better writer. I learned a lot in this program so far because I have such a great mentor; I learned how to write a scholarship essay and a resume. So far it is a good experience. Writing together is great because I have developed a lot of cool, awesome tools to be creative. The most rewarding thing about this program is working with my mentor and just having the opportunity to learn new writing skills.”

Abdikadir Eftin

Featured Works from Salt Lake Teens Write

Lighthouse
Eszter Vizhanyo

Meet me at the lighthouse
And stand with me at its peak,
Where we look one way and see the ocean
And another to see the cliffs…

Meet me at the lighthouse:
Salt-chewed ship, tattered flag, weary sailors
Or high horse carrying wounded traveler…

Meet me at the lighthouse
When come a blindness over your eyes,
Hands reached out in front of you to find home,
When come fog and high tide and screaming wind,
You will see its light and make it there, at least…

Meet me at the lighthouse
And see the lonely soldier from far away,
Staring down with crown of twirling light…

Meet me at the lighthouse,
Find solace from the dangerous world
Of frothing hills and rolling waves,
From where you can look out and see the cliffs,
See my path and yours…

Come meet me at the lighthouse
And find your way home.

Teapot With Me
Kellen Hunnicutt

Sit here

On the burner with me
Feel the fire or defeat
Feel your porcelain redden
Breath heavy
Politely try
So desperately
To stand out
With handmade
Stalks of lavender
And sunflowers
And deep green trees
With a shine-gold
Edge
Still overflowing
With liquid so
Scorching
Over steeping
Intended to be still
Gravity calls and we
Could all cackle
And crack to the
Floor shatter like
Nothing at all

But a scream.

Advice to Self
Ilaisa Folau

Don’t waste your time with terrible friends
When you know that they won’t get you far
Don’t try to be what they want and instead,
Try to figure out who you are

Even though things have gone way different than planned
And it’s easy to feel alone
Everyone is in lockdown and they all understand
Especially people at home

When it comes to journey’s end
I’ll find my missing peace
Then the puzzle will finally mend,
A part of life’s great masterpiece

Happiness is not in the past
True joy is in the present
This is the only thing that lasts
Don’t waste it because the time goes fast

Cloud of Nostalgia
Calvin Jeppesen

Brooding over things not done,
Now’s a simpler day than you know;
It feels as though you have not won,
Mind set on things long ago.

Threw your body on the bike,
Cycled streaks of steel,
Arrived to pluck strings as you like,
But was it ever truly real?

The memory that you cling,
The possibilities you entertain;
Those summer nights you’d sing
Were never free from pain.

For a wet step through the door
Soaring countless states afar;
Lands in a place not seen before,
One to make sweet memories once more.


View the full Salt Lake Teens Write anthology