9th–12th Grade Students Invited to Participate in Young Writers Summer Challenge
Free virtual writing series offers prompts and prizes ahead of Young Writers Awards
Ninth through twelfth grade students across the country and around the world are invited to sign up for Bennington College’s Young Writers Summer Challenge, a free virtual writing series this August.
Offering an emailed message each week during this month-long program, the Young Writers Summer Challenge gives high school writers a chance to get their creative juices flowing with writing prompts and author recommendations for further reading.
Joining the challenge is simple: after writers sign up for the email series, they may use the weekly prompts as a springboard for their work.
Afterwards, they can submit their favorite sentence from their weekly writing. Participants who submit for all four prompts will also be entered to win a prize from Bennington College.
Week One Young Writers Summer Challenge Prompt:
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
Mary Oliver, a Pulitzer Prize winning poet (and longtime Bennington College faculty member) posed this question in her poem “The Summer Day,” and it’s been getting people feeling some kind of way ever since.
Depending on where you live, you may not be able to adventure through the Vermont hills like Mary Oliver, but let’s go traveling together.
- Set your weekly writing in a location you’ve always wanted to explore.
- Then, submit your favorite sentence from this week’s writing to count toward your goal.
How to Submit Your Response
Students will need to use Bennington's Young Creators Awards portal to submit their weekly responses. To gain access to this portal, sign up for Young Creators Awards updates and check the box to receive "Young Writers" updates.
About the Young Writers Awards
Bennington College’s Young Writers Awards competition is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Bennington has also expanded the Young Writers Awards into the Young Creators Awards, with additional opportunities for artists, musicians, scientists, and innovators.
This annual competition, which accepts entries in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, is free to enter and open to all high school students in 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grades. A first-, second-, and third-place winner is selected in each of the categories, with cash prizes up to $2,000 awarded.
Young Writers Award finalists and winners are also eligible for undergraduate scholarships at Bennington, up to full tuition.
Submissions for the 2026-2027 Young Writers Awards will be accepted from September 1 through November 1, 2026, with winners announced in spring 2027. Visit bennington.edu/YWA for more information, to view submission guidelines, or to sign up to receive notifications about the competition.
Downloadable Young Writers Awards posters are also available for interested educators.