For current students
There are many ways for you to plug in to our community and to deepen
your intellectual engagement with the writing arts. Our couches are
available for studying and occasional naps. Coffee in the kitchen fuels
many late-night discussions. We host open-mic
nights, writing
workshops, reading groups,
community writing projects, and all kinds of free programming. Look
around and find your thing or join our Planning Committee
and become a writing activist. And please stop by and see us! We'd be
delighted to talk to you about ways you can get involved.
get involved
- volunteer for community writing projects at KWH and across Philadelphia
- write for a magazine
- meet poets, novelists, and journalists
- join a writing or reading group
- make a broadside
- work at the Writers House
- join our Planning Committee
- become a writer's apprentice
- listen to a podcast
- investigate our digital archive
- win a prize to support your project
take a class
creative writing classes
Check out the creative writing classes you
can take through Penn's Creative Writing program. Many
of these courses meet in the Writers House. Max Apple is famous for his fiction workshops and
his coffee breaks in the Writers
House Kitchen. Paul Hendrickson’s long-form journalism courses have been described as intense and
transformative. Many classes, such as Greg Djanikian’s poetry workshop, celebrate their
achievements each semester with end of
year readings in our Arts Cafe.
critical writing classes
Penn undergraduates across all four schools fulfill their writing requirement through seminars offered by the Critical Writing Program. Several Critical Writing courses take place right here in the Writers House, including the Peer Tutor training course, led by Critical Writing Director Val Ross.
Fellows Seminar
Imagine yourself chatting about contemporary poetry with John Ashbery. Eating dinner and exchanging anecdotes with David Sedaris. Hanging out on the green couch with Jamaica Kincaid. Our Writers House Fellows Seminar, led by Kelly Professor and Writers House Faculty Director Al Filreis, makes it possible for Penn students to have sustained and substantive contact with authors of great accomplishment in an informal atmosphere. In the Fellows Seminar, students study the work of three visiting Fellows and then participate in intense two-day visits. Check out past syllabi here for more detail about the class. If you’d like to take the Fellows Seminar, email Fellows Coordinator Jamie-Lee Josselyn to find out how to apply.
get help with your writing
Penn's Writing Center offers appointments and
walk-in hours for writing help. Meetings at 3808 Walnut Street are available by
appointment with drop-in hours during the evening Sunday-Thursday.
opportunities
prizes & awards
Are you paddling down the Mississippi? Investigating neurotheology or the "Ghost Army" of WWII? Hoping to start a magazine or invite your favorite author to Penn? Hoping for some funding to finance your radical idea? Along with the Center for Programs in Contemporary Writing and the School of Arts and Sciences, we offer several prizes and awards designed to encourage and support your creativity.
mentorships, internships, & apprenticeships
The Writers House and the Center for Programs in Contemporary Writing are committed to pairing talented student writers with mentors in all fields of writing. The Alumni Mentors program pairs Penn students with volunteer alumni mentors who can provide informal professional guidance for students interested in writing-related careers. RealArts is a summer internship project designed to help some of Penn's most creative students make connections in arts-related businesses such as Rolling Stone and MTV Networks. CPCW writing apprenticeships match talented students with faculty members, for in-depth involvement with current writing projects. The Writers House, with help from CURF, offers two summer internships, so that students can learn about Arts Administration from the inside.
