Dear Writopia parents, Many parents have asked us how they can best support their writers alongside us, so we put together a list of tips for you. The keys to supporting your writer are 1) trust-building, 2) celebration, and 3) deep engagement. TRUST-BUILDING Be positive! Writing can make us feel both gratified and vulnerable …
Dear Writopia Friends and Family, We are so grateful for our community that creates such beautiful poetry together in both the literary and social context. Thank you to all of the members of our community who contributed to this poem including young writers, parents, guardians, school teachers, Writopia instructors, staff, and more. And thank you …
Written by Rebecca Wallace-Segall, Founder and CEO, Writopia Lab In April, Writopia Lab held its 2025 Gala. A new dynamic on our Board of Directors allowed for new ideas to flow. My heart still feels full from the entire process. Here were some exciting details and takeaways: 1) For the first time in many years, …
On Tuesday, November 26th, 2024, we sent our community of young writers, parents, guardians, supporters, and educators a set of prompts and received dozens of lines of poetry in response. From all of that magic, we curated this holiday poem… by you and for you. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. “This Thanksgiving, I Am Not Alone”By …
Welcome to the 2024 Annual Newsletter. First, congratulations to the thousands of Writopia writers, from young and teen writers to instructors and full-time staff, who set out and completed the writing of original pieces this year! A few hundred members of our community also bravely submitted writing to the 2024 Scholastic Awards and to other …
Each July is filled with our longtime deeply meaningful and exciting partnership camps! For a decade now, Writopia has been running a special writing arts camp for dozens of creative and fun-loving children and teens at Homes for the Homeless’ Saratoga Family Inn. Starting seven years ago, we began working with 20-30 wonderful and gifted …
By Rebecca Wallace-Segall Within this essay, I examine the ongoing youth literacy crisis in New York City and, along with it, two long-standing, opposing education policies—progressive and traditional—that have sought to address it. I argue that resisting dogmatic adherence to one or the other of these approaches, coupled with teacher-centered professional development opportunities that emphasize …
Congratulations! Rebecca Wallace-Segall, Chief Executive Officer, published the Writopia founding and impact story in the Village Voice in 2022 and co-authored an article on partnering for literacy impact in the Afterschool Matters Journal. She is completing her Masters in Urban Education Policy at CUNY Graduate Center this winter. Yael Schick, Co-Associate Executive Director, graduated from the Harvard Graduate …
Our graduating seniors wrote dozens of individualistic, beautifully-crafted college essays at Writopia this year that helped college admissions teams get to know—and feel deeply connected to—them as people. I am excited to share two essays below because of the creative format the writers chose to employ and because of the high level of personal reflection …
Student Publication Highlights 2020-2021 Abey Weitzman won a Scholastic Silver Medal for his senior portfolio, “Disability.” Watch his powerful graduation speech below in which he mentions Writopia Lab. Analia Rivera had a piece accepted to Alphabet Soup. Carol Brahm-Robin published a review in Pank. Jordan Ferdman won the National YoungArts Foundation Merit Winner in Writing: Creative …