sywc 2024

Dates: June 30th - July 13th, 2024

Tuition: $2575

Application deadline: Friday, February 16, 2024 at 11:59 CST. All recommendation letters are due by Friday, March 1, 2024. You can access the recommendation form here.

 

The application window for summer 2024 is now closed. Keep reading to learn what you'll need to apply next year!

 

application materials

You will need to assemble a variety of application pieces prior to starting your application. The application will not save your information prior to submitting, so please begin the process with everything ready. There is no application fee.

Here's what we need:

A statement of purpose. In approximately 250-750 words, please describe your reading and writing life and how attendance at the Sewanee Young Writers' Conference will enrich your growth as a writer. Please also include how you believe you will contribute to your writing workshop and to the conference as a whole. We are dedicated to cultivating a safe, inclusive, and diverse writing community. Please put your full name at the top of your Statement of Purpose.

Samples of your writing. We'll ask you to rank your preference in up to three workshop choices. Please submit a writing sample of the following lengths for each of your ranked genres:

8-10 double-spaced pages of fiction or creative nonfiction

5-7 poems

5-7 songs (lyrics only)*

If you are interested in more than one genre, please send samples (if you have them) of all applicable forms of writing. We welcome students to try a genre with which they may have no experience.

*Special instructions for the songwriting workshop: Along with your writing sample, please also provide a short note detailing any musical experience: do you play an instrument? Do you sing? You are also welcome (but not required) to send an audio file of an original performance to sywc@sewanee.edu. Please use the subject line "SYWC songwriting application supplement".

A teacher recommendation. Your recommendation should come from an English teacher at your school (not from a private tutor or writing lab). If you are homeschooled, please provide a recommendation from an instructor who is not a parent. Once your application is officially submitted, your recommender will receive an email with a link to the SYWC Recommendation Page.

Application Process

Step 1: Ask your teacher to write a recommendation for you. Once they've agreed, apply with all materials.

Step 2: Confirm that your teacher or counselor received the recommendation form via email. If not, please suggest they check "Spam" or "Junk," where messages from unknown addresses sometimes end up. The email will have the subject line Sewanee Young Writers’ Conference Recommendation. We prefer that your teacher use this recommendation email, because it links directly to your application, but if that proves impossible, please send them the recommendation form here . It is your job to give your teacher gentle reminders, so that they send the recommendation before the March 1st deadline. Assure them it should take no longer than 15 minutes to complete.

Step 3: If you will be requesting financial assistance, please complete the financial aid application. The SYWC is a tuition-driven program, but we are able to offer a limited amount of financial aid. This application covers a variety of questions that allow you to articulate your family's need for support to pay for the conference.

For questions or concerns about the application process, please feel free to email sywc@sewanee.edu or call (931) 598-1541.