Young Emerging Writers Summer Internship Program 2022 — Applications Accepted through 5/16!

For young people in the Quad Cities who are passionate about writing and creative expression, the Midwest Writing Center offers the innovative Young Emerging Writers (YEW) Summer Internship Program. This selective seven-week program will be held Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays from June 6 through July 20, 2022.

**Information on YEW 2022 Meeting Format**

We are planning to meet in-person at MWC. We will be meeting in the Community Room upstairs from our offices in the Rock Island Public Library. We will be set up for people to meet virtually as needed, and we will have a couple meetings on Zoom or at alternate locations that will be determined at a later date. We are planning the public events to be in-person and livestreamed on our various social media platforms.

If you are interested in applying, but have concerns about in-person meetings, internet or computer access, or anything else, please contact us—we will work with all of our interns to make sure they have what they need to participate, and a lack of computer or consistent internet access are not required to apply. 

Download the 2022 YEW Summer Internship Application below:

MS Word version – 2022 YEW Application

PDF Version – 2022 YEW Application

YEW is for talented graduating and continuing high school students, ages 15-19, interested in creating and publishing works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, and other forms.

Students who work on the school newspaper, school literary magazine or yearbook, or who just love writing and/or page layout and graphic design, are ideal candidates for YEW.  The ultimate goal of the program is development of intern writing abilities and the production and distribution of a literary journal representing the best work of the participants. 

Young Emerging Writer internships feature intensive seminars in poetry, narrative prose (fiction & nonfiction) and collaborative writing among other kinds of creative writing in a professional learning atmosphere.  Interns will learn about magazine design and layout as well as gain editorial and copy-editing experience.  The program culminates with the production of The Atlas, a high-quality literary journal featuring the best work produced by the interns over the course of the program. The journal will be released at The Atlas 17 Release Party, an open house where interns read from their selected works and the journal is made available to the public. The 2022 Launch Party will take place via livestream on Wednesday, August 17, and will be available free to the public (in-person location TBA).

YEW 2022 – Meeting Dates
(all regular meetings are Mon.-Wed., 5-7:30 p.m.)

Week 1: June 6-8
Week 2: June 13-15
Week 3: June 20-22 (DRC Conference June 23-25)
Week 4: June 27-29
Week 5: July 5-6
Week 6: July 11-13
Week 7: July 18-20

Public Reading
Thursday, July 21 (more info TBA)

THE ATLAS 17 Virtual Release Party
Thursday, August 18 (more info TBA)

Twelve to fifteen interns will be selected for the program on the basis of their application forms, writing or design samples, and interviews. The writing and editing of stories, essays, poems, and/or plays at home is required, as is reading and responding to work by other interns. Each intern will also receive a small stipend, a free full-conference registration the David R. Collins Writers’ Conference, a one-year membership to the Midwest Writing Center, and three copies of The Atlas.

Funding and material support for the 2022 Young Emerging Writers Summer Internship Program generously provided by the Illinois Arts Council Agency, the Scott County Regional Authority, the Regional Development Authority, Modern Woodmen of America, the CD Wiman Memorial Trust, the Melivn McKay Charitable Trust, the Rock Island Public Library, and Rozz-Tox.

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