Creative Writing Classes For High School Students

~ Helen Parkhurst, Founder

The true business of school is not to chain the students to preconceived ideas, but to set them free to discover their own ideas and to help them bring all their powers to bear upon the problem of learning.

The English Department's elective program in creative writing is open to students in all grades, supporting young writers throughout their development with a progressive series of workshops. Students are encouraged to participate in the wider life of the writer, submitting their writing, editing Blue Flag, the school's literary magazine, and sharing their work at one of the program's many public readings.

Introduction to Creative Writing: Students write poetry and fiction, growing comfortable in a workshop setting as they learn how to discuss one another's work.

Advanced Workshops: Advanced Workshops focus increasingly on craft and technique. Advanced Writing Workshop allows students to continue experimenting with both fiction and poetry, while the other advanced classes are genre-based and much more focused. These include Advanced Poetry Writing, Advanced Fiction Writing: The Short Story and Advanced Fiction Writing: The Novella.

Senior Thesis Workshop: Second semester seniors work on a unique project with the support of the workshop and individual mentoring from the instructor. At the conclusion of the workshop, the writers read their work at the Annual Celebration of Creative Writing, and the theses are preserved in the Dalton Archives.

Creative Writing News

List of 12 news stories.

MS Students Virtually Ascend to Spelling Stardom

Though we missed the energy in the Martin Theater when the spellers take their positions on the stage to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, this year's grade level spelling bee champions continued their competition at a virtual schoolwide bee.
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Scholastic Announces Dalton Award Winners in Art and Writing

The annual Scholastic Art and Writing Awards recognized 33 Dalton students for their excellence in Photography, Film & Animation, Drawing & Illustration, Sculpture, Poetry, Critical Essay, Journalism, Personal Essay & Memoir, Short Story, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Humor, and Flash Fiction.
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Dalton Middle School Student Wins Scholastic Scopes Write-A-Story Contest

When assigned a "six word novel" assignment (a writing prompt supposedly based on something Ernest Hemingway once did) in Geoffrey Perry's English class, Maddie Fine '27 astonished her teacher by writing two six word novels before Mr. Perry was done explaining the assignment to the rest of the class!
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Students Meet Diverse Voices in Dalton Working Poets Project

Verse is coming alive for sophomores in the Introduction to Poetry classes as the English Department and Creative Writing Program welcome early-career, post-MFA poets to the classroom virtually through the Dalton Working Poets Project. The poets share work in progress with students, discuss the writing process, and reflect on aspects of their own identities, as their work explores issues of race, gender, and nationality in our contemporary world.
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Dalton 7th Grader Wins Scholastic Scope National Writing Competition

Congratulations to 7th grader Ivana Beltrán '26 who was recently selected as one of a few students nationwide to be recognized for outstanding writing responses to a recent edition of Scope Magazine .

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French Teacher Allison Albino Wins Prize at Poetry Contest

MS/HS French teacher Allison Albino won second prize for her poem "Adobo Variations" in the Atticus Review 2020 Poetry Contest judged by Roberto Carlos Garcia.
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Scholastic Announces Dalton Award Winners in Art and Writing

The annual Scholastic Art and Writing Awards recognized 25 Dalton students for their excellence in photography, film & animation, drawing & illustration, journalism, poetry, flash fiction, and other art and literary categories.
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Congratulations to MS National Scholastic Scope Winners

Two 6th graders have been named winners of the Scholastic Scope writing competitions.

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Three Dalton Students Honored at New York Society Library

Logan Fleissig '27, Julia Miyasaka '24 and Jai Glazer '23 each placed first for their submissions in the NY Society Library Young Writers Awards.
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Pulitzer Prize-Winning Poet Gregory Pardlo Visits Dalton

Pulitzer Prize winning poet Gregory Pardlo taught a Master Class for the Advanced Poetry Writing students and then participated in an event with Coordinator of Creative Writing Program Chris Hood titled "The Third Rail: Writing about Fatherhood and Race."

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Dalton MS & HS Students Awarded in NYC Scholastic Art & Writing Competition

Every year, Dalton students submit artworks and various forms of writing to the NYC Scholastic Art & Writing Awards achieving outstanding results. 2018 was no exception, with six Gold Keys and eight Silver Keys awarded in Art, and seven Gold Keys and ten Silver Keys in Writing categories. 67 students in all won awards including 35 Honorable Mentions.
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Advanced Poetry Student Authors Share Their Writing

The students from the Advanced Poetry Writing classes shared some of their work from the semester. In the words of Mr. Hood, as he introduced the event, "The poetry...is relentlessly honest about the human condition. It is sometimes poets speaking from their own lives, with a very raw personal honestly, it's sometimes the poet creating a character." He further explained that both methods are ways of trying to access feeling for the reader. The appreciative audience was sizable and included a number of Creative Writing Program alums. Twelve poets shared their work.

Story and photos provided by High School English Teacher and Creative Writing Program Coordinator Chris Hood

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Archived News

Books for Writers
- Style: Toward Clarity and Grace
  The best guide to the mechanics, style and methodology of writing. One of the best poets I've ever met credits this book with teaching him how to write!
- The Art of Fiction
  The classic text! John Gardner provides a wonderful way of thinking about the art and practice of fiction writing.
- In the Palm of Your Hand
  A great introduction to poetry writing, with prompts, exercises and thoughtful discussion.
Writing Prompts
- Prompts for Writers
  A nicely done blog with prompts for writers. You can even add your own!
- Writer's Digest Prompts
  Some thoughtful prompts from Writer's Digest.
- Easy Street Prompts
  Great image-based prompts for writers!
- Creative Writing Prompts
  Roll the mouse over these prompts for a quick burst of inspiration.

Spring Programs
- New England Young Writers Conference
  
  Another spring offering. Spend a long May weekend at the Middlebury's Breadloaf (on which Bronxloaf is modeled!) in northern Vermont.
Summer Programs
- Bard College at Simon's Rock Young Writer's Workshop
  A three-week workshop on the beautiful Simon's Rock campus in the Berkshires. Fantastic writing across all genres, great writing companions, incredible off-campus trips to plays and the Book Barn (a.k.a. the greatest bookstore ever.) Molly W. went and had the best consecutive three weeks of her life.
- Berkeley Summer Creative Writing Program
  Intended primarily for undergraduates, the Berkeley program offers high school students a rigorous and challenging six-week experience. If you want to dive into the deep end of the pool, this might be for you!
- Bronx Loaf
  A spring course, Bronx Loaf offers a weekend length creative writing workshop just north of Dalton!
- Center for Creative Youth
  A five-week course of study including creative writing on the campus of Wesleyan University.
- Columbia Summer Writing Program
  Summer writing workshops for high school students available right here in NYC.
- Interlochen Arts Camp
  
  Or not so far West. Three week creative writing workshops among the lakes of northern Michigan.
- Idyllwild Arts Summer Writing Program
  
  Go West, young writer, go West. Two week residential workshops in the high desert of California.
- Iowa Young Writer's Studio
  
  Two week workshop at the University of Iowa, home to the world's best-known MFA program. Offers fiction, poetry, and a creative writing focus that lets you write in multiple genres.
- Ithaca Young Writers Institute
  A two week workshop in early July, the Writers Institute combines creative and professional writing courses, with a focus on the business of writing that sets it apart from other programs.
- The Kenyon Review Young Writers Workshop
  
  Two week workshops at Kenyon College, which has a wonderful reputation for creative writing. Several Dalton Creative Writing Program alums are currently attending Kenyon!
- Juniper Institute for Young Writers
  A one week residency at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst with craft sessions, workshops and readings.
- New York State Summer Young Writers Institute
  A one week workshop offered in June on the campus of Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY.
- Poets House Summer Intensive Workshop
  Poets House, right here in New York City, offers a marvelous range of opportunities, including this intensive one-week summer workshop for high school students.
- Putney School Summer Creative Writing Workshops
  
  Three week sessions (or a six week session, for the brave-hearted) studying creative writing in beautiful Putney, Vermont. Added bonus: on your way up Kimball Hill through Putney look to the right for the white house behind a line of stately locust trees, Mr. Hood's childhood home.
- Pratt's Pre-College Summer Program
  An option for those who would like to do some summer study right here in NYC. Classes available at Pratt's Brooklyn and Manhattan campuses.
- Reynolds Young Writers Workshop
  
  An intensive 8 day workshop in Ohio. Offered every year in June. A good way to kick-start your summer of writing!
- Sarah Lawrence Summer Programs
  In Mr. Hood's Westchester town of Bronxville, Sarah Lawrence College offers summer programs that include creative writing options.
- Sewanee Young Writers' Conference
  
  Two week intensive creative writing workshops at Sewanee, The University of the South. No promises during the summer, but during the year, students and faculty at Sewanee wear academic robes to classes. A graduate of the program wrote Beasts of the Southern Wild!
- UVA Young Writers Workshop
  One of the first programs for high school students, the Young Writers Workshop takes place on the beautiful campus of the University of Virginia.
- Your Word: Teen Creative Writing Residency
  An intensive twelve day writing residency at the Atlantic Center for the Arts on the Florida coast. Mr. Hood has done a residency at ACA and loved the place!