Welcome to the online application for the Juniper Summer Writing Institute, June 15–21, 2025. More information on the Institute can be found on our website. If you find that you need more time once you start your application, there is a save draft button at the end of this application form.
The Juniper Summer Writing Institute is an inclusive literary space that welcomes adult poets and writers at all stages of their careers. Acceptance to the Institute is based upon the strength and promise of the writing sample and the content of the writer's statement.
The scholarship deadline was January 5, 2025. SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS ARE CLOSED
The self-pay deadline is February 5, 2025.
Please be sure to hit "Submit" at the bottom of this application before the deadline. You should receive a confirmation notification from Submittable via email.
For more information about our application process, please visit our website.
This application is for both our weeklong workshops and independent writing residency.
Eligibility
- All Juniper Institute participants must be 21 years of age or older by the start of the program, June 15, 2025.
- International writers are welcome to apply. However, due to the nature of the Institute, we are unable to issue supporting documentation for visas.
- Your application’s writing sample should align with at least one of the Institute’s workshop genres. For 2025, we will offer workshops in poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction.
Application materials include:
- Writing sample
- Indication of your top choices for workshop leaders (if applying for weeklong workshop)
- Writer's Statement
- NO application fee!
Writing Sample
The strength and promise of your writing sample is the most important component of your application. Send your best work; it needn’t be published, though published work is acceptable. Please submit a writing sample that matches the genre for which you are applying. Samples should be saved in one document (doc, docx, pdf, rtf, or txt). Please include your name & email address as a header or footer in each page of the writing sample.
- 5 pages of poetry (one poem per page) if applying for a poetry workshop or residency
- up to 10 pages of fiction or creative nonfiction (double-spaced) if applying to a fiction or nonfiction workshop or residency
Writer's Statement
Juniper is an opportunity to practice living with your art at the center of your life; it is a week to imagine with wild invention as you mingle, experiment, and take chances; it is a chance to connect with writers, poets and artists from around the country who value what prose, poetry, word, image, fiction, essay, memoir and autobiography can do.
Please provide a statement of around 300-500 words addressing these questions:
- What do you hope to work on during Juniper; what excites you about that project?
- What does being a valuable member of a writing community look like to you?
- What (if any) identities or experiences inform your work?
- If you are applying for the independent writing residency, please discuss your goals for the residency and reasons for applying for Juniper’s independent residency.
Workshop Preference
You will have the opportunity in your application form to indicate your preferences for workshop leader. Although we can't guarantee first choice placement, every effort will be made to accommodate your requests. Your spot in your chosen genre is not guaranteed until you have registered at the link provided in the acceptance notification with the enrollment deposit. Please carefully review the week-long workshop descriptions here before making your selections. Since we do our best to offer as many writers as possible their first choice workshops, we do take workshop preferences into consideration when making admission decisions.
Independent Writing Residency
For folks who aren’t looking for a collaborative workshop experience, we are offering an independent writing residency option. The residency includes all the Institute activities except daily workshop meetings, leaving the morning workshop time available for self-directed writing time. In addition, new for 2025, residents will be offered 30 minutes of mentoring by Visiting Poets/Writers on four mornings during the week. These meetings will help to guide residents in their writing projects throughout the week. Meetings on Monday and Tuesday will focus on devising a work plan for the week, while the meetings on Thursday and Friday will help them take stock in what they’ve accomplished towards their goals and where to go next. Visiting Writers won’t be reading student work in advance for these meetings, nor will they give feedback or edits on manuscripts in these meetings. They will offer general guidance and writerly advice to assist the residents in making the most of their independent residency.
Notification
Admissions decisions will begin to be issued in waves after the application deadline, in late February. Your admission decision will come by Submittable message, which should send an email notification to the email address associated with your Submittable account. Please ensure your Submittable notification settings are correctly configured and check your email’s junk/spam; the email notification should come from notifications@email.submittable.com. If you are offered acceptance to the Institute, you must register with the $200 non-refundable enrollment deposit at the provided link or contact us within one week of notification. After one week, we will accept our next wave of applicants, and your preferred workshop and/or genre may fill to capacity after that point in time. We are unable to hold your spot in your given genre without the enrollment deposit. If you are planning to enroll but need time to gather the deposit funds or make other arrangements (e.g. child care) before making the deposit, please be in touch with us as soon as possible so that we can best assist you.
Applicants for the Independent Writing Residency option will receive an admission decision notification in early-to-mid March.
Scholarship notification comes by phone and email. If you are offered a scholarship, you must contact us (by phone or email) within 3 days with your decision to accept or decline the scholarship.
FAQ
I'm interested in applying for both a weeklong workshop and an independent writing residency, knowing I can attend only one. Please submit two different applications, one for a workshop, and the other for an independent writing residency. It is to your advantage to write two different writer's statements, but the writing sample may be the same between your apps.
I'm interested in applying for workshops in different genres, knowing I can attend only one. Please submit two different applications, one for each genre with accompanying different writing samples. It is to your advantage to write two different writer's statements to discuss your goals for each workshop and writing project.
Any other questions? Please review our website, and then contact us at juninst@umass.edu if you still have questions. Thank you!
Juniper seeks creative students who are dedicated to exploring experimental writing processes in poetry and fiction and developing their skills in a collaborative environment. We encourage writers from diverse backgrounds, life experiences, and writing styles to apply.
The Juniper Institute for Young Writers (JIYW) provides an immersion in the writer’s life, a pre-college experience on the UMass campus, and an unforgettable two weeks for rising 10, 11 and 12th graders, and the class of 2025. Our two-week residential creative writing program is designed for young writers who who are passionate about creative writing and ready to take their writing practice to the next level with the 1-1 guidance of a Creative Writing Instructor. Please visit our website to learn more.
We will run two sessions of our 2-week residential program on the following dates:
Sunday, July 13–Saturday, July 26
Sunday, July 27–Saturday, August 9, 2025.
The cost of tuition, room, board, and all weekday & weekend activities is $5100. There are limited spaces for commuter students (students who live locally and would attend the program 9am-4pm on weekdays) during the first session, with a cost of $2200.
The Juniper Institute for Young Writers is now a two-week residential program for all of our students; we will not be offering a one-week residential program this summer.
You may indicate on your application if you're interested in attending our online program, Juniper Young Writers Online, if we are not able to offer you a spot in our residential program this summer. You may learn more about our one-week online summer program here. If you are only interested in attending our online program, that application will launch soon. Please sign up for an email notification to learn when that application launches!
Admissions and Notification
Admission to the Juniper Institute for Young Writers is competitive, and we have a limited number of available spots. Admission and scholarship awards are based on the strength and promise of the writing sample and the writer's statement; please review our application materials instructions below.
If a student is offered admission, enrollment in a Juniper Young Writers program is contingent on responding to email communications from Juniper and Pre-College @ UMass Amherst. Please add these email addresses to your contacts and check your junk/spam folders: notifications@submittable.com; juniper@umass.edu; juniperyoungwriters@hfa.umass.edu; summerprograms@umass.edu; precollege@umass.edu.
Admissions and scholarship award decisions will begin to be sent out in late March 2025. Your admissions offer will come to the email address provided on your application as a Submittable message. If you are offered admission to Juniper, you must email us within one week of notification to confirm your attendance. After one week, we will accept our next wave of applicants, and our program may fill to capacity quickly.
After Juniper collects pre-registration information, you will receive enrollment instructions from Summer Pre-College @ UMass Amherst sometime in May 2025. Families must pay a non-refundable $500 deposit within two weeks of enrollment to secure the student's space at Juniper. Full-scholarship awardees do not have to pay a deposit. The full balance of tuition is due by June 30. Please visit this website for more information on the payment and cancellation policy, and please contact Pre-College with any questions about enrollment and payment.
Scholarship consideration
Scholarship support is intended for those participants who cannot afford the full cost of the program. BIPOC and writers of marginalized groups are especially encouraged to apply for the available funding. Our scholarships are awarded based on the strength and promise of the application. We do not request financial information as part of our scholarship selection process. We plan to offer several full Juniper scholarships this summer.
To apply for scholarship consideration, under the "Scholarship consideration or self-pay?" question, select "Please consider me for a scholarship."
If you're a resident of Hampden County, Massachusetts, please check the "Hampden County Resident" box to be considered for a full scholarship in partnership with the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts.
Select schools and after-school programs in NYC and Boston are a part of the Hayden Foundation Coalition. Your school or program must be part of this network in order for you to be considered a "Hayden Scholar nominee". If you are a Hayden Scholar nominee, you must select "Please consider me for a scholarship" under the "Scholarship consideration or self-pay?" question and also check the "Hayden Scholar nominee" box.
Application Materials and Instructions
- Writing Sample: 3 to 5 pages of fiction (double-spaced; short stories and/or excerpts from longer pieces of writing are OK) or poetry (one poem per page, or longer poems spanning up to 5 total pages of poetry). Creative poetry or prose only; no academic essays or playwriting, please. The writing sample should be saved in one document (doc, docx, pdf, rtf, or txt). Please include your name & email address as a header or footer.
- Writer's Statement: 300 to 500 words describing your current writing projects and goals, any identities that inform your work, and what being a member of a writing community means to you. Tell us what you write and why you write it!
- Recommendation Letter: The application will ask you to enter the email address and name of a teacher, educational consultant, professional tutor, guidance counselor, or after-school leader who has agreed to provide a confidential letter of recommendation on your behalf. Once you click the "Send Request Now" button in the Reference section of this application, the reference will receive an email with instructions for how to attach the letter to your application (you will not be able to view the contents of the letter). Please let them know that their letter must be received for your application to be complete. It's OK for you to submit your application before your recommendation letter is received.***
We do not accept extra materials such as test scores, financial disclosures, or multiple recommendation letters.
If you have questions about the Juniper Institute for Young Writers program or this application, please review our website, particularly our FAQ. You can reach out to us at juniper@umass.edu.
There is a "save draft" button at the end of the application; your progress will be saved on your Submittable account. You will receive a confirmation email if your application was successfully submitted.
The deadline for all applications and scholarship consideration is March 7, 2025.
*** If your application is complete other than your recommendation letter, please make sure to click "Submit" before the deadline! Your reference has until 7 days after you click Submit to submit your application to send their recommendation letter, and no later than March 21st. We cannot verify if your recommendation letter has been received until your application has been submitted.