Levin Word Camp

Join us for another summer of writing adventures! Levin Word Camp will run during the weeks of July 6th–10th and 13th–17th. This free, virtual creative writing camp is an opportunity for rising 3rd–8th grade writers from all over the U.S. (and beyond!) to come together to hone their crafts.

Signups are open for levin word camp 2026!

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2026 SchedulE

  • Week I: July 6th–10th

    2:00–3:00 ET The Art of Words: Visual Poetry and Comics for Middle Schoolers

    3:00–4:00 ET Do or Die: Suspense Writing for Middle Schoolers

    4:00–5:00 ET Spells and Skyscrapers: Urban Fantasy for Middle Schoolers

    4:00–5:00 ET Fountain of Creativity: Adventure Fiction for Elementary Schoolers

    5:00–6:00 ET Elementary & Middle School Office Hours (Optional)

  • Week II: July 13th–17th

    2:00–3:00 ET Choose Your Own Adventure: Interactive Fiction for Middle Schoolers

    3:00–4:00 ET Becoming the Bad Guy: Villain-Building for Middle Schoolers

    4:00–5:00 ET Black Panther and Beyond: Afrofuturism for Middle Schoolers

    4:00–5:00 ET Works of the Wild: Nature-Writing for Elementary Schoolers

    5:00–6:00 ET Elementary & Middle School Office Hours (Optional)

Workshop Descriptions

  • Week I, 2:00–3:00 ET

    When you combine visual art with writing, you can open up boundless new ways to tell stories. From classic superhero narratives to experimental poetic techniques, we’ll explore the many ways that art can, quite literally, give your writing a new form.

  • Week I, 3:00–4:00 ET

    Do you think you have what it takes to be a secret agent? In this workshop, we will learn how to create suspense in our writing by taking inspiration from famous spies — real and fictional. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to invent your own spy character and craft a suspenseful scene.

  • Week I, 4:00–5:00 ET

    You never know what’s lurking inside a dumpster or hovering inside a construction site. In this workshop, we'll learn how to craft urban fantasy stories with brilliant characters and vivid settings. By the end of the week, each camper will have written a short fiction piece in a city of their own creation.

  • Week I, 4:00–5:00 ET

    In this course, we’ll be using our creativity to pull adventure stories from everyday objects and occurrences. Music, places, and common phrases can all hold the key to your next great story idea. A blank page will never feel intimidating again!

  • Week II, 2:00–3:00 ET

    In this workshop, we will explore the world of interactive fiction and write our own 'choose your own adventure' short stories! This genre is often underappreciated, but tremendous fun to both write and read.

  • Week II, 3:00–4:00 ET

    Have you ever wanted to get inside the mind of a villain? Or wondered what it would be like to do bad things? In this workshop, we will create our own villain characters and drop them into various villainous situations. By the end of the course, each writer will choose one specific circumstance they'd like to explore in-depth and write a piece — in any genre! — about their character in that situation.

  • Week II, 4:00–5:00 ET

    "Wakanda Forever!" The famous phrase from Marvel's "Black Panther" franchise points to the enduring impact of the film and its message of Black empowerment. In this workshop, we will think about how and why artists create technological and futuristic worlds, and how those Afrofuturist themes can help us envision our own hopes for the future.

  • Week II, 5:00–6:00 ET

    Crossing nature and writing has the unique power to help us understand both in a different, exciting light. We’ll explore nature through both fiction and poetry, and observe the presence of nature in unexpected places all around us! The goal of this workshop is to plant the seed of love for both writing and the natural world.

  • “I was truly blown away by how much my son, who can be very reluctant to write anything (even though he has good language skills), loved Word Camp and how enthusiastic he was about writing about the topics. He loved every moment of it and was so excited about logging on each day! We've truly never seen that before in any of his school-based writing activities, and I think it is a testament to the quality of the program and Sophie's excellent teaching. Bravo!”

    — Parent, Word Camp 2021

  • “It felt comfortable, like everyone belonged there. I didn't feel left out, or like my skills were subpar.”

    — Camper, Word Camp 2021

  • “It's very difficult to find creative writing courses and camps for my pre-teen as most are geared toward high school students. This camp was just what I was looking for to keep my sixth grader engaged and boost her love of writing.”

    — Parent, Word Camp 2020

  • “I liked how you were given several strategies to express your writing in a non-overwhelming way. I also really enjoyed the opportunity to write, and not feel pressure about grades or what to write.”

    — Camper, Word Camp 2020

  • “My daughter was excited about [camp] every day and could not wait for it to start. She was eager about it and enthused to write outside of the camp time.”

    — Parent, Word Camp 2021

LEVIN Word Camp FAQs

  • During the first four days of the week, participants will learn about/read/write/discuss work within the genre, and then on the fifth day, they'll share their own pieces. Each instructor also offers optional one-on-one hours every day where kids can come in to get individualized feedback and talk about their writing.

  • As much as possible, we'd like this to be a kids-only experience, just like in-person camp. Of course we understand if parents want to look over their kids’ shoulders on the first day of the workshop. After that, though, we encourage parents to step back and prepare to be wowed by what their kids write by the end of the week!

  • Come with your Zoom video on and your writing brain prepared!

  • Not very big — up to 20 campers. We want each writer to get lots of individual attention from the instructors, and we also want to maximize opportunities for kids to interact. Our workshops are first come, first served, so sign up quickly before space fills up!

  • For the first time, YES! Please sign up for as many workshops as you’d like!

  • Undergraduate students from across the U.S.! Most of our instructors are very involved in the writing communities at their schools, where they've taken and taught writing courses much like these.

  • For some kids, it is! For other kids, we know they need more time. Each workshop is structured so that writers can work on their projects as much or as little as they'd like outside of the four hour-long periods. We're flexible :)

  • While of course you should use your judgement about whether Word Camp is the right environment for you/your child, we encourage disabled and/or neurodivergent students to sign up. We‘ll work with you however we can to make sure that you/your child has a positive experience. That said, please know that we don’t have paraprofessionals or special education experts on our instructor team, since all instructors are college students.

  • Decide based on the year the writer is going into. If the writer is going into 6th grade, sign them up for the middle school workshops.

  • Yes! Cosmic Writers Word Camp welcomes young writers wherever they are.

  • Writers will come away with a piece that they can share with their friends and family, and treasure forever — plus a gorgeous digital anthology of their group’s writing.