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Richmond Young Writers creates space for kids ages 9–18 to harness the power of their authentic voices.
We write, we read, we laugh, we cry, we get messy, we polish things up, we bond.
We make each other better.
BIG NEWS
We just launched a fundraiser for our most ambitious and vital program to date: FREE VERSE, a partnership with the Chesterfield Juvenile Detention Center. We need your help to ensure that the program finds it most robust expression!
Make a gift today
Free Verse is a language-based skill-building program developed for youth in the justice system by Bird Cox at Richmond Young Writers. Programs like this one that help develop self-understanding and affirm identity have been shown to make significant improvements in outcomes for kids who have experienced incarceration.
Through writing projects, creative expression, employment preparation, and college application groundwork, Free Verse engages students in the Chesterfield Juvenile Detention Center in an active process of defining who they are, what they want, and what steps are available to them to make progress toward their goals.
The utmost gratitude to supporters of Free Verse:
Amanda Uhle
Marcella Zahn Richardson
Sandra Cox
Jane Chappell
Donna Kaye Leahey
Cynthia Henebry
Alex Trivas
Miwa Kamras
Mark Ryan
Joy Heaton
Laura Eve Engel
Blythe King
Christophile Konstas
Ryan McSweeney
Gray Gray
Cherilyn Christie
Carrie Watterworth
Laura Sievers Khoury
Melina Bezirdjian
Mandy Schaller
Lisa Loving
Susan Selman
Meredith Hill
Richard Lucyshyn
Angela Cooper
Michelle O’Brien
Suzanne Stone
Shelia Gray
Ellen Spangler
Brittany Rose
Anne Hudson
Yvonne Howell
Sally Kemp
Karen Loving
Kimmothy Cole
Lillie Huggins
Betsy Thomas
Thea Brown
Matt Johnson
Barbara Parker
Senta Achee
Nina Morris
Books from past Picture Book Project collections
“I learned that if I sit down and write with no limits that I can surprise myself in the best of ways.”
— Zoe