The Muse Writers Center Youth & Teen Programs
The Muse Writers Center, 2200 Colonial Ave #3, Suite #3, Norfolk, VA 23517
About
The Muse Writers Center Youth & Teen Programs offer creative writing classes, workshops, seminars, readings, open mics, and special events for young writers. The program includes classes, camps, readings, and special events for writers ages 6–17, as well as a Teen Writers Fellowship that features 20 creative writing classes, four readings, and a chance to attend the Hampton Roads Writers Conference to join workshops and pitch to agents.
• Ages: 6–17 years old
Since the early 2000s, The Muse Writers Center has grown into one of the top-10 writers centers nationally and operates as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Its mission states that, because it believes in the transformative power of the literary arts, its aim is to embrace both established and emerging writers as well as those who want to write but have not had the opportunity to be guided by great teachers. The center offers in-person, online, and hybrid creative writing classes, workshops, and seminars in every genre for beginning and experienced writers, including children and teens, and its motto is “Write Where You Are.” It never turns anyone away from a class because of their financial situation, has provided tuition help and scholarships to more than 4,000 people, and notes that about 17% of its students are on tuition assistance. It is the only center in the nation that offers tuition assistance to anyone who wants to take a class but cannot afford one and awards three $500 college scholarships each year.
The Muse Writers Center serves the Hampton Roads literary community by offering scholarships and tuition help and by running outreach programs to youth, seniors, and the military community. It hosts diverse and culturally relevant literary events, readings, open mics, and special events at The Muse, around the region, and online, and will host more than 400 literary events and readings in a year, attracting more than 10,000 people. Its outreach includes engaging and creative programs for youth and schools, senior living communities, and the military community, with several monthly programs in senior and assisted living centers and for veterans, service members, and their families, both at The Muse and in military libraries and bases. Its program for youth includes monthly outreach to schools and youth organizations, and the Teen Writers Fellowship is open to high school sophomores and juniors from every corner of Hampton Roads, where participants attend 20 creative writing classes, work one-on-one with published mentors, hold four readings, and attend the Hampton Roads Writers Conference to attend workshops and pitch to agents.
Parent and student comments describe The Muse Writers Center as a place where one person has felt “the most ‘at home’ I’ve felt in a long time” and another says, “The Muse keeps me afloat, and is the best community I’ve ever found.” A young writer reports that it is “the place where I can open my mind and let my thoughts out,” noting improvement in poetry, new interest in screenwriting, and short story ideas from classes, and shares a goal of a career as a professional author and poet. Other feedback thanks the center for “creating an outlet and community” and notes being “always impressed by the caliber of the instructors and my fellow students,” while another comment states that it is “an amazing place” that is available even when the writer cannot afford to pay and that “it is a quality place, and I am learning so much.”
Last updated January 20, 2026.
• Ages: 6–17 years old
Since the early 2000s, The Muse Writers Center has grown into one of the top-10 writers centers nationally and operates as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Its mission states that, because it believes in the transformative power of the literary arts, its aim is to embrace both established and emerging writers as well as those who want to write but have not had the opportunity to be guided by great teachers. The center offers in-person, online, and hybrid creative writing classes, workshops, and seminars in every genre for beginning and experienced writers, including children and teens, and its motto is “Write Where You Are.” It never turns anyone away from a class because of their financial situation, has provided tuition help and scholarships to more than 4,000 people, and notes that about 17% of its students are on tuition assistance. It is the only center in the nation that offers tuition assistance to anyone who wants to take a class but cannot afford one and awards three $500 college scholarships each year.
The Muse Writers Center serves the Hampton Roads literary community by offering scholarships and tuition help and by running outreach programs to youth, seniors, and the military community. It hosts diverse and culturally relevant literary events, readings, open mics, and special events at The Muse, around the region, and online, and will host more than 400 literary events and readings in a year, attracting more than 10,000 people. Its outreach includes engaging and creative programs for youth and schools, senior living communities, and the military community, with several monthly programs in senior and assisted living centers and for veterans, service members, and their families, both at The Muse and in military libraries and bases. Its program for youth includes monthly outreach to schools and youth organizations, and the Teen Writers Fellowship is open to high school sophomores and juniors from every corner of Hampton Roads, where participants attend 20 creative writing classes, work one-on-one with published mentors, hold four readings, and attend the Hampton Roads Writers Conference to attend workshops and pitch to agents.
Parent and student comments describe The Muse Writers Center as a place where one person has felt “the most ‘at home’ I’ve felt in a long time” and another says, “The Muse keeps me afloat, and is the best community I’ve ever found.” A young writer reports that it is “the place where I can open my mind and let my thoughts out,” noting improvement in poetry, new interest in screenwriting, and short story ideas from classes, and shares a goal of a career as a professional author and poet. Other feedback thanks the center for “creating an outlet and community” and notes being “always impressed by the caliber of the instructors and my fellow students,” while another comment states that it is “an amazing place” that is available even when the writer cannot afford to pay and that “it is a quality place, and I am learning so much.”
Last updated January 20, 2026.
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