Writers in the Schools (WITS)

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Writers in the Schools (WITS)

Writing is the Key to life

At Writers in the Schools (WITS), we believe storytelling reveals our truest selves — and that creativity prepares children for a successful future. For more than 40 years, WITS has connected young people with professional writers and spoken word artists to unlock the joy and power of creative expression. Together with our community, we’ve served more than 500,000 students, helping each discover c

onfidence, empathy, and imagination through writing. As we expand our programs and partnerships, your support helps us reach even more young storytellers across Houston and beyond.

💛 Support WITS today: https://igfn.us/form/5GLqhw

09/01/2026

Last month, we hosted our now-annual back-to-school event for WITS Teaching Artists, Make & Mix with WITS--a wonderful way to reconnect after a long summer and a good reason to get crafty! We collaborated with our friends at Jardin and Brasil again this year with Isabel Wislon hosting our upcycled cactus-crafting session at Jardin and Dan Fergus’ wonderful team at Brasil serving us cold drinks on what was another hot Houston evening. We had a fantastic time, and we’re so thankful to everyone who joined us!🌵

Keep your eye on this space for news of how our incredible teaching artists are inspiring young writers in classrooms and community spaces around the city this fall! 📝

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08/31/2026

Writers ages 13-19, submit your poetry, fiction, and multi-genre work for publication in The WITS Review! The WITS Review is a literary journal for Houston teens, by Houston teens, and your work could be featured in the inaugural issue. The deadline for your work to be considered for this issue is TOMORROW, September 1st, 11:59 p.m. Head to the link in our bio to submit your work! Submission is free.

08/26/2026

WITS is adding to our team! We are hiring for a Program Associate focused on our "Performers" programming--poetry and performance education delivered across schools and community spaces! The ideal candidate has 3+ years of relevant work experience and is passionate about slam poetry and creative opportunities for young people. If that's you or someone you know, you can find details and submit an application at witshouston.org/jobs.

08/24/2026

Back to school! 📚🤩 At WITS, we love this time of year. We are reunited with our students in the classroom, after-school programming resumes, and we are back at The Menil Collection hosting students on writing trips at the museum. We know that the ideas students are just starting to form now will become works that make them beam with pride when they are published in student anthologies at the end of the year.

If you are interested in bringing WITS to your school this year, head to the link in our bio where you will find the contact form to connect with our team about school-day programming, as well as an interest form for Club WITS (after school programming). Wishing all the best to your family at the start of this new year!

08/20/2026

WITS is hiring Teaching Artists! Professional writers of all kinds--poets, fiction writers, memoirists, spoken word artists, journalists, playwrights, and all storytellers--are encouraged to apply!

About the role:
💠 Part-time, contract role; pay ranges from $60-$75 per hour, depending upon program placement.
💠 Teach creative writing and performance workshops to students in schools, after-school programs, hospitals, community centers, parks, museums, and other locations across the city of Houston.
💠 Applicants should be professional writers with school day (8am-4pm) availability during the school year.

Share the joy of creative writing with young people as a teaching artist with Writers in the Schools! See the link in our bio to apply today.

08/14/2026

Ring ring! Last call to be a part of WITS' community-written mystery! Submit your student's creations in response to the Summer Writing Project by tomorrow, August 15th, for their suspects and characters to be considered for inclusion in the resulting story that will PREMIERE at the WITS Gala 2026!

See the link in our bio for the link to submit your student's creation. Haven't participated yet? There's still time! The same link will take you to the project packet for a fun, free Saturday activity that allows you to create from anywhere.

We can't wait to finally discover who stole the missing couplet!

08/11/2026

Writers in the Schools is hiring Teaching Artists! Professional writers of all kinds--poets, fiction writers, memoirists, spoken word artists, journalists, non-fiction writers, and all storytellers--are encouraged to apply!

About the role: WITS Teaching Artists are part-time contract workers who teach creative writing and performance workshops to students in schools, after-school programs, hospitals, community centers, parks, museums, and other locations across the city of Houston. Applicants should be professional writers with school day (8am-4pm) availability during the school year.

Share the joy of creative writing with young people as a teaching artist with Writers in the Schools! See the link in our bio to apply today.

08/06/2026

The WITS Review is calling! Submissions are OPEN for Volume I of The WITS Review, a teen literary magazine for writers age 13-19. Head to the link in our bio to submit your poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and genre bending work to be considered for digital publication! While you're there, be sure to join the mailing list to receive this issue free in your inbox.

Work will be selected around this issue's theme of "Firsts." From Kate Burke, the magazine editor:

"Every first carries the possibility of something unexpected. As we launch the inaugural issue of the WITS Review, we invite you to interpret the theme of “firsts” in a way that resonates with you. From first loves to first tries, this theme is all about monumental firsts, personal firsts, and the ones that may not seem as big to others as they are to you."

08/05/2026

Calling all Houston poets ages 13-17! Submissions are still open to submit your poetry for the anthology being created for release at the upcoming "Jornada de poesía en espanish," organized by the University of Houston’s Ph.D. Program in Creative Writing in Spanish. Submission is free and the deadline has been extended! Submit by September 10th for your entry to be considered.

⭐ Poems can be in English, Spanish, Spanglish, espanish, or any combination of these. Suggested topics include family, friendship, the city of Houston, memory, remembering, Spanglish, espanish, Houston culture, and life between two or more languages. ⭐

About the anthology: The anthology seeks to become an archive of the present: a space that brings together a new generation of voices exploring, with the boldness, wonder, and freedom of youth, the many ways they live in, inhabit, imagine, write, and create Houston.

+ Remember to mark your calendars for the event itself on Friday, October 16, 2026, at the University of Houston!

Link in bio to submit your work!

08/04/2026

Poets, the time is now! The deadline to apply to be the 2026-2027 Houston Youth Poet Laureate is TOMORROW night, 8/5, at 11:59 p.m. CST! If you are age 14-19 and live in Houston, there's still time to submit your application for this prestigious fellowship. So, what are you waiting for? Put yourself out there! We can't wait to read your work.

Address

1414 Sul Ross Street
Houston, TX
77006

Telephone

+17135233877

Website

https://linktr.ee/witshouston

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