Writers Week: Summer Writing & Theatre for Teens

Creative writing is at the heart of Writers Week. Each day begins with a dedicated writing workshop, creating a collaborative environment for writers to try new genres, discuss craft elements and explore their voice on the page. Led by two MFA Writing Graduate Students, the writing workshop consists of generative writing prompts across genres, opportunities to share work in progress, and collaborative creative exercises. We strive to meet each writer where they’re at, empowering them to trust their creative instincts and take risks on the page. The workshop is informed by contemporary and classic texts, as well as guest author talks, pop culture and students’ interests. Workshops may discuss craft elements for genres including speculative fiction, poetry, memoir, novel writing, flash fiction, romance, fantasy and more. At the end of the week, each writer can expect to have a host of new ideas to write about, craft techniques to explore, and genuine encouragement on their writing style.

The work of the writer and theatre professional are similar—both investigate storytelling, character performance, narrative, and more. When studied together, these two related disciplines can produce holistic and more informed writers capable of creating work that reaches broad audiences. In this course, the creative process is explored in an intuitive and spontaneous fashion through improvisation, group projects, and games. Faculty and students participate together to give form and shape to both individual and collective expression. No prior theatre experience is necessary. Students select their theatre specialty. Sample theatre workshops include: Screenwriting, Comedy Sketch Writing, Musical songwriting, Playwriting, and more.

Lead Writing Teachers:

Nadia Rabbani is a recent graduate of Sarah Lawrence's MFA in Writing. She reads and writes speculative fiction. She loves weaving elements from her North African heritage as well as creating a diverse case of characters, drawing from her variety of interests. This is her second year teaching for the Writing Institute's Writers Week. She likes finding new ways to play and collaborate in writing.

Hannah Butcher-Stell is a poet based in New Jersey, pursuing an MFA in Writing at Sarah Lawrence College. She holds a BA in English from Rollins College. Her co-authored fiction has appeared in Sky Island Journal, Newfound Journal, and The Headlight Review, while her poetry can be found in places like Poets.org, Sequestrum, Vita Poetica, and The Lehrhaus. She currently works as Communications Manager for a growing nonprofit.

Zachariah Claypole White is a Philadelphia-based writer and educator, originally from North Carolina. He holds an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College, where he was a Jane Cooper Poetry Fellow. His work has appeared in, or is forthcoming from, Southeast Review, Strange Horizons, Prairie Schooner, and The Rumpus, amongst others. Zachariah has received support from the Kenyon Review Writers Workshop, Writer’s Digest, and Disquiet International. His awards include Flying South's poetry prize as well as two nominations for the Best of the Net and one for a Pushcart Prize. Zachariah teaches at the Community College of Philadelphia, Saint Joseph’s University, and Manor College.

Christina Vega is an SLC MFA in writing graduate and a current MSW student at the University of Kentucky. When she isn’t attempting to write weird things, she is working with women experiencing homelessness in North Carolina, where she relocated shortly after graduating last spring. In the future, she hopes to combine her passions of writing and working with people to better serve her target population in the mental health field.

Lead Theatre Teachers:

Kea Trevett (she/her) is an artist based in Brooklyn. NY acting credits include Roundabout, Classic Stage Company, Lincoln Center, Ars Nova, Ensemble Studio Theatre, and The Sheen Center. An Outfest Screenwriting Fellow, a NYSCA Support for Artists grantee, and a NYFA NYC Women’s Fund recipient, Kea’s film collaborations have screened at festivals including Outfest, Newfest, Frameline, and Atlanta Film Festival. Kea recently adapted and directed a filmed mini series of Shakespeare’s As You Like It, and a touring theater production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, co-produced with Red Bull theater. Kea is a teaching artist for Theatre For A New Audience and Lincoln Center. www.keatrevett.com

Andrew Del Vecchio is a New York based Performer, Writer, and Teaching Artist. He is the lead Improv teacher for the Comedy Hall of Fame Foundation. He performs with the improv show On The Spot, as a company member with Live In Theatre, as an Understudy for Fever Production's presentation of The Jury Experience, and was a finalist in the 2025 NYC Twoprov Tournament. His plays have been produced across the country and often focus on using comedy to create safe spaces to discuss mental health. He received his MFA in Theatre here at Sarah Lawrence College. He is an Adjunct Faculty member in Theatre and Communication at The University of Mount Saint Vincent and in the Humanities at Southern New Hampshire University.

Alanna Coby’s plays have been celebrated by the Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Award, the O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, the Princess Grace Awards, The Austin Film Festival, The Jewish Playwriting Project, the Jane Chambers Award for Excellence in Feminist Playwriting, and The Civilians, and her work supported through workshops and residences with the Alliance Theatre, Mabou Mines, The Drama League, Catskill Mountain Shakespeare, ShoutOut Saugerties, Dixon Place, SITI Company, The Brick, and IRT Theater. MFA NYU, 2021. BA Sarah Lawrence College, 2008.

Jermaine Rowe is a multi-disciplinary artist who was the recent Associate Director of Watch Night for the inaugural season of the Perelman Performing Arts Center (Fall 2023). He was the 2024 SUITE/Space Mabou Mines Resident for his one man show “Transitions”, and his musical Legend of the Rolling Calf was in the 2024 TheTeam’s Perti Lab residency. As an actor, Jermaine was awarded CT Circle Award for best actor in Lyn Nottage’s Mlima’s Tale. His other credits include The Lion King, Fela!, Dance Theatre of Harlem, and National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica. He is a Professor of Acting at LaGuardia Community College and HB Studio, and holds an MFA in Theatre from Sarah Lawrence, and BA in Journalism from the University of the West Indies. www.jermainerowe.com

Assistant Teachers:

Jackie Jennings is a first year MFA student at Sarah Lawrence concentrating in speculative fiction. She's currently a writer for Jezebel with a monthly column called Fantasy Aisle. Before that, she was a host on the SYFY channel and longtime performer at the UCB Theater in New York City. She's written for shows like The Chris Gethard Show, My Brother, My Brother & Me, and Baited with Ziwe on YouTube. Jackie lives in Brooklyn with her husband and son.

Lizzy Quincy (she/her) is a first year fiction student at Sarah Lawrence College’s MFA Writing program. She is originally from Boston, Massachusetts, and received her Bachelor of Arts from Bennington College, where she studied Literature and Theater. Lizzy has experience working in publishing as an intern for Green Writers Press, as well as working with young people as a teacher at Serious Fun After School. She mostly writes about deep friendships and family bonds, with some elements of mythology and comedy mixed in. You can find Lizzy most days exploring a new coffee shop or bookstore, or having fun at an improv comedy jam.

Noor Tannir (she/her) was born and raised in Beirut, Lebanon and is currently based in New York, where she is pursuing her MFA in Creative Nonfiction at Sarah Lawrence College. She has previously worked as a Junior Curator for independent art initiative Barjeel Art Foundation in Dubai, UAE. She graduated from the American University of Beirut in 2018 with a BA in Art History and minors in Philosophy and Film & Visual Culture. Her personal essays have appeared in Haven for Artist’s 'ManbouZine,' UAE-based 'Postscript Magazine,' Şerābi's zine-anthology, Northern Arizona University’s 'Thin Air Magazine,' Ohio University’s 'Quarter After Eight,' and miniskirt magazine.

Hi! I'm Megan Stenman. I am a second year MFA student at Sarah Lawrence College in their writing program. I write Speculative Fiction with a little bit of everything sprinkled on top. I love to read (and write) all things dystopian, end-of-the-worldy, and I have a special love for stories with a wacky forest. I love all things nature related, both in books, and in the real world. When I'm not writing, you can find me exploring a new neighborhood in the city, or at the beach staring dramatically out at the sea, contemplating the meaning of existence.

Lead Writing Teachers:

Cléo Charpantier is a tried and true Californian trying out the East Coast for size. She is currently getting her MFA in Creative Writing at Sarah Lawrence College. Cléo writes short stories and personal essays that often focus on friendship and home (and the way friends can sometimes become homes). You can find some of her recent essays in her Autodidact Newsletter. Previously, Cléo worked at 826 Valencia, a writing-education non-profit in foggy San Francisco. She attended Occidental College in sunny Los Angeles, where she studied Philosophy and Economics. In her downtime, Cléo can often be found on a bike on her way to the park, or at the beach, book in hand.

Sam Jacobson is in the MFA program at Sarah Lawrence College. He teaches in the Right to Write program at the Westchester County Jail and has taught at SUNY Purchase and at last year's Writer's Week. Sam is a student of Zen, principles and practices of which inform his writing. His work explores the bardo between tragedy and satire, earning him the nickname “The Boy Who Cried Funny”.

Dana Sirois is a German Vietnamese writer, educator, visual artist, and former fashion designer. She is a graduate student at Sarah Lawrence College's MFA in Writing Program, concentrating in Nonfiction and Translation. Her writing can be found in Mother Muse Magazine and Wildling Magazine. Her visual art and fashion have been exhibited at Las Lagunas Gallery and Jason McCoy Gallery, as well as at Playtime New York and Paris. Dana lives with her husband, daughter, and dog in Brooklyn, where she works on translating a novella and writing a memoir.

Mayzie Sattler (she/her) is a poet from Upstate New York. She is a first year MFA candidate at Sarah Lawrence College, where she serves as Poetry Editor at Lumina Journal. Her poems have appeared in Coffin Bell Journal and WILDsound Writing Festival. She lives, works and studies in Yonkers, NY.

Tyson Ellis Berardo (he/they) is a poet in Sarah Lawrence’s MFA program. He is from Morristown, New Jersey, where he received his BA in English. His poems often explore the body, queerness, and identity, while tinkering with form and language. When he isn’t writing or hyperfixating over one word, Tyson can be found riding horses and researching dinosaurs—usually at the same time!

Lead Theatre Teachers:

Julia Duffy is a graduate of the MFA Theatre program at Sarah Lawrence College, and the creator of the Things Unsaid podcast, a monthly mystery/science-fiction audio drama.

Chris Gonzalez is a Brooklyn-based playwright and creative director whose work straddles theater, dance, and media. He’s the Creative Director of the feath3r theory, and a member of both the Actors Studio’s Playwrights/Directors Unit and Ensemble Studio Theatre’s Playwrights Unit. His produced plays include Precipice at Third Rail Repertory and The Americans, Goth Cabaret, A Seagull, Another Dialogue, and Aw, Hell with the Portland Experimental Theater Ensemble. He’s taught writing and devised performance at the Institute of Contemporary Performance and Portland Playhouse. He’s a recipient of the James Baldwin Memorial Scholarship for Playwriting.

Andrew Del Vecchio is a New York based Performer, Writer, and Teaching Artist. He is the lead Improv teacher for the Comedy Hall of Fame Foundation. He performs with the improv show On The Spot, as a company member with Live In Theatre, as an Understudy for Fever Production's presentation of The Jury Experience, and was a finalist in the 2025 NYC Twoprov Tournament. His plays have been produced across the country and often focus on using comedy to create safe spaces to discuss mental health. He received his MFA in Theatre here at Sarah Lawrence College. He is an Adjunct Faculty member in Theatre and Communication at The University of Mount Saint Vincent and in the Humanities at Southern New Hampshire University.

Nicki Miller (she/her) is an interdisciplinary theatre maker, aerial artist, performer, writer, and movement educator interested in art and performance that ignites the imagination, troubles the intellect, and nourishes the body. Rather than approaching artistic work from a discipline-specific focus, interdisciplinary art and performance emerges through poetic relationships between her skills and interests in the arts, ceremony, ecology, and embodiment. Nicki holds an undergraduate degree in Drama from Syracuse University, several movement coaching certifications, and an MFA in Theatre at Sarah Lawrence College. She currently teaches at Pace University (Aerial Arts, Movement) and for various studio programs. Learn more: nickimiller.com

Blair Baker (they/them) is a New York and Los Angeles-based actor, director, and writer interested in the intersection between storytelling, feminism, and LGTBQ voices. As an actor, they have worked extensively in New York, including Broadway, California, and regionally. Some stage credits include: Smart (W.H.A.T.), The Slow Dance (59e59), Peter Pan Goes Wrong(Center Theatre Group), The Play That Goes Wrong (First National Tour, Off-Broadway), The Humans (Broadway, Roundabout Theatre Company), Goldie, Max & Milk (59e59), Oleanna (Broadway, Mark Taper Forum, Bristol Riverside Theater), title role in Hvmlet (SheNYC). TV/Film: The Perfect Couple, Bull, Ghosts of Christmas Always (Hallmark), Billions, Blue Bloods, Harlem.www.blairbaker.info

Assistant Teachers:

Kerry Kurdziel is a poet currently living in New York. Her work has appeared in Bear Review, Columbia Journal, and Muzzle Magazine. Kerry is an MFA candidate at Sarah Lawrence College.

Gena Huynh (she/they) is a speculative fiction writer in Sarah Lawrence’s MFA program. She is Vietnamese-American and from California. They write about beauty culture, body modification/transformation, cyberpunk, and near-futures. Through her work, she seeks to analyze and critique techno-Orientalism. When not writing, they can be found reading manga, painting their nails, or taking long walks.

Molly McConnell (she/her) is a writer, editor, and student. Not yet sated by her BFA in Playwriting from Southern Methodist University, she now advances inexorably on an MFA in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College. Home was originally in Florida, then Texas, and now New York. Well, Yonkers. She likes bad movies and worse food.

Natalie Rose Goldberg (she/her) is a writer based in New York City. She teaches creative writing courses at the Westchester County Department of Correction and is currently pursuing an MFA in creative nonfiction at Sarah Lawrence College. Previously, Natalie worked as a multimedia journalist, writing articles and producing documentaries, docuseries, TV shows, and podcasts for VICE, CNN, and CNBC. Natalie is also a graduate of Columbia University where she was awarded the undergraduate creative writing prize in 2024. In her free time, she loves hiking, cooking, and climbing.

Ben Heller was born and raised in Texas and earned his B.A. in Education from the University of Texas before coming to New York. This fall, he will start his 2nd year in Sarah Lawrence's Creative Writing Masters program focused on Speculative Fiction. He prefers to start any new story with pen and paper so if you know a smooth writing pen that doesn't smear when used in the left-hand, let him know!

Lead Writing Teachers:

Cléo Charpantier is a tried and true Californian trying out the East Coast for size. She is currently getting her MFA in Creative Writing at Sarah Lawrence College. Cléo writes short stories and personal essays that often focus on friendship and home (and the way friends can sometimes become homes). You can find some of her recent essays in her Autodidact Newsletter. Previously, Cléo worked at 826 Valencia, a writing-education non-profit in foggy San Francisco. She attended Occidental College in sunny Los Angeles, where she studied Philosophy and Economics. In her downtime, Cléo can often be found on a bike on her way to the park, or at the beach, book in hand.

Sam Jacobson is in the MFA program at Sarah Lawrence College. He teaches in the Right to Write program at the Westchester County Jail and has taught at SUNY Purchase and at last year's Writer's Week. Sam is a student of Zen, principles and practices of which inform his writing. His work explores the bardo between tragedy and satire, earning him the nickname “The Boy Who Cried Funny”.

Ellie Gold Laabs was born in Boston at the turn of the century with an east coast sensibility and a penchant for big, and difficult questions. She is now a poet, living in New York with a harmonica and an obscenely full bookshelf.

Mayzie Sattler (she/her) is a poet from Upstate New York. She is a first year MFA candidate at Sarah Lawrence College, where she serves as Poetry Editor at Lumina Journal. Her poems have appeared in Coffin Bell Journal and WILDsound Writing Festival. She lives, works and studies in Yonkers, NY.

Tyson Ellis Berardo (he/they) is a poet in Sarah Lawrence’s MFA program. He is from Morristown, New Jersey, where he received his BA in English. His poems often explore the body, queerness, and identity, while tinkering with form and language. When he isn’t writing or hyperfixating over one word, Tyson can be found riding horses and researching dinosaurs—usually at the same time!

Lead Theatre Teachers:

Frank Barret (they/he) is a New York based performance maker and party host who creates communal rituals for social and structural change. Frank’s work invites everyone present to experience the pleasure and political power of collective attunement. They believe that art must be nimble in order to fulfill its essential function to make the revolution irresistible. In addition to acting in a variety of devised and published plays, Frank's original work includes song, improvisation, and collaborative decision making. Frank takes their inspiration from mycelial networks, kinesthetic intuition, and the role of trans people in contemporary american society as both harbingers and prophets.

Chris Gonzalez is a Brooklyn-based playwright and creative director whose work straddles theater, dance, and media. He’s the Creative Director of the feath3r theory, and a member of both the Actors Studio’s Playwrights/Directors Unit and Ensemble Studio Theatre’s Playwrights Unit. His produced plays include Precipice at Third Rail Repertory and The Americans, Goth Cabaret, A Seagull, Another Dialogue, and Aw, Hell with the Portland Experimental Theater Ensemble. He’s taught writing and devised performance at the Institute of Contemporary Performance and Portland Playhouse. He’s a recipient of the James Baldwin Memorial Scholarship for Playwriting.

Andrew Del Vecchio is a New York based Performer, Writer, and Teaching Artist. He is the lead Improv teacher for the Comedy Hall of Fame Foundation. He performs with the improv show On The Spot, as a company member with Live In Theatre, as an Understudy for Fever Production's presentation of The Jury Experience, and was a finalist in the 2025 NYC Twoprov Tournament. His plays have been produced across the country and often focus on using comedy to create safe spaces to discuss mental health. He received his MFA in Theatre here at Sarah Lawrence College. He is an Adjunct Faculty member in Theatre and Communication at The University of Mount Saint Vincent and in the Humanities at Southern New Hampshire University.

Nicki Miller (she/her) is an interdisciplinary theatre maker, aerial artist, performer, writer, and movement educator interested in art and performance that ignites the imagination, troubles the intellect, and nourishes the body. Rather than approaching artistic work from a discipline-specific focus, interdisciplinary art and performance emerges through poetic relationships between her skills and interests in the arts, ceremony, ecology, and embodiment. Nicki holds an undergraduate degree in Drama from Syracuse University, several movement coaching certifications, and an MFA in Theatre at Sarah Lawrence College. She currently teaches at Pace University (Aerial Arts, Movement) and for various studio programs. Learn more: nickimiller.com

Blair Baker (they/them) is a New York and Los Angeles-based actor, director, and writer interested in the intersection between storytelling, feminism, and LGTBQ voices. As an actor, they have worked extensively in New York, including Broadway, California, and regionally. Some stage credits include: Smart (W.H.A.T.), The Slow Dance (59e59), Peter Pan Goes Wrong(Center Theatre Group), The Play That Goes Wrong (First National Tour, Off-Broadway), The Humans (Broadway, Roundabout Theatre Company), Goldie, Max & Milk (59e59), Oleanna (Broadway, Mark Taper Forum, Bristol Riverside Theater), title role in Hvmlet (SheNYC). TV/Film: The Perfect Couple, Bull, Ghosts of Christmas Always (Hallmark), Billions, Blue Bloods, Harlem.www.blairbaker.info

Assistant Teachers: 

Max Thibault (she/her) is a first year fiction writer in Sarah Lawrence College's MFA in Creative Writing. She is originally from Duluth, Minnesota, where she also received her BA in English. Her work often focuses on complicated relationships along with a hint of the uncanny or bizarre. When she's not writing, she enjoys reading, doing yoga, and watching sitcom reruns.

Sasha Ravitch is an author, educator, consultant, and critic on the subjects of Cosmic Horrors (real/imagined) and Posthumanist Gothic/Imagination and Monster Theory in (Oc)culture, Literature, and Film. She professionally consults on aforementioned matters, presents at conferences, and writes criticism on these subjects. She has non-fiction with Hadean Press and a forthcoming manuscript with Revelore Press, as well as fiction in Cosmic Horror Monthly, Bloodletter Magazine, Cursed Morsels Press, Infested Publishing, and more. When not creating for Patreon, Substack, or MovieJawn, she teaches The Red Flesh Workshops, is a Speculative Fiction editor for Lumina Literary Journal, MFA candidate at Sarah Lawrence College, and EIC for antilogos press, an experimental horror zine press.

Julia Patterson (she/her) is a rising second-year fiction student in Sarah Lawrence College's MFA Writing program, originally from the Philadelphia area. She received her Bachelor of Arts from Fordham University, where she studied English, Creative Writing, and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. She worked with young people while interning at Start Lighthouse, a literacy nonprofit based in New York City, and through her several years as a nanny. She currently works as a content editor and copywriter for the Institute for Genomics Education, Workforce & Leadership at Sarah Lawrence. When not writing queer coming-of-age stories, you can usually find Julia wandering bookstores or walking on scenic trails.

Maya Chien is a rising second-year fiction student, and a New York City Native. Having earned a BA in Liberal Arts from Sarah Lawrence College, she is continuing her journey in the MFA program. In her writing, she enjoys exploring complex relationships between characters, and tries not to let plots get away from her. She loves her dog, eating good food, and caring way too much about TV shows.

Hayley Shucker received her MFA from Sarah Lawrence and her MA in English from CSULB. Her creative work has appeared or is forthcoming in Door is a Jar, Los Angeles Review, Reed Magazine, Adanna Literary Journal, and more. She is a Best of the Net nominee, a 2024 John Steinbeck Award for Fiction finalist, and a Spring 2024 BAFF winner for her short screenplay. She loves musical theater, cats, and baking. Find her on Instagram reclaiming her selfies @superhayleykaystuff.

Insightful information and activities that expanded my horizons and inspired me!

It was amazing! Fun, yet still productive and educational.

My instructors were so great! I loved the writing exercises—they made me step out of my comfort zone. I also loved that my teachers were so understanding and made sure to give us breaks and chances to chat and get to know each other better throughout camp.

I loved how my writing instructors brought me out of my comfort zone yet still helped make me feel safe in this environment. I got to experiment with a lot of genres, shared my own writing, and became inspired by hearing peers' work.

I didn't think I could do improv or a comedy routine, but my instructor made that possible. I had so much fun laughing with everyone in this class and realized that improv is not as difficult as I had initially believed. I also found out that I could be funny (something that I had doubted before). Our instructor also made sure everyone felt safe and that no one was making inappropriate jokes, and I appreciated that.

Can my student receive school credit?

We do not offer college credit for this program, though, if requested, we can send a letter to your student’s school confirming their participation in our summer program.

Will my student have homework?

Students typically do not receive homework, but may be asked to come prepared for the next class with fresh ideas. It is important to note that each workshop is run independently and the work they will be asked to do is dependent on the faculty members.

Does my student need to be an advanced writer?

This program is for anyone who has a desire to become a writer—to discover or fine tune the skills they already have. Whether the student is a beginner or an advanced writer, the faculty works with each student to create and move toward individual goals in a supportive, noncompetitive environment.

What is the theatre component of the program?

In The Writer’s Theatre workshops, the creative process is explored in an intuitive and spontaneous fashion through improvisation, group projects, and games. Faculty and students participate together to give form and shape to both individual and collective expression. No prior theatre experience is necessary.

Who are the instructors for the program?

Our courses are taught by dedicated education professionals and Master of Fine Arts Writing Program and Theatre Program candidates from Sarah Lawrence College. We also have a large support staff available to you and your student to assist with any questions that may arise.

Are scholarships available for Writers Week?

Limited scholarships are available to Yonkers Public School students, made possible by our partnership with the Yonkers Public Schools. Please contact your student’s principal for more details, or email the Writing Institute at writinginstitute@sarahlawrence.edu.

Virtual Session: $1,095 ($250 deposit)

On Campus Session: $1,750 ($250 deposit)

On Campus Session includes daily lunch & snacks

Deposit due at time of registration. Tuition remainder is due three weeks before the program begins. Deposits are non-refundable.