Young Authors Greenhouse

Young Authors Greenhouse inspires students ages 6-18 to recognize the power of their voices and stories.

At Young Authors Greenhouse, we know young people are not just future leaders, but current leaders. Young people are often left out of important conversations, but we know their voices and imaginations are essential to a more just and joyful future. All of our programs are designed around this fact. Through our programs, students have real agency. We provide free writing programs in schools, online, and at our center in the Beechmont neighborhood. Whether students are collaborating with musicians to turn poetry into songs; writing college application essays, poems, or short stories; or serving on our paid Youth Voice Committee, our mission is to create a space where young voices are taken seriously. 

We are excited to share our new, upcoming, completely youth-dreamed-and-designed program, Between Worlds: Stories to and from Home. We will run workshops across Louisville and beyond centered around the theme of home, giving students across Kentucky the opportunity to submit writing for publication. Our Youth Voice Committee—a small group of middle and high schoolers—is designing the curriculum and will select and edit the submissions. 

In the words of the Youth Voice Committee: 

 “Home is made of stories—stories that can be packed up and ferried across an ocean or passed down to eager-eyed children. For some, home is shaped by the smells and flavors of their cultures, for others, home is shaped by the flora and fauna of their surroundings. The purpose of this anthology project is to reconstruct Kentucky through stories of people who have called it home at any point in their lives. We are looking for writing that pushes past the notion that we are “from” just one place, and explore all the things that make us who we are and what makes a home a home, a community a community—memories, language, movement, family, friends, food, and places. Through poems, essays, interviews (making this our first intergenerational publication!), and song lyrics, we will seek to bring these stories to life and tie ideas and themes to answer the question, what is home to Kentuckians?” 

This year, your donation will directly support growing this project through: 

• Student stipends: we believe in compensating our students for the work they are doing, including creating prompt booklets, marketing materials, program plans, curriculum, giving fellow students feedback, and reviewing and editing submissions to the book project. 
• Program supplies: printing prompt booklets to be distributed across the community, snacks for our after-school programs. 
• Staff compensation: in order to grow this program, we need to grow our team of staff and Teaching Artists. We believe in creating well-compensated, sustainable opportunities for people to join our work. 
• Publication support: funding professional designers and illustrators to create materials and design books, as well as printing the anthology. 

All while keeping our programs completely free to schools and families! 

Join us in growing this work, deeply rooted in Kentucky. Your gift today helps young people share their stories!