Writopia Lab's Youth Essay Conference

The submission deadline for our 2026 symposium is February 2nd, 2026. Click here to submit!

Each year, we invite essayists (ages 12-18) to share their original thoughts, research, and experiences publicly, and engage in conversation and celebration for their non-fiction writing. We’re continuing in that tradition this year, and expanding it into something bigger.

This year, we invite you to submit not just essays, but also panels and presentations related to the writing process and voice, for Writopia Lab’s Essay Conference and Symposium: Process and Original Voice.

What is a symposium and why are we inviting you to it?
It’s a fancy word for a conference with an exciting array of panels and discussions. We’re curious about your process. We’re invested in your original voice. We’re wondering—as more students reach for ChatGPT and AI for answers to solutions—if both of these are getting lost somewhere in the mix. And so we’re trying something new this spring to explore and celebrate your unique process and original voice.

Ways you can take part.
You are welcome to submit any of the following to the event.

• Your original essays on process and voice--as always, we want to read your essays, and to give you the platform to share them, but this year we are asking for essays that center around the theme of process and original voice. These can be personal essays, academic, persuasive, expository, or creative non-fiction. 
• Proposals for 'Topia Talks--(our version of TED Talks) that highlight a discovery you made or an aha moment that you had. (Here’s an example that we particularly like; head over to the TED Talks site for more.)
• Proposals for Panels--This is a presentation or conversation with a group of experts on a specific given topic. You can submit to this with a full group of peers. (Check out this example of a youth panel on social media to get an idea.)
• Or a proposal of any other kind that might fit within our theme.

All submissions (whether essays or proposals) should fit the theme of process and original voice, specifically linked to writing and reading. Maybe you’d like to highlight a discovery you made while reading or writing, a step in your writing process, a journal of your voice, a discussion of a craft element, a writing game or exercise you created, or something we haven’t thought of. This is an opportunity to share your process and your voice with a wider audience.

Please fill out this form, and share your essay or proposal as a Google Doc with essays@writopialab.org. (Please be sure to give full editing access.)

Please note that as we celebrate your original process and voice, pieces that are discovered to have used generative AI in the making will not be considered for the symposium. This is a part of the reason we are asking for Google Docs, so that we can see your process.

Do you have questions? Feel free to send them to elsa@writopialab.org and matthew@writopialab.org.