Since 1995, InsideOut Literary Arts has helped 80,000 of Detroit’s youth build their literary and academic skills through creative writing. As Detroit’s largest and oldest literary non-profit, InsideOut serves more than 100 classrooms and community sites annually. Our mission is to inspire students to think broadly, create bravely, and share their voices with the wider world.
InsideOut’s in-school Writer-in-Residence program places professional writers in elementary, middle, and high schools throughout Detroit to provide weekly creative writing workshops. Every student is featured in a professionally published literary journal at the end of each school year.
Our after-school program, Citywide Poets, engages teens in intensive artistic mentorship, publication, performance, and leadership opportunities. In this rigorous and supportive literary community, teens learn their words are powerful and embrace creative expression as a tool for self-development and civic engagement.