IYWS (Iowa Young Writers Studio) vs. Kenyon Young Writers : An Honest Comparison
by Heidi Nam
I attended two writing workshops this summer: IYWS (Iowa Young Writers Studio) and Kenyon Young Writers. Both are renowned programs in the states so I was thrilled to have been accepted to them simultaneously. Additionally, I was accepted to the Young Writers Workshop at Bard College at Simon’s Rock, but was unable to attend due to schedule conflicts.
Due to COVID, IYWS and Kenyon Young Writers were both held online this year, which was unfortunate but not crippling to the sense of community that nevertheless developed during the respective workshops. My peers were still wonderful writers and human beings (the same goes for my instructors), and thanks to the supranational, omnipresent online network also known as Discord, I never felt alone. People made specific channels for introductions, feedback, different instructor groups, etc. I found myself marveling at the neat organization and rapid-fire communication within those virtual rooms. It was easy to both seek advice and provide it to others. When I was awake and typing, it was guaranteed that somebody else with a burning urge to say something was also awake and typing somewhere on the other side of the world, in an unknown country and time zone. This interconnectedness and sense of community excited me because suddenly, I had hundreds of other writers around me with diverse interests and backgrounds, and their work was readily available to me, which drove me to bring my own A-game to both synchronous and asynchronous sessions. Most importantly, it helped to elevate my writing to a higher level, and I felt proud of the fact that I wasn’t growing alone; I was growing together with my talented peers, feeding off of the synergy we created as a community. My take on COVID during writing workshops is that it doesn’t really affect the vitality of the workshops and the people within them. Regardless of the pandemic, young writers worldwide continue to create and make their voices heard, and when we come together, we are a supernova.
Now, for the comparison. This will be divided into four different subcategories: structure, content, community, events. For each category, there will be a winner (either IYWS or Kenyon Young Writers). This analysis is based primarily on my own experience with both programs so please do accept it for what it is: my personal opinion. Obviously it will be biased because there are different types of workshops for both programs — I attended the “Words and Wonders” workshop for Kenyon Young Writers and the Playwriting workshop (new this year) for IYWS — other people probably participated in a different selection of workshops. Nevertheless, I encourage you all to leave comments about your own experiences/thoughts pertaining to either or both IYWS and Kenyon Young Writers! For simplicity’s sake, I will abbreviate Iowa Young Writers Studio to “Iowa” , and Kenyon Young Writers to “Kenyon.”
1. Structure: Kenyon
→ Kenyon was definitely more organized in terms of the layout of events and how the information was communicated to us. For Kenyon, I was sent a full overview of the workshop layout (one week, refer to screenshot below). The daily schedules were detailed within. Events were communicated effectively via this overview table and the daily reminder emails from the incredible Ms. Tory Weber.
→ However, for IYWS, there was some confusion at the start because no one knew what was going to happen on the first day of workshopping — the schedule for the first day was sent quite literally, on the first day. No overview schedule was sent prior to the start of the camp, so my peers were messaging each other in confusion on Discord, trying to figure out if we would be writing that day. We only found out when Stephen (Mr. Stephen Lovely, who lived up to his name 100%) sent the daily schedule for that particular day at 10:00 AM EST. We continued to receive schedules daily for the entire two weeks, which was frustrating at times because it was hard to plan ahead for my other commitments without sufficient information available to me about how the program was going to run.
2. Content: Iowa
→ This was a hard category to decide a winner for, but I ultimately decided that Iowa had better content in terms of learning how to go about the craft of writing. Kenyon focused more on speeding up the process of writing itself, from start to finish. We participated in hours-long asynchronous sessions during which we wrote for twenty minutes, rested for five minutes, then presented our work. This sequence repeated until the end of the workshop period.
→ Iowa was different in that the sessions and writing challenges pushed us to study the rules/methods/how-to’s of writing. For example, in my Playwriting course, we covered different topics such as creating characters, the major dramatic question, dramatic tension, inciting incidents, and so on. We also read the work of other playwrights and were given specific writing tasks related to those readings as well as the topic of the day. To sum it up, Kenyon felt more like a free exploration on a mountain whereas Iowa felt like a guided hike or a tour. Both were great in their respective ways, but I do feel that there were more opportunities to receive directed guidance during the Iowa workshop
3. Community: Kenyon
→ We had synchronous sessions every day during Kenyon for an entire week, so it was easy to get to know people and to “fall in love with their words” (quoted from Mr. David Hall). Since we saw and talked to each other daily, we naturally became a tight group. It was easier to think of each other as living, breathing people once we saw everyone’s faces on Zoom.
→ My playwriting workshop at Iowa only held one synchronous session, and even then, I met with only half of our group because we were separated into two different cohorts. This was largely due to time availability — everyone’s schedules were so different that it was hard to find a time slot that worked for everyone. As a result, it was hard for me to connect with people within our group; there was no clear sense that we were on the same boat, and even when we met on Zoom (albeit half the group), it was the first and last time we ever did.
→ On a side note, although I appreciate the consideration for international students (I did not have to pull all nighters so thank you, Iowa), I do feel that planning out a schedule and dictating it to us would have worked better. Regardless of availability and time zone difference, everyone’s going to be present anyway because they’ve applied and paid to be there to learn more about writing — we’re writers, we love to write and we’re dedicated to our craft — so I feel that just setting a schedule in stone and asking us to adapt to that schedule would have been more effective in terms of organizing community and structure via synchronous sessions.
4. Events: Iowa
→ Iowa invited multiple guest writers to speak, read, and answer questions, and it was exciting to attend them because they ran the gamut. Some were playwrights, some were poets, and some were playwrights, and they all had unique personalities and styles. They all had feedback to give, but they concerned different aspects of writing. Being part of even one of those synchronous meetings/discussions was akin to attending a crash course/masterclass on writing — they were incredibly exciting and whenever I was unable to attend them due to time difference, the feeling of missing out nagged at me for the entire day. I had the chance to interact with Sam Collier, C. Pam Zhang and Monica West. Meeting them after reading their work added another level of depth to the discussions, and the energy was palpable even through the Zoom screen.
→ This is not to say that Kenyon didn’t host guest speakers; they certainly did. Iowa happened to host more of them (it was two weeks long, while Kenyon was a week long, which allowed for more activities), and in a wider variety. They never felt redundant and were unfailingly engaging.
→ During Iowa, Stephen also held big group Zoom calls every morning and anyone could attend to brainstorm and write. I remember talking about important issues like mental health, and we went off on such a tangent that we forgot entirely about writing and just stayed in the Zoom room to listen and contribute. Everybody in attendance was so invested; our tiny Zoom hands were up and waiting, and after we finished speaking, our Zoom hands lined up again like children cueing and re-cueing at the scariest ride at an amusement park.
→ Both programs held open mic sessions and talent shows, and in contrary to common belief, they were not awkward. If anything, because they were voluntary events as opposed to mandatory events, you were guaranteed that participants were present because they were deeply invested in listening to others’ work and presenting their own, and also willing to use their time to meet new people and have a bit of fun. Overall, both programs were wonderful.
*TMIs:
- After Kenyon finishes, you have to send in a piece you produced during the length of the program, which will be published as part of a huge, 200–300 page long anthology. Seeing your work included in a great big tome is a hugely satisfactory sensation. Also, you receive access to a free one-year subscription to the Kenyon Review upon completion of the program! Additionally, you’re referred to as Kenyon Young Writers Alums from that point on, which feels like an elevation in status, almost.
- This is separate from the Iowa program itself, but a group of dedicated peers in the Iowa discord room got together to organize a post-camp writing workshop series. So people could attend the live meetings and write there, just like you would do as part of a writing program. I couldn’t attend due to schedule conflicts, but they seemed to be very structured and regular. To my knowledge, this post-camp series is still continuing as of now. In my opinion, it is Iowa’s large network of people that allows for these kinds of organized, creative efforts even after the official program is done.
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That’s my take on IYWS and Kenyon Young Writers — I was exceptionally privileged and lucky to have been given the chance to attend both. I hope this comparative review provides writers in high school with a bit of insight when it comes to choosing which writing programs to apply to / choose from. If you are a young writer like me, I would urge you to attend multiple workshops if you can, because you have mountains to gain and nothing to lose.
