Kelly Writers House
Founded in 1995 by a group of students, faculty, staff and alumni, the Kelly Writers House is an actual 15-room house at 3805 Locust Walk on Penn’s campus that serves as a center for writers of all kinds from Penn and the Philadelphia region at large. Each year the Writers House hosts approximately 150 public programs and projects — poetry readings, film screenings, open mic nights, seminars, dinners, radio broadcasts, workshops, art exhibits, and musical performances — and about 500 people visit the House each week. Via dozens of online discussion groups, courses, podcasts, and other digital projects, we link writers and readers from across the country and around the world.
Events
Events and Series Highlights
Visit our calendar for information about our public events. All events are free and open to the public.
Kelly Writers House Fellows Program
The Kelly Writers House Fellows Program invites three eminent writers to campus for intensive two-day visits.
The Friedman Fiction Program welcomes eminent novelists to the KWH for in-depth discussions about their work.
The Weber Symposium celebrates great writing about economics, finance, business, and tech.
Digital projects, classes, and resources
Log in from anywhere in the world to join this fast-paced, open online course about modern and contemporary U.S. poetry, with an emphasis on experimental verse.
A monthly podcast series hosted by Al Filreis, featuring a roundtable discussion of poetry.
An online magazine for articles, reviews, and commentary about modern and contemporary poetry and poetics.
Book groups convene by email or Zoom for ten-day discussions about books and other writing.
Opportunities for Penn students
Penn students organize and sustain all kinds of creative communities, including writing exchange groups, knitting collectives, magazines, and film clubs.
RealArts@Penn internships, mentorships, and apprenticeships
RealArts@Penn offers a suite of opportunities for Penn students, including paid summer internships at cultural institutions across the country.
KWH is home to many of the writing courses offered by Penn’s Creative Writing Program.
Opportunities for high school students
High School Summer Workshop
A ten-day summer residential program for promising high school writers.
Student recruitment
Want to visit Writers House as a prospective student? Start here!
