The Loft's Access Fund Pool is open for programming taking place in June 2025 - August 2026.  The Loft's Access Fund model allows you to submit a single online application to join the Pool and learn about Loft programs as they become available. The following programs are eligible for Loft Access Funds:

• Adult and youth education classes and workshops
• Year-Long Writing Project (separate application)

These opportunities are meant to reduce financial barriers to participation in Loft classes and are available to individuals who are experiencing financial hardship and to whom the cost of tuition is a barrier to participation. Once accepted, available seats are emailed out as they become available, about 1-2 times a month. These email alerts will give you access to a list of offerings that are access fund viable. If you are interested in any of these offerings, you will need to follow the given instructions to request a seat in the class. Seats for most offerings are available on a first-come, first-serve basis. If a seat is available, you will be given a promo code (applied during checkout) that will provide a 75% or 95% reduction in tuition for a class. The access fund recipient is responsible for the remaining 25% or 5% cost, which will vary depending on the regular price of the class. 

The Loft is committed to equity in our programming by creating opportunities for folks who face barriers to participation in artistic career development. While Loft class access funds are focused on reducing financial barriers, we want to strongly encourage individuals from historically marginalized communities to apply, including, but not limited to, Black and Indigenous people and people of color (BIPOC), LGBTQIA+ individuals, people with disabilities, as well as low income individuals.

It is not mandatory to provide proof of financial hardship, but if you would like to provide documentation**, please submit documentation that includes: 1) Your name & address 2) Public assistance program name**  3) A recent date. Then, use your mobile phone's camera, scanner, or good old snail mail to send us your documentation after, or along with your online application below.

More questions? Read our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). 

**Optional documentation, if provided, should include 1) Your name & address 2) Public assistance program name**  3) A recent date. Then, use your mobile phone's camera, scanner, or good old snail mail to send us your documentation after, or along with your online application. 

Examples of Accepted Public Assistance Programs:

• TANF
• MFIP
• General Assistance
• WIC
• Medicaid,  Medical Assistance, or Minnesota Care
• SSI (Disability, Not Retirement)
• Food Stamps
• Unemployment
• Section 8 Housing
• Free or Reduced Price School Meals

Thank you for your interest in teaching with the Loft! This proposal form is accepting applications on a rolling basis while this project is live.

On our website, we have resources and FAQs to assist you in submitting proposals. Before contacting Program Manager of Education Marianne Manzler <mmanzler@loft.org> with questions, please review the following:

• Reference Guide for Teaching Artists
• Inclusion, Equity, and Antiracism
• Loft Code of Conduct
• Submittable Guide

We offer optional office hours for proposal-related questions or application feedback to answer any questions. RSVP here for an upcoming teaching artist information session. Email edu@loft.org with any questions about the proposal process.

Loft’s Mission & Vision

The Loft advances the power of writers and readers to craft and share stories, to create and celebrate connections, and to build just, life-sustaining communities.

We envision a world where the power of the word liberates minds, deepens relationships, and inspires movements for people and planet. As an antiracist organization, the Loft develops literary experiences for writers, readers, and storytellers because racism dehumanizes people, and poetry and stories deepen our connection to our shared humanity. Recognizing the relationship between race, power, and resources, we prioritize the engagement of BIPOC/marginalized  communities and work for the equitable distribution of our power and resources.The Loft is dedicated to offering classes that are imaginative, multicultural, and responsive. We seek reading lists, class content, and approaches to discussions on craft that are inclusive and diverse, as well as timely, contemporary and accessible (readily available online, not out of print).

Teaching Statement

You must include a strong, considered statement on how your class plan and teaching strategies will align with the Loft’s goal to be equitable, inclusive, and anti-racist in its classrooms and with its programming. Here are some suggested resources—especially if you need help leading and navigating classroom discussions of student work as they relate to these topics:

• How to Be An Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi
• A Good Time for the Truth, edited by Sun Yung Shin
• Craft in the Real World by Matthew Salesses
• Anti-Racism Writing Workshop: How to Decolonize the Creative Classroom by Felicia Rose Chavez
• Appropriate: A Provocation by Paisley Rekdal

Online Learning Resources:

For an idea of how the Loft continues to build knowledge and capacity on this, please visit Team Dynamics.com and IDIInventory.com National SEED Project (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity) ASDICircle.org. These are just a few of the many resources available on creating an inclusive learning environment in your classroom; if you are unsure of how to do this, or don't understand how to articulate how your lesson plan and teaching strategies will create this kind of environment in your classroom, feel free to connect with the Loft's Education Manager before you propose your class - Marianne Manzler <mmanzler@loft.org>.

The Loft will deliver classes in two formats for the winter/spring term 2025 and summer term 2025:

• In-Person Classes take place at Open Book, in downtown Minneapolis, in a Loft classroom space.
• Online/Zoom Classes via Zoom. Multi-week Online/Zoom classes also come with the optional Google Classroom supplement to make materials available to students.

What We're Looking For

More long-term workshops; speculative nonfiction, children's literature and young adult, poetry, digital storytelling; youth classes

Classes that address the Loft Theme: TBD

Strong and flexible lesson plans. Loft classes give writers opportunities to engage with their teaching artist and one another, while also providing instruction on craft, engaging discussion, and in-class writing activities, as well as writing prompts students can work on between class meetings. Teaching artists are encouraged to give their students a syllabus or overview of the class on day one, as that gives them a sense of what to expect.

Single Session Classes. If this is your first time teaching a class with the Loft (or if you haven't taught a class with the Loft in the last five years), please only propose a single, 3-hour or 4-hour class. From there, we will gauge audience interest and can work together to see if a multi-week format is right for your class. Thank you!

Multi-week (4 week, 8 week, or 12 week) genre workshops that focus on craft and readings, generative writing exercises, community-building opportunities, and feedback-based workshops with written and verbal feedback and participation. Core values to emphasize: curiosity and creativity.

Please refer to the Loft’s Teacher Guide to see if your class might be a fit.
 

What we are not looking for

We have not had success with classes that feel academic in nature (e.g., assigning academic writing texts, theoretical texts, reading lists that are too long, reading workshops built around classics) or are too niche (e.g., somatic writing, writing in translation). Please get to know our catalog and current offerings to see what we do at loft.org.

Fall Class Proposal Timeline

Fall class proposals accepted April - May.

June - July 2025 | Education team selects classes and selection notification begins

July 2025 | Fall Registration Opens Online

September 17, 2025 - December 12, 2025 | Fall Session
 

Winter Proposal Timeline

Winter class proposals accepted June - August.

August-October 2025 | Education team reviews classes and selection notification begins

November 2025 | Winter registration opens online

Winter session: January 21 - April 19

FY 25-26 | Access Funds pool is open and accepts applications on a rolling basis
 

Summer Proposal Timeline

Summer class proposals accepted Jan - March.

March - April | Education team reviews classes and selection notification begins

April | Summer registration opens online

Summer session: June 18 - August 20

FY 25-26 | Access Funds pool is open and accepts applications on a rolling basis

Thanks for your interest in volunteering with the Loft! Volunteers work closely with staff, author/personalities, and the literary community to execute Loft programming and events. The Loft primarily seeks volunteers interested in helping with literary events and occasional administrative projects. Please complete this form to tell us about yourself and what activities you'd be most interested in supporting as a volunteer. 

Applications for summer youth classes are now being accepted. Please contact Marianne Manzler at mmanzler@loft.org with any questions. Want to get feedback on your class proposal? Book a 15-minute feedback session with one of our education associates!

Summer Youth Classes (Half-Day and Full-Day) 2026

The Loft will offer weeklong classes across grades 1-12 for our community during the weeks of July 7 - August 7, Tuesday-Friday (please note there is no Loft programming the week of June 30-July 4). Please propose classes that would fit into our thematic weeks:

• Week 1 (Future Forward): July 7-10, 2026 // Imagination writing, futuristic & forward looking, speculative classes & social justice, more craft of writing type class for younger kiddos (like arts & crafts type class)
• Week 2 (Fantasy, Sci Fi, Horror, Oh My!): July 14-17, 2026: World-building, horror, sci-fi & fantasy for 6-8, 9-11, 12-14, 15-18
• Week 3 (Draft Labs and Young Novelist): July 21-24, 2026 // Only morning sessions for grades 1-9; only afternoon sessions for grades 10-12; half-day sessions to break up the program, screenwriting
• Week 4 (Author Boot Camp - Middle School Writing Intensive): July 28-31, 2026 // creative nonfiction, fiction, poetry, screenwriting (Tuesday-Friday, 9:30AM-3:30PM with 1-hour lunch break each day and 1 scheduled off period, flat fee) 
• Week 5 (Author Boot Camp - High School Writing Intensive): August 4-7, 2026 // creative nonfiction, fiction, poetry, screenwriting (Tuesday-Friday, 9:30AM-3:30PM with 1-hour lunch break each day and 1 scheduled off period, flat fee) 
• Week 6 (Word Theme): August 11-14, 2026 // (Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Horror, CNF, Poetry, Multi-genre, Other) - See more about our yearlong theme of WORD! + our 50th anniversary!

*For grades 1-9, classes are 2.5hrs/day, 4days/week. Students will sign up for daylong instruction. Classes will be marketed to constituents as daylong offerings, and sign-ups will include classes proposed by multiple teachers. The marketed title for weekly summer sessions may be determined by the Loft. Your class will be your time with the students, and unless proposed as such, will not be team-taught. A usual day of programing for students might look like this:

• 9:00-11:30 AM - Morning Session - Class proposed by teaching artist 1 
• 11:30-1:30 PM - Midday Enrichment/Field Trip + Lunch with Loft staff
• 1:30-4:00 PM - Afternoon Session - Class proposed by teaching artist 2

*For grades 10-12, classes are 3hrs/day, 4day/week. Students will sign up for individual classes.

*There are now limited slots available for virtual classes for grades 6-12 so please propose a class even if you are not local to Minneapolis!

*Each week will culminate in a final student reading, which we would love to have a teaching artist help facilitate. They take place every Friday at 12-1:30 in the Performance Hall during the summer. Please let us know if you'd like to MC!

*Young Writers Middle School & High School Writing Intensives, Tuesday-Friday, 9:30am-3:30 pm

• Week 4 (Middle School Intensive): July 28-31, 2026 // creative nonfiction, fiction, poetry, screenwriting
• Week 5 (High School Intensive): August 4-7, 2026 // creative nonfiction, fiction, poetry, screenwriting

~New~ For grades 6-8 and 9-12, we offer middle school and high school writing intensives (in person only), which are 4-day full-day summer camps where students rotate through and specialize in core genres (fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, screenwriting), participate in morning/afternoon activity with staff or teaching artists, performance prep, revision/office hours with TAs, and read in a final reading on Friday, open to family and the public. Students fill out a short application and submit a writing sample to indicate genre of choice. There will be an opportunity to submit their work to be published in the Loft's first-ever Young Writers Anthology (and also vote on the journal title/cover). A usual day of programming for students might look like this:

General Genre Day (Day 1-2)

• 9:30 AM - CNF TA Intro Community-Building Activity
• 10:00-10:50AM Group 1: Poetry Group 2: CNF Group 3: Fiction Group 4: Screenwriting
• 11-11:50AM Group 2: Poetry Group 3: CNF Group 4: Fiction Group 1: Screenwriting
• 12:00-12:50 PM Lunch
• 1:00-1:50 PM Group 3: Poetry Group 4: CNF Group 1: Fiction Group 2: Screenwriting
• 2:00-2:50 PM Group 3: Poetry Group 4: CNF Group 1: Fiction Group 2: Screenwriting
• 3:00-3:30 PM Fiction TA Closing Community-Building Activity

Specialization Day (Day 3-4)

• 9:30 AM Screenwriting TA Intro Community-Building Activity
• 10AM-10:50 AM Group 1: Fiction Group 2: CNF Group 3: Screenwriting
• 11AM-11:50 AM Group 1: CNF Group 2: Screenwriting Group 3: Poetry
• 12:00-12:50 PM Lunch
• 1PM-1:50 PM Group 1: Screenwriting Group 2: Poetry Group 3: Fiction
• 2:00-2:50: Revision/Office Hours w/TAs
• 3:00-3:30: Poetry TA Closing Community Building Activity

If you have applied to a writing residency or teaching fellowship that will render you unavailable to teach during certain days or entire periods listed on this form, please do not mark them as part of the time frame you are available to teach, even if you're not yet sure if you've been accepted to the residency.

                 *If you would like to submit multiple class proposals, please complete this form for each individual proposal.
 

About Young Writers

                 Young students include motivated writers who are passionate about their art, as well as reluctant readers and writers who may lack confidence in their abilities. Classes are now offered by grade-range, typically (but not exclusively) students entering:
 

• Ages 6-8
• Ages 9-11
• Ages 12-14
• Ages 15-18

Please note that our most popular age range with constituents is grades 7-9. Teaching Artists should tailor their content to the students’ age and developmental level.   

Compensation
                 You’ll be paid $7.00 per student per contact hour based on enrollment for your second class meeting (students may drop the class during the first week).

                 Most Loft policies for adult education apply to the Young Writers’ Program as well (teaching artist pay rate, cancellation of class due to low enrollment policy, etc.), but there are many exceptions and additions meant to serve the different needs of a youth population. For more information, or if you have questions, please contact the program manager, Marianne Manzler at mmanzler@loft.org.

More Information

The posted Reference Guide for Teaching Artists can be found on the website and has many answers to FAQ's on everything from Loft policies to teacher pay to descriptions of all the various programs and opportunities the Loft has to offer.

                 The Loft is dedicated to offering classes that are as imaginative and multicultural as the students and communities that we serve. We seek reading lists, class content, and approaches to discussions on craft that are inclusive and diverse, as well as timely, contemporary and accessible (readily available online, not out of print). Class proposals not adhering to these stipulations are unlikely to be accepted.

                 The Loft will hold one Information Sessions via Zoom about Summer Youth 2026 teaching. 

• November 13 @ 4-5 PM

To register for an info session, or with any other questions, email Marianne at mmanzler@loft.org.
            RSVP here for an informational session.

The Loft’s Summer Youth Writing Intensives

Calling all young writers! Join the Loft's Summer Youth Writing Intensives at Open Book for a one-of-a-kind opportunity for campers to immerse themselves in a creative writing community with their peers. Led by published, award-winning writers, each camp fosters creativity, self-expression, and a love of writing. Over the course of four days, campers will work closely with teaching artists across a variety of genres, complete at least one polished piece, and leave with fresh ideas for future work and countless new memories with new friends.

The camp culminates in a public reading where students can share their writing (participation optional). Plus, there’s an opportunity for all Loft Young Writers to contribute to our professionally-produced youth anthology. All experience levels are welcome; we seek campers excited to write and connect with a community of young writers!

Camp Details:

Location: The Loft at Open Book
Ages 10-13: July 21-24, 2026
Ages 14-18: July 28-July 31, 2026
Hours: 9:30 AM – 3:30 PM (lunch break included)
Note: This is NOT an overnight camp. Campers should bring lunch, a water bottle, and writing materials.

What to Expect:

• Full-day workshops with published teaching artists
• A focus on craft, creativity, and community
• Opportunities for free-writing, rooftop hangs, zine-making, and new friendships
• A professionally published anthology featuring student work
• An Anthology Release Party on December 4, 2026, at Open Book

Admissions Policy:

We accept applications starting in November 2025 on a rolling basis. Prospective campers will need to fill out a short application and submit a short writing sample (no more than 1,000 words) to help us gauge student fit and placement. Campers will hear back within two weeks of applying. If a camp fills, a waitlist will be created, and we’ll notify campers if spots open up. Availability will be updated on our website.

What We’re Looking For:

We welcome campers who:
  ✨ Show a passion for writing
  ✨ Are curious, creative, and eager to explore new ideas
  ✨ Respect peers and teaching artists
  ✨ Come from diverse backgrounds and have varied interests

Whether you’ve written a novel or simply want to try something new, this summer writing intensive is for you! Financial need will not affect acceptance. There is space in the application to apply for Access Funds if tuition is a barrier for you.

Payment & Access Funds:

Camp Cost: $550 (includes a copy of the summer anthology)

Once accepted, payment is required to secure your spot. You can register online, call to pay by phone, or send a check. For cancellations, refer to our cancellation policy.

Access Funds: We offer Access Funds for fully-funded seats for families in need. To request assistance, complete the Access Fund section of the application form. We’ll contact you about aid options upon acceptance.