Position Description:

Writers in the Schools (WITS), a literary arts education program of Seattle Arts & Lectures (SAL), places professional local writers in public K-12 schools throughout the Puget Sound region, as well as Seattle Children’s Hospital, for extended creative writing residencies during the school day. Last year, we partnered with 37 public schools. WITS strives to empower young people to discover and develop their authentic writing and performance voices. Through WITS, students become the authors of their own lives.

For the coming 2025-26 school year, we are hiring 1-3 WITS Writers— practicing writers in the community—to join our cohort of literary teaching artists and work within our partner schools’ classrooms. We welcome applications from writers of diverse mediums; we are looking for poets, prose writers, playwrights, cartoonists/ graphic novelists, and memoirists. WITS Writers collaborate directly with public school teachers to create environments that foster a sense of inquiry, creativity, and inclusion.
We especially encourage Black writers, Indigenous writers, writers of color, writers from the LGBTQ+ community, bilingual writers, and writers from interdisciplinary backgrounds to apply. WITS Writers must show a demonstrated commitment to anti-racist pedagogy and practice.

SAL’s youth programs staff will work with WITS Writers to place them in an elementary, middle, or high school that is compatible with their schedule. We do the majority of our hiring and placements during the fall, but anticipate some residencies to still be determined as the year progresses. School placements vary and may be either extended weekly residencies, or take place over a shorter window of time, as a multi-day per-week intensive.

Writers in the Schools (WITS) has four primary goals:

Learn more about the program and current WITS Writers at: lectures.org/youth-programs/wits/

Required Qualifications:

Desired Qualifications

Expectations:

Compensation & Opportunities:

Reports to: WITS Program Manager

To apply, please submit ALL documents below:

1. A cover letter including why you are interested in being a WITS writer, what learning outcomes ground your teaching pedagogy, and how your previous experience has prepared you to be successful in the classroom.
2. A resume.
3. An idea for a pairing of a mentor text (a poem, one-page work of prose, or comic by a writer you admire) and a suggested writing prompt inspired by that piece.
4. Your general availability/schedule for the upcoming school year, and/or any school placement preferences you might have (grade level, geography, etc.).
5. Names, phone numbers, and email addresses for three professional references, at least one of whom should be familiar with your teaching.
6. A 1-page creative writing sample of your own writing.

Note: Please save all application materials as one PDF and label it Firstname.Lastname_WITS_2025-26

Send application materials to: salhr@lectures.org, subject line: WITS 2025-26 Application

Hiring Timeline & Process