Welcome to NSA's Literary Arts Conservatory Page
The Literary Arts Conservatory is a community of scholars and student-writers engaged in a four-year writing program. The course design provides aspiring, dedicated young writers in Nashville the curricular foundations; space, support, and guidance; and academic scholarship to learn the skills of the writing process and the habits to become a successful writer.
Conservatory students study inspiring authors, extraordinary literature, and various modes and genres of writing, while honing their craft and building a portfolio. Students are privileged to interact with published authors and creatives, such as recent guests, novelists Jeff Zentner and Claire Gibson. Throughout the four years, students develop their craft in a real-world setting, as the conservatory collaborates regularly with partners such as Southern Word, The Porch Writers' Collective, Oz Arts, and Belmont and Vanderbilt Universities.
Opportunities abound for students to perform and share their voice and writing talents in community events and engagements. Students of the conservatory have won contests, such as Nashville Youth Poet Laureate, Scholastic Writing Awards, and The Nashville Scene Inaugural Student Essay Contest. They have also received writing internships, fellowships, and scholarships. Some graduates have gone on to become published authors, As students conclude the program, they will NSA proficient writers and powerful communicators.
2023-2024 Literary Arts Audition Information
Recent Accolades and News:
At the Tennessee Grand Slam on the weekend of April 21st-23rd, there was a first and a second-place winner for Tennessee, and 12th grader Nyla Spencer placed 2nd and will be representing NSA in the Brave New Voices team going to San Francisco this July.
(11th grader Lochlan Cook will also be going to San Fran as the Nashville Youth Poet Laureate.)
Congratulations to these literary artists: Walt Robinson (12th grade), Maddie A. Moore (11th grade), and Diana Warrick (9th grade). They’ve been awarded Oz Art Wire Fellowships for the 2022-2023 year. This yearlong writing fellowship is offered to only 3-5 student-writers in Nashville.
If you’ve never heard of Oz Arts Nashville, you should attend one of their extraordinary performances. Check out their season here:
OZ Arts Nashville Home - OZ Arts Nashville
Five NSA students advanced to Nashville’s Youth Poet Laureate Competition this year: Nyla Spencer (12th grade), Lee Washington (11th grade), Cici Jordan (11th grade), Lochlan Cook (11th grade), and Kendrick Escobar-Arteaga (11th grade). Lochlan Cook has advanced to the finals.