Every October 20, students, educators, and wordsmiths across the country take part in the National Day on Writing®, established by NCTE in 2009 to celebrate composition in all its forms and encourage every writer to recognize their craft.
This year, NCTE is marking the occasion by:
- Opening 2027 nomination forms for two ever-popular Student Writing Awards programs:
- The Achievement Awards in Writing for high school sophomores and juniors, and
- Promising Young Writers for eighth graders.
- Granting open access to an entire writing-themed issue of Classroom Corridors: Expertise and Inspiration from Elementary Teachers.
- Encouraging members to share #WhyIWrite on social media to inspire fellow scribes and have a chance to have their post reshared on NCTE’s social profiles.
What’s new in 2026:
- We are welcoming submissions for The Next Draft, a special writing contest for high school students in recognition of the country’s 250th anniversary, created this year by NCTE and the National Humanities Alliance with support from The Teagle Foundation.
Additionally, we are pleased to offer 30% off a selection of NCTE titles focused on writing:
For K-12 Educators
New Realms for Writing, 2nd Edition: Inspire Student Expression with Digital Age Formats by Michele Haiken. Newly copublished this summer with the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).
For Elementary Educators
Deepening Student Engagement With Diverse Picturebooks: Powerful Classroom Practices for Elementary Teachers by Angie Zapata. Published in 2024.
How Do I Launch Writing in the Elementary Classroom? by Ann Marie Corgill. Newly published this summer as part of the How Do I . . .? series.
Tell Me More: Conferring with Artists, Writers, and Storytellers by Stella Villalba. Newly published this summer.
Wondrous Words: Reimagining Writers and Writing in the Elementary Classroom by Katie Wood Ray with Stella Villalba. Published in 2025.
For Middle Level Educators
Already Readers and Writers: Honoring Students’ Right to Read and Write in the Middle Grade Classroom edited by Jennifer Ochoa. Published in 2020.
Writing Can Change Everything: Middle Level Kids Writing Themselves into the World edited by Shelbie Witte. Published in 2020.
For Middle Level and Secondary Educators
Mentoring Youth Writers by Wendy R. Williams. Published in 2025.
For Secondary Educators
Can We Talk? Encouraging Conversation in High School Classrooms by Susanne Rubenstein. Published in 2022.
Growing Writers: Principles for High School Writers and Their Teachers by Anne Elrod Whitney. Published in 2021.
For College Educators
Counterstory: The Rhetoric and Writing of Critical Race Theory, 2nd Edition, Revised and Expanded by Aja Y. Martinez. Published in 2026 as part of the CCCC Studies in Writing & Rhetoric Series.
Disability, Access, and the Teaching of Writing edited by The Disability, Access, and the Teaching of Writing Collective. Newly published in 2026 as part of the CCCC Studies in Writing & Rhetoric Series.
Writing Whiteness: Uprooting White Language Supremacy in First-Year Writing Programs by Bethany Davila. Newly published in 2026 as part of the CCCC Studies in Writing & Rhetoric Series.