W.o.o.t.s.

At the WITS Anthology Release Party & Fundraiser, we had hundreds of small cupcakes with circular flags stuck into their frosting. Each flag was printed on one side with “Thanks to your donation…” and the other side had a short, specific example of what a donation to the WITS program can facilitate. For those who [...]

As the internet explodes with forums, e-journals and writing blogs, it seems like a pretty exciting time to be young writer. Dana Goodyear, who writes for the New Yorker, realized this a couple of years ago, when she read her first keitai shosetsu, or Japanese cell-phone novel (copy-paste to read Dana’s article about it here: [...]

Ink-Filled Page is a local quarterly literary journal that publishes a youth edition once a year. The youth issue’s deadline is February 28th, 2011. The folks at Ink-Filled Page want to up the number of submissions from local teen writers, as they receive many submissions from arts schools across the country, so don’t be shy [...]

“I feel like I’m at a take-back-the-culture night,” said Peyton Chapman, principal of Lincoln High School. She was addressing a diverse audience, including high school students, their parents and teachers, WITS writers, volunteer mentors from the WITS essay event, community leaders, and board members of Literary Arts. Everyone wore name tags, several of which had [...]

Kathy Anderson’s Wilson High School students are lucky. Not only do they get to take a literature class called “The 60′s,” but they read WITS writer Joanna Rose’s book Little Miss Strange, followed by a visit from the writer herself.  Joanna began her talk this morning by noting that she didn’t write Little Miss Strange [...]

The Nature of Words is accepting entries in fiction, poetry, literary nonfiction, and nature writing for the 2011 Rising Star Creative Writing Competition! This event is a great opportunity for emerging authors. It is open to writers in three age categories (15-18, 19-24, and 25+) who have not previously published a book or chapbook. All [...]

Reading your poetry in front of an audience is always a little nerve-wracking, so just imagine reading in front of an audience of 2,200 people in the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall as an opening act for Bill Bryson. I took this photo from onstage before the audience arrived, and my camera didn’t even capture the [...]

Franklin High School’s library was buzzing on Tuesday afternoon as over 60 mentors and students gathered to work on students’ essays for college and scholarship applications. Students ate pizza as Franklin High School staff Susan Bartley gave a Powerpoint presentation with tips for writing essays, and then everyone got to work. The turnout was phenomenal, [...]

Franklin High School’s library was packed yesterday with volunteers being trained for our WITS College Essay Writing Event. High school students need to write essays and personal statements for their college and scholarship applications, but they don’t always receive enough support during the writing process. This fall, WITS is coordinating with Franklin High School faculty [...]

In the car on the way back from her presentation at Madison High School, Natasha Trethewey admitted (admitted? Hang on!) that she is more interested in social justice than in poetry. “Poetry,” she said, “just happens to be my medium.” Cue reverie. Just a minute. The medium is the message, right? It’s a platitude, but [...]