W.o.o.t.s.

To add to the excitement of Portland’s tricky spring, WITS has decided to release four, yes FOUR, brand new digital chapbooks, featuring a colorful array of prose, poetry, and graphic art from almost every Portland Public School. (To read the chapbooks, click the links to the right.) These chapbooks, The Best Thing That Could Have [...]

On Friday April 15th at 7pm, Anne Lamott, bestselling author of both fiction and non-fiction titles such as Crooked Little Heart and Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, will speak at the Bagdad Theater at a ticketed event sponsored by Powell’s Books. Lamott will read from her latest novel, Imperfect Birds, which explores the human [...]

At WITS, we are always on the lookout for opportunities for our student writers to share their work beyond the classroom. We believe that high school students have something important to say and we encourage them to believe that their ideas matter. One organization that shares our belief in the importance of student writing is [...]

Here at W.o.o.t.s, we are always on the lookout for opportunities that will inspire and inform young writers in our community. That’s why we are excited about Powell’s Smallpressapalooza happening next Monday, March 28th from 6 to 10 pm at the Powell’s on Burnside (1005 West Burnside, Portland). Not only can you hear from an [...]

Kidder’s gift for crafting nonfiction narrative shone during his lecture at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, as he told the story of his writing life through the idiosyncrasies of his relationship with his editor, Richard Todd. After the show, WITS director Mary Rechner talked with Franklin students Simon and Kiah. Franklin students talk about Tracy [...]

Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning author Tracy Kidder’s demeanor is conversational, funny and at times self-deprecating, but this only adds to his warmth. This openness made Kidder’s question-and-answer session at Marshall especially effective. The students came prepared with questions and weren’t shy to raise their hands and speak to Kidder. In class they had [...]

The Moth is in Portland! We’re excited to be hosting them all week long. In addition to their sold-out event at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall on Thursday, The Moth is also conducting a week-long workshop at Marshall High School. Here are The Moth producers Maggie Cinio and Sarah Austin Jenness with Marshall Principal Fred [...]

Thanks to Annie Bloom’s Books for hosting our Wilson High School student reading! This event was the final reading for this semester, but no one was in a hurry for things to end. After the main program was done, some readers gave repeat performances and one student read even though her name wasn’t on the [...]

WITS student often write beautifully about their adventures, explorations, and meditations in Oregon’s breathtaking forests. If you have a forest story, Lewis and Clark National Historical Park in Astoria wants to hear it, in the most descriptive language possible. Because of this, their 2011 Youth Nature Writing Contest, open to Oregon and Washington high school [...]

At the Schnitz last night, writer Elizabeth Strout told her Literary Arts audience that when she became frustrated with her writing she enrolled in a stand-up comedy class. Though this experience helped her find her voice, she claims the stress of it it took a few years off her life. If you want to take [...]