The WITS Blog

Two Grant HS Readings at Broadway Books

Mel — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 23:18:51 +0000

So many students from Grant High School wanted to participate that we had a double-header of readings at Broadway Books, and it was a full house both nights! Students shared prose and poetry, including slam poetry, for enthusiastic audiences of friends, parents, and teachers. Thanks to teachers Stephanie D’Cruz, Dylan Leeman, Mary Rodeback, Kris Spurlock, and Virginia Warfield for hosting WITS writers Amy Minato, Mark Pomeroy, Ismet Prcic, and Joanna Rose in their classes. It was obvious from the students’ pieces that they had a great time, and they produced wonderful writing!

Franklin WITS Reading Packs the Bipartisan Cafe

Mel — Wed, 22 May 2013 21:01:10 +0000

On a drizzly Tuesday evening, the Bipartisan Cafe was warm and buzzing with energy for the Franklin High School WITS reading. Throughout the semester, students worked with Lisa Eisenberg and Chuck Carlise to create and revise prose and comics. The comics were projected onto a screen as students guided the audience through the panels. Thanks so much to teachers Sandra Childs, Irene Montano, Norman Stremming and Dana Vigner for hosting writers in their classrooms! It was a fun event that showcased great work.

Lincoln Students Read at the Portland Art Museum

Mel — Mon, 20 May 2013 23:36:30 +0000

It was a packed house in the Sondland/Durant Trustee Boardroom of the Portland Art Museum on the evening of May 15. Friends, family, and community members came to listen to poetry and prose by Lincoln High School students, who had worked with WITS writers-in-residence Amanda Gersh, Cindy Williams Gutierrez, and Joe Rogers. These writers taught in the classes of Jordan Gutlerner, Emily Hensley, Cindy Irby, Amanda-Jane Nelson, and Tracey Wyatt, helping students create and revise their writing. It was a fun celebration, with lots of laughter and applause. Thanks to everyone who helped to make this event a success!

WITS Reading for Roosevelt & Open Meadow Students

Mel — Mon, 13 May 2013 21:27:03 +0000

Students from Roosevelt and Open Meadow High School had a beautiful, sunny day for their boisterous end-of-semester WITS reading at Girasole Pizza in St. Johns. Writers-in-residence Ramiza Koya and Jonathan Hill spoke about working with students, and Hill helped explain the narrative and visual aspects of creating comics. Many of the students’ pieces contained a range of emotions, from hilarity to heartbreak, and everyone received a round of applause after sharing their work. Thanks so much to Amy Ambrosio and Barb Macon for hosting Koya and Hill in their classrooms at Roosevelt, and to Paige Knight at Open Meadow for hosting poet Elyse Fenton. The reading was a great way to culminate a semester of hard work!

Verselandia! 2013 and Wieden + Kennedy

Mel — Fri, 10 May 2013 19:37:21 +0000

Verselandia! went big for its second year, with the Wonder Ballroom hosting the all-PPS high school poetry slam on April 30. The thirty finalists from Benson, Cleveland, Franklin, Grant, Jefferson, Lincoln, Madison, Metropolitan Learning Center, Roosevelt, and Wilson high schools had a full year to prepare for this year’s event, and the preparation definitely shone through in the performances. It was a fantastic evening that garnered coverage in Portland Monthly, The Oregonian and on OPB.

Here are the winning students:

1st Micah Fletcher- Madison High
2nd Ke’Shayla Brown-MLC
3rd Jess Faunt-Cleveland High
4th Sydney Oliver-Grant High
5th Lauren Steele-Jefferson High

Wieden + Kennedy generously sponsored Verselandia this year, and brought the five winners to their offices in Portland for a day. First, the students performed in the atrium for the staff, and they received a standing ovation and whistles of appreciation.

Then they took an elevator to the top floor and participated in a live broadcast on OPB’s Think Out Loud, recorded in “The Nest,” which is perched high above the atrium. Sunlight filtered into the room whose walls are made from whorls of branches, and the students sat on an enormous felted bench made to look like mossy rocks. When they performed their pieces, their voices echoed down through the building. It was an amazing moment.

Afterward, students went on a tour of the building, including the Studio, a dark and silent cave where graphic designers work out their ideas, followed by the bright and noisy office where the Nike staff collaborates, as well as the work tables set up for WK 12 students. They then had lunch at Bluehour with W+K co-founder Dan Wieden and other leaders of the agency. Students mostly reflected on their writing processes and Verselandia experience.
After lunch, students met with four members of the W+K staff in the lunchroom, who told the students their stories of how they started in advertising and how they ended up at W + K. According to Hunt Holman, a contractor for Literary Arts and Student Wrangler Extraordinaire, “the overall point seemed to be that the students already had the skills and creative knack that W+K is always seeking.” Here’s to seeing where these connections lead to in the bright futures of these winners!

Anis Mojgani visits Wilson High School

Mel — Fri, 03 May 2013 18:05:45 +0000

After hosting the Verselandia! Slam Poetry Championship the night before, slam poet Anis Mojgani visited Wilson High School to talk with about fifty students who had read from his books and watched videos of his slam performances online. Mojgani began by performing his award-winning poem “Come Closer.”

The students were enthralled by his performance, and they spent the rest of the hour peppering Mojgani with questions about his work and life as an artist. When one of the students asked whether he was “fully employed by his poetry,” Mojgani smiled and said, “Yes, and I like how you put that: I am fully employed by my poetry.”

Mojgani currently lives in Austin, Texas, but resided in Portland for six years and taught for WITS at that time. He will be reading at Powell’s Books on Hawthorne on Monday, May 6 at 7:30 pm. We highly recommend seeing him!

Nikky Finney Visits Roosevelt High School

Mel — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:38:19 +0000

The morning after her phenomenal lecture at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, Nikky Finney came with us to Roosevelt High School and visited with students who had read her work. Roosevelt’s librarian, Betsy Tighe, gave an enthusiastic introduction and then Finney held the students in rapt attention as she explained how she became a poet and why she was glad to be with them on a beautiful Wednesday in Portland. “I write to save things,” she said. “What would you save?”

Students raised their hands and told of long walks with grandparents. One spoke of seeing his great-grandfather walk on the beach with a cane. Finney would move her hands as they spoke, physically pulling for more details as though they were made of invisible rope. One student giggled nervously and continued to explain the texture and color of the sand. “The universal is in the details,” Finney explained, noting that we have all had similar experiences and will feel our own memories through someone else’s description of theirs.

“Tell the truth,” she admonished. “Write some hard things–that moves us closer to where we need to be as human beings.”

Metropolitan Learning Center’s Poetry Slam Finals

Mel — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 23:43:04 +0000

Last Thursday, a crowd packed into Literary Arts for Metropolitan Learning Center’s poetry slam final. Students were competing for the top three spots and a chance to compete in this year’s Verselandia!, the all-PPS high school poetry slam, happening April 30 at the Wonder Ballroom. It was a lively night, with the crowd eagerly cheering for the performers and booing any scores they didn’t approve of. Thanks to Stephen Lambert, Kiva Liljequist, Joyce Lozito, and Bianca Espinosa for all their help, and congratulations to the finalists: Ke’Shayla Brown, Megan Kender, and Zoe Senner!

WITS Reading for Benson HS at Broadway Books

Mel — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 19:58:06 +0000

Broadway Books was packed last night with a lively crowd for the WITS end-of-residency reading for Benson High School. Students from Elisa Wong’s class worked with writer Ramiza Koya, and students in Steve Naganuma’s radio class worked with spoken word artist Desmond Spann. Students read personal essays, fiction, and spoken word poetry, and their pieces covered a vast range of emotions, from funny to tragic to nostalgic. Each reader received hearty applause, and Roberta Dyer (owner of Broadway Books) invited them to sign the authors’ book afterward, which had several students grinning and writing their names with a flourish. Thanks so much to everyone who came and participated in such a fun event!

Summer Fishtrap 2013 is Open for Registration!

MaryR — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 17:11:51 +0000

Are you a writer seeking a community of creative thinkers? Do you feel most inspired surrounded by natural beauty? Come explore your craft, meet with other writers, participate in writing workshops and relax in the beautiful Pacific Northwest at Summer Fishtrap 2013.

Summer Fishtrap is a week-long gathering of writers held at Wallowa Lake, Oregon each July. Aspiring and established writers spend time together in workshops, evening readings and panel discussions, coming away with new skills and a renewed sense of their own creative potential.

What sets Summer Fishtrap apart from other writing conferences is the remote mountain setting, where participants have the opportunity to relax, write, hike or fish while exploring new connections and gaining inspiration from the natural environment. In addition, Summer Fishtrap has a focused theme related to living and writing in the west. This year’s theme is Breaking Trail: Off the Beaten Path.

From the Fishtrap Website:

“What an experience to be surrounded by people who had come to think and reflect and write; it made for a high-powered workshop as well as some great dinner table conversations.”

This year the conference will take place July 8-14 and speakers include Judy Blunt, William Kittredge, Cheryl Strayed and many more! In addition, workshops for young writers will include Following the Dog with Tarn Wilson and Spoken Word with Myrlin Hepworth.

For more information about Summer Fishtrap or any of the other programs offered by Fishtrap, and to register for the program, click here.

Happy Writing!

-The WITS team