Writers in the Schools Student Anthology

The Universal Controversial Hive

The Universal Controversial Hive is a sleek volume of stunning prose, poems, and memoirs by 49 students from Seattle, Renton, and Tukwila public schools. Inspired by Pablo Neruda, Jamaica Kincaid, Sandra Cisneros and others, by imagination and experience, each poem, short story, and memoir in this book is buzzing with images, opinions, and emotions. Each piece is its own unique world—a distinct construct containing both sugar and sting. For the first time in WITS history, the anthology is available for purchase at Elliott Bay Book Company and at City Books on Madison. For more information about the anthology, contact wits@lectures.org.

Self-Portrait

Bold girl caught waving to firemen
Making friends with strangers
Eating cow tongue in Italy
Playing bongos at Bumbershoot

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I'll have to warn you
She is many things at the same time
She is wearing her huge ski jacket
And she's painting the rainbow
With her tongue
If you ask the sky where her head went
It will shrug and point to the clouds

—Sophia Hannaford