SAL/ON

A Blog of Seattle Arts & Lectures

Category: Writers in the Schools

“The Classroom is the Beach” by Violet Hilgenberg

Stools are crabs that crawl across the carpet sands Chairs are the horses that once rose from the sea Tables are the rocks that the stools hid under to escape from the projector that is a white snake hunting for prey Violet Hilgenberg, of Lafayette Elementary School, read this poem to open our 2020/21 Literary […]

Read More

“Until I Saw the Sea” by Anna Johnson

Until I saw the sea, I did not know how much the sea sparkled and how many animals roamed. Until I saw the sea, I did not know what it felt like to be closed up under the watery bed. But then I felt it: the feeling I wanted to know, that the sea is […]

Read More

Looking for creative writing summer camps?

This summer, many of our talented WITS Writers-in-Residence will be leading Scribes Summer Camps with our community partner, Hugo House! Young writers, grades 5-12, will have the opportunity to participate in week-long, all-day camps in which they can safely focus on, dig deep into, and nurture their inner writer. Our WITS writers, as well as […]

Read More

“The Book Thief” by Juliana Agudelo Ariza

Juliana Agudelo Ariza of McClure Middle School read this original comic to open our Poetry Series event with Douglas Kearney. This comic was written during the 2019/20 school year with WITS Writer-in-Residence Greg Stump. Performed on the digital SAL stage on Wednesday, March 31, 2021.

Read More

The 2020/21 Elaine Wetterauer Writing Contest is Now Open

Seattle Arts & Lectures’ Writers in the Schools (WITS) program is delighted to announce the theme of this year’s Elaine Wetterauer Writing Contest! Every year, WITS holds the Elaine Wetterauer Writing Contest for students and teachers from all WITS schools, representing all writing genres. The 2020/21 contest, open until May 14, invites students and teachers […]

Read More

“Family Hair” by Lorenzo Hernandez

My sister’s hair is very straight and smooth. Normally it looks like she just combed it even if she just woke up. For a while, she dyed it a blonde at the bottom, and it looked like caramel dipped in old honey—but now, it looks like when you split a Snickers in half and the […]

Read More

“How to Ask a Question” by Christian Adams

1 Trail blazing through his work, a student loses himself to the sound of thoughts and inquiries echoing throughout his skull, disregarding exchanged pleasantries passing by that would only encave him. 2 Blindly wandering the streets, a child loses themselves, taking their time getting home, asking the question of where it ever was, if they […]

Read More

“Somewhere” by Kai Ryan

Somewhere, deep in the valley, I sit in the darkness. I am reading; it is intriguing. As I sit reading, the words seem to fly off the page and into the night sky. The words seem to illuminate the meadow, illuminate the meadow in which I sit. The words seem to dig down deep inside […]

Read More

What’s Worth Retelling: A WITS Intern Reflects on Madeline Miller’s Event

Zoë Mertz is a University of Washington student doing a remote internship with the Writers in the Schools program at SAL. After attending SAL’s recent Literary Arts Series event with Madeline Miller on January 27, Zoë reflects on her own obsession with retelling and adapting classic tales, as well as the anxiety—and the creative power—that […]

Read More

“The Giant Chicken” by Samara Kingfisher

At a word, we jump, run, and jostle our way to a far corner, vying for a spot on the cushioned couch instead of the cold floor. We attempt to be quiet and hold in our laughter as we peek over the edge of the couch towards the door amidst scolding words from our teacher. […]

Read More