A Blog of Seattle Arts & Lectures
Each year, in a project led by Sierra Nelson and Ann Teplick of Writers in the Schools, and the School of Visual Concepts, long-term patients from Seattle Children’s Hospital and a team of letterpress artists join forces to create an extraordinary collection of handprinted, limited-edition broadsides. These works of arts—which you may have oohed and […]
Our next featured WITS Writer-in-Residence for the “Faces of WITS” series is Arianne True. Not only does Arianne teach at Hamilton International Middle School, Licton Springs K-8 School, and Nathan Hale High School, Arianne is also one of the Youth Poet Laureate (YPL) program mentors—check out this interview for more info. This fall, Arianne is […]
By Gabriela Denise Frank As our nation’s underpinnings come under greater scrutiny, I’ve been in a parallel process of personal inquiry, digging into generational and cultural foundations that have shaped my writing practice and relationship to art-making, capitalism, and self-worth. You know, easy, light stuff. Months of reflection have revealed how my upbringing isn’t a […]
This essay is part of a series in which Poetry Northwest partners with Seattle Arts & Lectures to present reflections on visiting writers from the SAL Poetry Series. On Friday, September 25, Claudia Rankine read and discussed her work in conversation with Douglas Kearney. Listen to a recording of it on KUOW’s Speakers Forum. Tickets […]
Not only do WITS Writers-in-Residence work with students in public schools across Seattle and the greater Puget Sound region—they’re also placed in the school at Seattle Children’s Hospital, where they work with young patients who are writing about their experiences and becoming the author of their own lives. Ann Teplick is a poet, playwright, and […]
To roam the lost streets of words where you hear things you can never have heard on the surface Some smooth and fast, others loud and dangerous. You’re on earth within a library, a city within a book and the clouds are just jumblings of punctuation. To play in an abandoned metropolis wondering why everyone […]
Our WITS Writers-in-Residence work with students across public schools in Seattle and the greater Puget Sound region to provide new tools, perspectives, and attention to students to help them develop and express lifelong literacy skills. WITS Writers also connect and inspire teachers, invigorate teacher practices, and help make our public schools as vibrant and creative […]
By Gabriela Denise Frank Poet Aaron Counts, co-founder of Seattle’s Youth Poet Laureate (YPL) program, described the power of poetry to me this way: “A great poem helps you understand yourself and how you fit into the world. It’s like having the recipe for oxygen—it’s a survival skill.” Poetry isn’t frivolous or a luxury, it’s […]
By Gabriela Denise Frank Has there been a year when hunger rumbled more prominently in our minds than our bellies? Months ago, I gave up searching for flour and yeast, items perpetually out of stock, but this week, after hearing my husband long for homemade bagels, I searched for and found a 3-pack of Red […]
The ability to express oneself clearly, with strength and beauty, is essential to creating change. With each classroom visit, our WITS Writers-in-Residence—working with students across public schools in Seattle and the greater Puget Sound region—provide new tools, perspectives, and attention to students to help them develop and express these lifelong literacy skills. WITS Writers also […]