A Blog of Seattle Arts & Lectures
By Kathleen Flenniken, WITS Writer-in-Residence Andrea Davis Pinkney has written a moving and imaginative story-in-poems for middle grade readers called The Red Pencil (Little Brown, 2014). The Red Pencil is a Global Reading Challenge selection this year and currently available as an audiobook to all Seattle Public Library cardholders until March 19. Amira is twelve […]
Remember Remember to pack. Remember to look out your telescope every day. Remember to tell your loved ones you’re leaving soon, until the final day comes. Remember to invite them to come to the rocket ship to say bye, and they will remember you, too. Then they will launch you into orbit and remember everything […]
We’re giving a warm welcome to Kesha Howard, who joined the team earlier in January as a Writers in the Schools intern through Seattle Central’s work study program. She brings years of experience working with students from kindergarten through high school, and she truly shares SAL’s mission of bringing opportunities for creativity and expression of voice […]
By Peter Mountford, WITS Writer-in-Residence For the seventh year in a row, I’ve been fortunate to be part of a group of WITS writers who’ve gone to Port Townsend for two weeks in December. While Seattle has gone through some dramatic changes in these last seven years—to the extent that I sometimes get lost in […]
By David Lasky, WITS Writer-in-Residence The fourth graders in Mrs. Kahn’s and Mr. Moreno’s classes at Lowell Elementary are learning one of the most important, most vital skills practiced by humankind: the writing of fiction. Without the ability to imagine, possibilities in life become limited. And without the ability to work through fictional problems, real […]
We are opening the door to a new year and new volunteers. Jennifer Lo has recently joined SAL’s amazing volunteer team and works with the Writers in the Schools program–read on to learn what event she is most looking forward to, what SAL program inspires her, and what book has captured her attention! Do you […]
By Matt Gano, WITS Writer-in-Residence It’s been an incredible journey working as the WITS Writer-in-Residence at The Center School. My partnership with the esteemed Jon Greenberg along with scores of talented students over the years helped to shape me as a teacher and has inspired a lifetime’s worth of creative lessons and poetic ideas. After […]
By Greg Stump, WITS Writer-in-Residence A few years ago, I was browsing in a used bookstore when I came across a slim little offering from 1955 called Oodles of Droodles, by a cartoonist named Roger Price. The book is a compilation of minimalist doodles, each one paired up with a jokey title caption that […]
By Alex Madison, WITS Writer-in-Residence In honor of the season, I thought I’d share a lesson I’ve taught seventh graders at TOPS K-8 during my two years with Writers in the Schools—it involves strange, bumpy, warped, and moody autumn gourds. I use these gourds, plucked from the QFC produce section, to teach my students how […]
My Names the last name is my dad. white. a dog full of unconditional love. me as well. crooked teeth, not common but common enough to know how to say and spell like you know me. cooper. my middle name is through my veins. my mom’s veins and her mom’s veins and her mom’s. Inez, […]