“Fear,” by Maxwell Smith
March 8, 2018
Fear When I was little, I was scared of fire. When it lit up, my face looked like a ghost, and my heart sounded like waves crashing on a beach. But now, I when I get scared, I become the thunderstorm.
SAL/ON
A Blog of Seattle Arts & Lectures
Category: Writers in the Schools
WITS Voices: Revision—To See Again
March 2, 2018
By Katy Ellis, WITS Writer-in-Residence I have to admit revision has never been my strong point as a writer. Only in the last ten years have I truly grasped the fact that my second (or third or fourth...
WITS Voices: Ten Years with WITS
February 20, 2018
By Peter Mountford, WITS Writer-in-Residence I have now entered my tenth year of teaching WITS, and I’m taking a look back. Specifically to my first residency at the TOPS school with teacher Lori Ei...
Bittersweet: Ending My Time with TOPS Fifth Grade
February 9, 2018
By Laura Gamache, WITS Writer-in-Residence The book said everything perishes The book said that’s why we sing -Gregory Orr Every WITS teaching residency has a beginning, middle and end, like the sto...
WITS Voices: Hybrid Poems and the Middle Schoolers Who Execute with Ease
February 5, 2018
By Imani Sims, WITS Writer-in-Residence It’s always an experiment when trying to engage young minds with new content. The haibun form allows for concrete examples while also allowing the freedom to ...
WITS Voices: Where the Place of Kindness Lives
February 3, 2018
By Jeanine Walker, WITS Writer-in-Residence As a poet, I love to play with words. When writing or revising a poem, I can spend hours switching out a single word or phrase in an attempt to get the exac...
WITS Voices: Opening a Door to Gratitude
January 3, 2018
By Letitia Cain, WITS Writer-in-Residence & SAL Event Manager It’s a Scottish tradition to open the front door of your house at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve to welcome in the new y...
WITS Voices: To Be Writers!
January 2, 2018
By Matt Gano, WITS Writer-in-Residence I hate the word “lecture.” I’ve always considered teaching poetry as a “conversation.” I hope to learn along with my students by talking about creative...
WITS Voices: Pairing Poems with the Weather
December 13, 2017
By Karen Finneyfrock, WITS Writer-in-Residence I’ve have success and fun in the classroom connecting students with poetry that feature the seasons or the weather.
“Cuando Estás Conmigo,” by Portia Isabella Polo
December 1, 2017
Cuando Estás Conmigo Dulzura era una cosa que no tenía. Entonces, cuando abriste la puerta estaba tan feliz. Tú haces brillar la habitación. Me trajiste afuera de la tumba. Tú me enseñaste que e...