Thank you again to everyone who cozied up to join us for our virtual Raise Your Pen event!  Our community came together to celebrate and support 21 years of Respect, Writing and Community. We heard from Write Around Portland writers; wrote together in small groups led by our trained facilitators and felt inspired by the power of writing to […]

Amoya Ray Mankertz, pictured above, participated in our workshop at Home Forward, Humboldt Gardens for adults living in affordable housing. Her piece below, “Rivers,” was published in our Spring 2018 anthology of community writing, A Wonder I Can Hold. Photo credit: Stuart Gaston Rivers Everything flows downstreemCrystal cleanWaters pristineRushing, bubbling, churningGet your seatCatch your opportunityLike a […]

Write Around has helped me understand that my voice is in my pen, my pen is my voice. My page is the megaphone, and this is where I speak. —Shari Staten Shari Staten, pictured above, participated in our workshop at Innovative Housing, Kinnaman Townhomes in Aloha for residents and members of the broader community. Her piece […]

I write because I’m able to dispense any of my anxieties onto paper instead of keeping them buried. When I first dealt with my medical emergency in verse, I was relieved to get that experience on paper. —Norma Kilgore Norma Kilgore, pictured above, participated in our workshops at Oregon Burn Center at Legacy Emanuel Medical […]