With the support of our community, our Winter Reading & Book Release exceeded so many of our expectations. We were at a new location at NW Natural in downtown Portland and as the room filled up, we realized we needed more chairs and had run out of programs before the event even began! By the time Write Around Portland Executive Director Chris McDonald kicked off the reading, the room was bursting with 155 attendees.
Throughout the evening, 42 writers from our fall program season read their work published in our 63rd anthology, I’m the Ink. They shared their joys, tragedies, and triumphs with a kind and supportive audience of their peers and community members.
First-time attendee Liz Braun shared:
“During the readings, I kept having to remind myself that most of the people had never professionally written before,” said Liz, director and manager of the Rocky Butte Farmers Market. “They all presented their work in a way that made me think they were professional authors.”
We agree with Liz and were equally impressed with all of our participants and their poise at the microphone. Overall, the night was a resounding success for our writers, our agency partners, and our organization.
Thank you to all who attended, our volunteers, our agency partners, our staff, and especially our writers, for bringing this reading together. It was such a special way to bring closure to the year.
If you weren’t able to attend, head over to our Instagram to watch a video montage of the event! You can also purchase a copy of I’m the Ink to help support our ongoing work.