What We Do
On this page:
- Write Around Portland workshop model & philosophy
- Workshops, readings & anthologies
- Partner agencies & organizations by category
Write Around Portland provides high quality, skillfully facilitated writing workshops in safe, accessible and respectful environments for people to write and share in community, holds community readings to promote the exchange of stories and publishes anthologies to connect writers and readers.
Workshop Model & Philosophy
Write Around Portland provides high quality, creative and unique writing workshops, which are participant-centered and are based on experiential learning. Most of our workshops run for 8-10 weeks, 2 hours per week. The workshop curriculum focuses on both generating new writing and developing the writing or revision and supports flexibility to meet the particular needs and interests of a given workshop group.
Volunteer workshop facilitators participate in a 27 hour intensive training on Write Around Portland's values and philosophies, key concepts of facilitation, including creation of a safe community in which to write and share, and practice modeling successful, creative workshop facilitation.
In our workshops, facilitators write alongside participants through a series of freewrites and positive, strength-building feedback. Workshop participants write stories, poems, memoirs, letters, essays while experimenting with imagery, character development, writing in different voices, dialogue and early-draft revision.
Participants also have the opportunity to share their writing and give and receive positive feedback to grow as writers and build respectful community.
Writing Workshops
Write Around Portland has facilitated more than 380 creative writing workshops, unleashing the creative power of more than 2,800 adults and youth by helping them access the literary arts and community.
Our traditional workshops are held in partnership with social service agencies, community organizations, health care providers, correctional facilities and schools (see comprehensive list of partner agencies at bottom of this page). Nearly 75% of the participants in our traditional workshops live below the federal poverty line.
These workshops are offered free to people living with HIV/AIDS, veterans, survivors of domestic violence, adults and youth in addiction recovery, low income seniors, people in prison, homeless youth and others who may not have access to writing in community because of income, isolation or other barriers. To ensure that everyone in our city has access to the power of writing in community, writing journals, pens, bus tickets, childcare and snacks are provided for participants in these workshops.
We also offer special workshops designed for new and seasoned writers who want to participate in a Write Around Portland workshop and support the communities we traditionally serve. These workshops are open to everyone. We currently offer two workshops with an associated fee: Prompt at Powell's City of Books and monthly workshops at HOTLIPS Pizza.
Community Readings
Workshop participants share their writing with the city at community readings, more than 100 to date. These readings promote respect for diverse groups and provide an opportunity to hear the powerful stories of gifted writers in our workshops. Few Portland events include so many diverse voices. Visit our Events page for more information about upcoming readings.
Published Anthologies
Write Around Portland has published and sold 32 anthologies of participant writing at the end of each season of our traditional workshops. These professionally-produced anthologies provide participants – many for the first time – the opportunity and satisfaction to see their words in print, while providing the public the opportunity to read the powerful stories and diverse voices of these important writers. Visit our Publications and Writers page for more information on our anthologies and where to find them.
Write Around Portland Partner Agencies
Interested in holding a Write Around Portland workshop at your agency or organization? Click here for more information.
Write Around Portland has provided writing workshops in collaboration with more than 150 social service agencies, community organizations, the state, county and public schools serving specific populations, such women fleeing domestic violence, youth who are homeless, people with mental or physical disabilities and adults in recovery from drug/alcohol addictions. Partner organizations provide workshop space and recruit participants.
We also hold "open" workshops for adults living on a low income and/or with a disability and a special workshop called "Write On: Returning Writers" for adults who have participated in 2-3 previoius workshops. After completing Write On, participants are invited to write together in community in a self-facilitated group called "Seasoned Writers," which is held in the Write Around Portland writers' resource room.
Drug & Alcohol Recovery
CODA Alpha Family Treatment Center
Multnomah County Londer Learning Center/DePaul Treatment Center
Multnomah County Project Network
VOA Women's Residential Center
HIV/AIDS
Cascade AIDS Project
HIV Day Center, Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon
Camp Starlight
Rosewood Apartments
Quest Center for Integrative Health
Our House/Neighborhood Housing and Care Program/Swan House
Mental Health
Cascadia Behavioral Health Care - Renaissance, New Mezz, Community Connectors
Club 53
Folk Time
Veterans living with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Consumer Voices are Born (CVAB)
Mental Health Action Group - First Unitarian Church of Portland
Central City Concern - 12th Avenue Recovery Center
Health Care and Services for People with Disabilities
Kaiser Permanente Severe Obesity Management Group
Independent Living Resources
Quest Center for Integrative Health
Project Quest Arquette Cancer Center
Disability Resources of Southwest Washington
Providence St. Vincent Integrated Cancer Center
On-the-Move Community Integration
Self-Determination Resources, Inc.
Low Income Housing & Social Services
Central City Concern – Danmoore, Hatfield
Multnomah County, Clara Vista Family Resource Center
Volunteers of America, Marie Smith Center
Housing Authority of Portland – Hollywood East, Unthank Plaza, Williams Plaza, Sellwood Center, Gallagher Plaza, Dahlke Manor, New Columbia, Holgate House, Maple Mallory and NW Towers, Sellwood Center, Ruth Haefner Plaz
REACH Community Development Corporation
- Ritzdorf, Powell Boulevard, Patton Place and Wilshire Apartments
William Temple House – North and NW
Park Terrace Apartments, Portland Community Reinvestment Initiative, Inc.
Maybelle Clark MacDonald Center
Innovative Housing, Inc. (IHI) - Musolf Manor and Broadway Vantage Apartments
Rose Community Development/Leander Court Apartments
St. James Lutheran Church
The Jeffrey Apartments/Cascadia
Rahab's Sisters/LifeWorks NW
Youth
Harvey Scott SUN School/Impact NW
LifeWorks NW
New Avenues for Youth
p:ear
St. Mary's Home for Boys
YO! Center
Helensview High School
Multnomah County Juvenile Services - RAD Unit
Multnomah County Donald E. Long Juvenile Detention Facility
Youth Employment Institute
Youth Builders
I Have a Dream Foundation
YWCA Smart Choices Program
DePaul Treatment Center
North Portland Youth & Family Center
Portland OIC/Rosemary Anderson High School
Jackson SUN School - Neighborhood House, Inc.
Girl Scouts Columbia River Council Hispanic Initiative
Cascade AIDS Project Kids' Connection
Human Solutions Arbor Glen Teen Club
New Columbia Youth Group (Housing Authority of Portland)
NELA: Center for Student Access
Janus Youth Services Bridge House
MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility/University of Hope
Clark County Juvenile Justice/Vancouver Public Schools
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Intersex, Transgender, Queer
Sexual Minority Youth Resource Center (SMYRC)
Elder Resource Alliance/Friendly House Senior Services
Transgender Group
Homelessness/Transitional Housing
Dignity Village
JOIN
Jean's Place
Julia West House
Multicultural services
Hispanic Access Center
Oregon Council for Hispanic Advancement
Immigrant & Refugee Community Organization (IRC0)
Native American Youth Association
North Portland Youth and Family Center
Clara Vista Common Bond
Girl Scouts Hispanic Initiative/El Programa de Iniciativa Hispana de Girl Scouts
Bradley Angle House/Healing Roots Center
Domestic/Sexual Violence
West Women's and Children's Center
Raphael House
YWCA Transitional Opportunities Project
Volunteers of America - Family Center
Bradley Angle House/Healing Roots Center
Prisons/Jails/Post-Incarceration
State of Oregon, Coffee Creek Correctional Facility - Minimum & Medium Security
State of Oregon, Columbia River Correctional Institution
Multnomah County Correctional Facility
Multnomah County Inverness Jail
Multnomah County Restitution Center
MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility/University of Hope
Community Centers and Other Groups
Zimmerman Community Center
Schools Uniting Neighborhoods (SUN Schools), Portland Public Schools – Roosevelt, Marshall, Portsmouth, Tubman, Rigler, Clarendon, Gilbert Park
Portland Parks and Recreation Dishman Community Center
Reflections Cafe
Brentwood Darlington Center
Neighborhood Pride Team
Families of Military Service members in Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns
Seniors
Urban League of Portland Multi-Cultural Senior Center
Volunteers of America, Velma Joy Bernie Center and Lambert House East
Providence ElderPlace Glendoveer
917 SW Oak St. #406, Portland, OR 97205 503.796.9224 info@writearound.org
"[Write Around Portland] inspired me to listen more closely to others' stories and share what we have in common...it's very safe and energizing."
- Marisa Espinoza, Workshop Participant
