Resilience often blooms in unexpected places. For Crystal Calanca, writing has become much more than a creative outlet, it has been a lifeline in the face of daunting challenges. As a single parent navigating sobriety and facing financial hardship, Crystal has faced more than her share of adversity. Crystal found a sense of belonging and […]

One of the most thrilling aspects of writing is that fresh journal feeling. Opening up to a clean page and setting pen to paper is flush with potential. Each program season, Write Around Portland provides participants with everything they need to participate in our writing groups: snacks, pens, time, and a new journal. Our volunteer

Write Around Portland is excited to partner with Menucha Retreat and Conference Center to offer a new creative writing retreat in one of the Pacific Northwest’s most peaceful and inspiring settings. This retreat is open to everyone and no writing experience is needed. Just bring your desire to write, whether it’s to tell your story,

Each spring and fall, Write Around Portland publishes an anthology that features the powerful, personal writing of participants from our free community writing circles. For participants, submitting their work is more than just an exercise, it’s often their first experience being treated as an author, with their voice honored and their words in print. Volunteers

Our FREE summer reading will feature powerful work written by Write Around Portland participants from our spring writing program. This evening is a celebration of our writers, their work and their dedication to writing with their communities. Readers will include adults and veterans in recovery, youth in alternative school settings, adults living with developmental disabilities,

Meg’s recovery got a big boost from our creative writing program Meg wanted to shake things up. Being in addiction recovery meetings can be monotonous, so when Alano Club of Portland offered our writing group, she signed up. Write Around Portland facilitator Daniel created a safe space for her and others to share. They let

A unique volunteer role offers heartfelt rewards If you’re interested in supporting our writers, one great way to help is by volunteering as a Scribe! Scribes typically work one-on-one with a participant who may not be able to comfortably hold a pen or who needs other assistance. Over the course of 6-10 weeks, you’ll develop

Your support reached 15 communities last season Thanks to you, we brought the healing power of creative writing to 15 agencies last fall! In total, we wrote with 164 writers across the season. We wrote with people recovering from addiction, burn survivors, people living with HIV, previously houseless Veterans, students in vocational training programs, and

“What started as a group of strangers became one of my most cherished group of friends.” — Michael Montoya After meeting through a Write Around Portland Prompt writing group, a group of writers are continuing to build respect, writing and community seven years later! Michael, quoted above, has since become a Write Around Portland facilitator

This fall we worked with 14 community partners to host writing groups around the Portland metro area. There were 164 writers who joined our groups, and eight of those groups were led by our brand new facilitators who trained over the summer. 78 of these writers published their pieces in I’m the Ink and 42