Writers in the Schools (WITS), a program of Seattle Arts & Lectures (SAL), is thrilled to announce the publication and celebration of its 2015-16 student anthology, Across the Surface of Fear and Calm. The celebration will take place at on Tuesday, Oct. 11 at 7pm in Benaroya Hall’s Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall. This event is free and open to the public.
The poems, prose, and comics collected in this anthology feature 137 young student voices and perspectives from the 25 partner schools and Seattle Children’s Hospital that collaborated with WITS over the last academic year. “Each year our Writers-In-Residence submit the best of their student work, and we are charged with the joyous task of reading all of this incredible writing,” said WITS Director, Alicia Craven. “The collected passion, creativity, insight, humor, and hard work of all of our WITS Writers, public school teachers, and students is evident on every page of this book. We can’t wait to watch these words come to life at the book launch event, and continue to live on in the minds, hearts and bookshelves of these students and their fans.”
Since 1993, WITS has worked with local public schools to match them with published, professional creative writers who will inspire students through innovative lessons drawn from their own writing practice. And, for over 20 years, WITS has been collecting and publishing the best of the best in a professionally produced volume featuring cover artwork by Seattle artists. This year’s cover art is by Tessa Hulls.
The anthology launch celebration will feature more than 50 young people who were published in the anthology seeing their work in print for the first time, and then reading that work aloud on stage for their families, friends, and new fans. Following the reading all of the authors will sign copies of their anthology for fans while everyone enjoys cupcakes donated by Cupcake Royale.
This event is free and open to the public. Copies of the anthology are available at the event for a $10 donation, at all SAL events, or after the event by calling our office at 206.621.2230 or by emailing wits@lectures.org.
