September Community Outreach
Dear Friends of Project Write Now:
Our world today is grappling with many challenges, and we recognize the pain and heartache you may be enduring. It can be hard to find the words to express how you’re feeling or what you’re thinking.
That is why we use a lot of poetry in our work, especially with young people. Poetry offers a space where our thoughts, fears, and hopes intertwine. Poetry distills complex feelings into language that captures our full range of emotions—sadness, frustration, rage but also compassion, empathy, hope, and, most of all, love.
With our students, we read poems aloud. Or hand out copies to paste in their notebooks.
We invite them to respond by taking a line or phrase, an idea, or an emotion and just write. We encourage writing nonstop for at least five to ten minutes, seeing where our pens take us. Often during this freewrite, we unearth memories, stories, and feelings that we hadn’t been consciously thinking about. We give voice to what’s in our hearts and on our minds.
Now, more than ever, the role of expressive writing and poetry is vital. Writing provides avenues for all of us not only to process emotions and clarify thinking but also to connect and empathize with others, fostering a shared sense of humanity.
So for today, we’d like to offer you some of our favorite poems that have resonated with us the most, especially during difficult times.
To begin, we’d like to share a collective poem written by our creative writing students at Asbury Park High School last year (each student contributed a line that we wove together).
We believe for the world to become a kinder, more loving and accepting place, we need to create more opportunities for young people to share their voices.
If I Ruled the World
by Asbury Park High School 2022/23 creative writing students
If I ruled the world
I’d put more funding for the schools
For better education and security
So gun violence
Ain’t a threat to me
If I ruled the world
I’d stop world hunger
No shortages of food
We’d all be in a good mood
I would make everyone smile
And change the world
To a better place
For every color of face
In this one human race
For more inspiration, you can read writing from teens all over the world at Bridge Ink, our online young adult literary journal.
We also recommend signing up for poets.org‘s Poem-a-Day, which gets delivered right to your inbox. And we invite you to read executive director Jennifer Chauhan’s blog on how she incorporates poetry into her teaching.
Here are a few more of our favorites we’ve used with our classes:
“Country of Water,” by Mahogany L. Browne
“Night Needs No Stars,” by Youmna Chlala
“awaiting a carriage, any,” by Bernard Ferguson
“Remember,” by Joy Harjo
“These Poems,” by June Jordan
“Instructions on Not Giving Up,” by Ada Limón
“Maps,” by Yesenia Montilla
“Naming the Heartbeats,” by Aimee Nezhukumatathil
“Gate A-4,” by Naomi Shihab Nye
“Kindness,” by Naomi Shihab Nye
“Between Going and Coming,” by Octavio Paz
“A House Called Tomorrow,” by Alberto Ríos
“When Giving Is All We Have,” by Alberto Ríos
We hope by spending time reading and writing in response to poetry, you are able to find some peace, connection, and love.
With love & gratitude,
Here’s what else we’ve been up to this month. If you are interested in bringing a program to your school or organization, email executive director Jennifer Chauhan at jennifer@projectwritenow.org.
Art & Writing (Art Alliance of Monmouth County)
We are so grateful to the Art Alliance of Monmouth County for offering their space on Monmouth Street in Red Bank for our ekphrastic workshop. When looking at the art in the gallery, we asked ourselves questions such as “What does this remind us of?” and “Where does this art take us?” We love how the art inspired wild imaginative new ideas in our written works. We can’t wait to come back for another workshop soon!
Asbury Park High School
- 12th Grade
Working with the students at Asbury Park High School is such a joy. We are developing relationships and off to a great start. We are looking at long-term life skills and the importance of self-talk, values, and vision. We used the poem “Equipment,” by Edgar A. Guest, to help introduce our segment on affirmations. The goal is to equip students with tools they can use throughout their lifetime!
- 11th Grade Dream Academy
We have loved getting to know the 11th grade students in the Dream Academy (students graduate with a high school diploma and a AA degree from Brookdale). We are using expressive writing to process emotions and get to know ourselves better so we can use these tools in our everyday lives. We recently spent time learning about our strengths through the VIA Character strengths survey and then we wrote about a time we used our strengths when dealing with a challenging situation. We hope to gain even more insight into ourselves through artistic expression.
- Spoken Word Project
PWN’s annual Spoken Word Project has returned to Asbury Park High School. This program gives creative writing students in grades 9-12 an outlet to quietly write and verbally share about their real-life experiences, aspirations, and realities in a safe space. Students are also introduced to the works of a diverse array of poets, musical artists, and other writers. We are excited to see how the students express themselves.
Creative Aging: Monmouth Arts
It was so great to be part of Monmouth Arts’ Creative Aging program for Red Bank seniors again this month. We opened with the poem “Art & Life,” by Henry Taylor. Then we let our inner five-year-olds come out as we made art without any rules. The goal was not to think about the product but instead to just enjoy the process—silence the inner critic and let the inner child come out and play! We passed our art to a new person so that the art we had in front of us for the next part wasn’t our own. (This really helped silence any trace of judgment we had left.) We did ekphrastic writing (writing inspired by art) by asking ourselves questions like “What do we see in this art?” and “If this art could speak, what might it say?” We took a few minutes to go over our notes and refine our ideas, and then we shared the incredible pieces that we wrote inspired by each other. It was such a meaningful and joyful day!
Firefly: Stories Out Loud (Basie Center Cinemas)
As we transitioned from the local summer into the harvest moon of fall, Firefly: Stories Out Loud wrapped its first season on Tuesday, October 17, at Basie Center Cinemas. We began the event with three featured artists—Michelle Akin, Israel Colón, Lucy Brinew—who shared their experiences in “letting go.” Then we opened up to others in the space to share their pieces before concluding with PWN instructor Meredith Avakian telling her heart-warming story of self-discovery and motherhood. We are honored to all who came out to experience the transformative power of storytelling this year, because while the healing is in the telling, the helping is in the listening. Yes, Firefly has closed its doors for the 2023 season, but we are not quite done … We invite our storytelling community to come witness the art of live storytelling at the PWN Writers Showcase in December. Our Firefly Storytelling winners, Brianna McCabe and Michelle Akin, will be sharing more of their talent with our PWN family. We hope to see you there!
Lunch Break: Womyn’s Worth
We were excited to be participating in a one-day online workshop on the power of journaling. We shared Ada Limón’s “Instructions on Not Giving Up” and wrote in response to the prompts: a time you didn’t give up (or gave up); something that blooms in you; or reject the prompt and write about whatever you like. We also shared some strategies for starting or deepening a writing practice. One of our favorite takeaways: you do not have to write every day for journaling to have an impact on your life. We look forward to doing more with Womyn’s Worth next spring.
Lunchtime Write-In
On Fridays, we host a one-hour writing workshop on Zoom during which we write in response to themed prompts. This month, we explored the themes—“Blur,” “Friday the 13th,” “Ghost,” and “Wolf.” Though writers never have to share, we always enjoy hearing one another’s pieces and have formed an incredible, supportive community. Join us for our next Lunchtime Write-In to see what our upcoming themes will be!
PWN India (Adults)
We are excited to celebrate ONE year of writing with our adult students in India! We wrote in response to poems, such as “Poem in Which I Only Use Vowels,” by Paolo Capó Garcia, and “We Are of a Tribe,” by Alberto Ríos. In response to “the poem is a dream telling you its time,” by Marwa Helal, we wrote lists of what we dream of for ourselves, for others, and for the world before picking one to expand on. We also read Naomi Shihab Nye’s “So Much Happiness” and wrote about the glimmers (moments of positivity we experience) in our lives. We are taking a short break for the holidays but will be in January to kick off a new year.
Red Bank Middle School
- 7th & 8th Grade AVID (in-school)
We are having a blast being back at Red Bank Middle School! In the 7th & 8th grade AVID classes, we personalized our notebooks to represent ourselves and our writing, and then we used those notebook decorations as writing prompts. We each took one image from our notebooks and described what the image was, what it represented to us, any memories it evoked, and what it might say if it could speak for itself. We also read “I Am,” by Ava Schicke, and then wrote in response to some introspective writing prompts: “I am … I want … I feel … I pretend … I wonder … I dream … I hope …” And when the 7th grade class shared their work, we decided to create a collaborative poem in the moment. We each read one line from our writing in a row so that our words together created a new and bigger group narrative. We are loving what the students are coming up with and we can’t wait to hear more stories as the year progresses!
- 6th Grade AVID (in-school)
We did ekphrastic writing (writing inspired by art) with the 6th grade AVID class. We read “Fighting the Wind,” by Teresa Breeden, and then looked at the art that inspired the poem: “Here I Go,” by Elizabeth Hlookoff. We then made a list of all of the things that the art evoked from our own imaginations, asking ourselves questions like, “What images, shapes, and colors do we see? If this art made a sound, what would it sound like? If it had a smell, a flavor, etc. And what does this art make us feel?” We used those notes as writing prompts to launch us into new worlds and we had so much fun!
- 4th/5th Grade AVID (in-school)
The 4th and 5th grade AVID students have had a great start to the year thinking about how important their voices are and ways they can voice their opinions to make a difference in the world. We read the book Say Something!, by Peter Reynolds, and discussed what we feel so strongly about that we want to shout it to the world. We used prompts like “I imagine,” “I believe,” “I wish,” and “I feel strongly” to write about things that are important to us. Like Peter Reynolds says in his book, we all have a voice and we need to use it to make a difference in the world!
- PWN Quest Club (after-school)
We kicked off our seven-week after-school PWN Quest Club, on October 16. The students, from grades 6-8, write, journal, and share answers to anonymous questions that they place each week in a Question Box. The questions provide a delightful way for students to open up and get to know one another while tapping into their creativity and curiosity.
- PWN Writing Club (after-school)
In our 4th and 5th grade PWN Writing Club, we have been working on using our senses to describe this time of year. Some children wrote paragraphs filled with imagery while others used boxes or a web to identify the senses and then write from there. Everyone has been very motivated to write, collaborate, and share!
Red Bank Public Library
With the writers at the Red Bank Public Library, we read an essay by our very own Jen Gaites—“A Seasoned Skillet.” We then wrote to the prompt: Who gave you the best or worst advice over the years? Is there something you still have—a recipe, a letter, a photo—that reminds you of their thoughtfulness? Or the flip of this, is there something you wish you could forget? What will you pass on to others to help them in this world? We also made lists of all the things we have survived. Funny lists, serious lists, big lists, and small lists. Then we zeroed in on one item and wrote out that narrative. And we read “Jumping in Leaves,” by Joseph Gross, and wrote a story about leaves.
Shore House (Long Branch)
October ended on a happy note at Shore House! This month, we started our afternoon session with a guided meditation practice before a reading of the poem “Why I Smile,” by Kate Slaughter McKinney. As a group, we created lists of things that make us smile and realized that there are different kinds of smiles—contented, peace-filled ones and wide-grinned, overjoyed ones. We dug a little deeper into “why” these list items make us smile and worked together to write this collaborative poem.
Write Out Loud (Asbury Book Cooperative)
We had a fabulous time celebrating the spooky season at Write Out Loud at the Asbury Book Cooperative this month. We celebrated a Halloween-themed night by reading “As We Were Saying Goodnight” by Henry Crawford. With the poem setting the mood, we then pulled spooky words from a hat to act as our writing prompts. The participants shared their writing and then we ran the open mic part of the event and read outside work. We’re so thankful for this community and for Asbury Book Cooperative for offering their space for these inspiring events. Join us at the next Write Out Loud on November 14!
Scholarship Seats
Through our mission as a nonprofit organization, we remove barriers to participating in our fee-based classes by providing full and partial scholarship seats as well as payment plans. Since 2020, we’ve seen a dramatic increase in the need for financial assistance and therefore have met that need by offering more scholarship seats. For 2023, we’ve awarded 38 seats totaling $13,050 so far. For information about our scholarship program or to become a valuable donor providing these seats, please email Jennifer Chauhan at jennifer@projectwritenow.org.
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