Join Writers in the Schools for Night WrITerS on Wednesday, May 14th at 6PM. With youth performance poetry by Meta-Four Houston and a FREE adult writing workshop with world renowned poet, Outspoken Bean, Night WrITerS is a fun happy hour in support of a creative cause!
The 2014 Boldface Conference for Emerging Writers has extended the registration deadline to Friday, May 9, at midnight. Don’t miss the chance to study fiction, nonfiction or poetry with a fantastic faculty and to work with the 2014 Visiting Writers: Amber Dermont, David MacLean and Franke Varca. Find out more about this Houston event by clicking here.
Thank you for celebrating National Poetry Month with Writers in the Schools. It has been a huge month for WITS and for poetry in Houston. We have just concluded our first poetry contest in partnership with KPRC Local 2 and our two winners will read their poems to air for Mother’s Day. GONZO247 created a stunning visual of a WITS student’s poem, downtown at GreenStreet, and it was completed on Earth Day. An editorial in praise of National Poetry Month by our executive director, Robin Reagler, was published in the Sunday Houston Chronicle.
If you enjoyed reading poems by WITS students during National Poetry Month, here are some options for staying in the WITS loop throughout the year:
May creativity spur you onward each and every day. Happy May!
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We would like to thank H-E-B Tournament of Champions, Copy.com, The City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance, and Texas Commission on the Arts for sponsoring Poem a Day. A very special thanks goes to KPFT 90.1 FM, Johnston Middle School for the Performing and Visual Arts, Principal Wenden Sanders, his students, and teachers, and producer Susan Phillips for producing and featuring the poems on the radio each weekday.
60 of the finest young writers in Houston will share their original stories and poems at Menil Fest this Saturday at 12 noon. Writers in the Schools (WITS) will host the annual Young Writers Reading at the Menil Collection on May 3, 2014. The event is free, and the public is welcome.
Thank you to everyone who participated in the WITS + KPRC Local 2 Wax Poetic about Mom 2014 poetry contest. We had nearly 100 entries via facebook and email! We are happy to announce the judge’s choice as well as the people’s choice award winners.
Congratulations to our judge’s choice winner Maddox for his poem “Guardian of Kids” and the people’s choice winner Lauren for her poem “Mommy”.
Make sure you tune in to KPRC Local 2 on Sunday, May 11 to hear these poems on-air! And don’t forget to attend Menil Fest Saturday, May 3rd at 12pm where you can see the winners read live at our Young Writers Reading.
The spoken word event of the season takes place this Saturday at Discovery Green at 6:30 pm. The 21 top youth poets of Houston will compete for the 6 spots on the Meta-Four Houston team. Come out for the best in slam poetry. DJ Baby Roo will spin for the evening. The Honorable Sheila Jackson Lee will announce the winners and award the trophies.
Three former WITS Writers will read from newly published books in celebration of National Poetry Month at the Houston Public Library (Downtown – 500 McKinney St.). Come hear new work by Mike Alexander, Robin Davidson, and Peter Hyland this Saturday, April 19, at 2 pm. Emceeing the event will be current WITS Executive Director, Robin Reagler.
What: Pluto/Wild Card Preliminary Poetry Slam
When: 7 pm Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Where: Ensemble Theatre Houston
Why: Last chance to join the Meta-Four Houston 2014 team
Who: Youth ages 13-19
Cost: FREE
KPRC and WITS have teamed up to sponsor a poetry contest for Houston kids in grades K-5. Post your poem on the WITS Houston facebook page with the tag #MomPoem2014 or email it to poetry@witshouston.org to enter. Complete guidelines are here. And the deadline is April 23rd, 2014. In case you’d like a prompt to get your poem going, here is a good idea:
Close your eyes and remember your mother’s voice. In her talk with you, what refrains do you remember? Make a list of things she says to you often.
Read This:
Stuff Mom Says
Believe in yourself
Pick up your clothes
Hurry up!
How was your day?
Did you eat?
Quit texting
Are you listening to me?
Give me your phone
How was practice?
Do your homework first
Did you do your homework?
Are you listening to me?
It’s okay to be different
It’s going to work out
BelieveBy Bianca, 8th grade
Now Try This:
Take your list and add any other remarks, questions, or phrases that you remember. Organize your favorites into a list poem that moves from the specific to the general.
Writers in the Schools (WITS) and KPRC Local 2 News have partnered to host the 2014 Wax Poetic about Mom student poetry contest.
Students in grades K-5 are invited to submit their poems about Mom. Contest opens Wednesday, April 9th and will close at 11:59PM on Wednesday, April 23rd. Click here for complete rules and eligibility.