KITE: A. A NOTE PASSED FROM AN INMATE TO AN INMATE IN ANOTHER CELL OR TO A GUARD B. UNDERGROUND WRITING’S AUDIO ZINE FEATURING STUDENT WRITING Jen Bradbury, UW Teaching Writer, shares student writing from What No One Ever Tells You. My Cell -Victor I Won’t Front -J.S. I Am Not What You Think I Am -Luciean Nascar Dialogue -Josh Survival -M. We Sit H…

Yesica joins Matt and Alvin in the park on a sunny day. She shares new work and updates us on her journey. Matt gives updates on workshops, events, and amplifying voices. LINKS OF INTEREST: Podcast Review: Underground Writing Dear America chapbook The Change - Book Pipeline Marilyn Montufar Jacob Lawrence Gallery Claudia Castro Luna Letters to a Yo…

We’re still here. Matt and Alvin read excerpts from DEAR AMERICA, the newest collection of student writing, packaged as our latest chapbook. They check in on the state of… everything, having made it into the new year. Matt gives updates on writing workshops and amplifying voices. LINKS OF INTEREST: DEAR AMERICA CHAPBOOK THE CHANGE - BOOK PIPELINE M…

KITE: A. A NOTE PASSED FROM AN INMATE TO AN INMATE IN ANOTHER CELL OR TO A GUARD B. UNDERGROUND WRITING’S AUDIO ZINE FEATURING STUDENT WRITING Matt shares student writing from the e-workshops at the Skagit County Community Justice Center site. Finding Hope (excerpt) - Garrett Helping - C. Seven Aphorisms - Michael I Need You to Unlock Heaven's Door…

It’s been something—this year of 2020: the pandemic, the quarantine, the killing of George Floyd and the ensuing protests, the wildfires currently occurring up and down the west coast, the looming November election . . . It’s been a year of great challenges, and a year of hope for true and lasting change. How will this year—and how will we—be remem…

To say that the Coronavirus has changed things is an understatement. The world is in a state of forced improvisation. Things have been quite different for us, too, during the quarantine. In this episode, Matt provides a summary overview of the situation for Underground Writing, program updates and adaptations, and shares new student writing created…

BEFORE any stay-at-home orders were in effect, Elizabeth Riley joined Matt and Alvin in the studio to talk about her research project, the high school classroom vs leading a creative writing workshop with UW, and how she navigated a love of reading/writing into a career. Elizabeth is a graduate student at Gardner-Webb University, researching the ef…

“Club Icarus” is a poem by Matthew W. Miller that was brought in to UW writing workshops at the Skagit County Community Justice Center. Elizabeth Riley, local high school teacher and grad student, joins Matt and Alvin in the studio to explore the myth of Icarus. LINKS OF INTEREST: Hadestown Mythology by Edith Hamilton Myth of Icarus Club Icarus by …

When people ask, "What's Underground Writing?" the quick answer is that we're a creative writing program for at-risk communities. One of the follow up questions we sometimes receive: "How does it all work financially?" We think this is a great year-end question! Matt and Alvin discuss these aspects of the organization, and invite listeners to partn…

“His Cup” is a piece of student writing from the Skagit Recovery Community Site. Matt gives context on this site and he and Alvin discuss grief and mourning, as we carry the items of our deceased loved ones. LINKS OF INTEREST: Brigid Collins Family Support Center Habibi, retail pop-up shop in Mount Vernon, Washington—in collaboration with Skagit Ri…

KITE: A. A NOTE PASSED FROM AN INMATE TO AN INMATE IN ANOTHER CELL OR TO A GUARD B. UNDERGROUND WRITING’S AUDIO ZINE FEATURING STUDENT WRITING A. Muia, UW Teaching Writer, shares student writing from the workshops at Skagit County Juvenile Detention. Where I’m From by E I Am From by J I Belong Here by A Visitation Hours by B One Medicine I’ve Taken…

Habibi is Arabic for beloved, darling. It's also the holiday pop-up market in downtown Mount Vernon sponsored by Voices of the Children, Skagit River Poetry Foundation, and Underground Writing. This short episode has the directors of those local organizations and Habibi's Featured Artist Asil Jabr around the table at the pop-up retail space. Featur…

Julie Ryan and UW Director Matt attended graduate school together in Vancouver, B.C. Earlier this year, Julie reached out to Matt from her English classroom in Dunedin, New Zealand in response to The Underground Writing Podcast episode about our 2018 week-long intensive at juvenile detention. She has since started a creative writing group at St. Hi…

This episode of KITE 5 is part 2 with our first intern, Yesica Solano.KITE: A. A NOTE PASSED FROM AN INMATE TO AN INMATE IN ANOTHER CELL OR TO A GUARD B. UNDERGROUND WRITING’S AUDIO ZINE FEATURING STUDENT WRITING4. Smile Like You Mean It5. My Favorite Lesson6. Get Up7. Jose LuisLINKS OF INTEREST: I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter - Erika L. Sá…

This episode of KITE 5 is part 1 with our first intern, Yesica Solano.KITE: A. A NOTE PASSED FROM AN INMATE TO AN INMATE IN ANOTHER CELL OR TO A GUARD B. UNDERGROUND WRITING’S AUDIO ZINE FEATURING STUDENT WRITING1. Stranger2. Letter to My Mom3. No Woman’s LandAutor: Underground Writing

This piece comes from our site at Skagit County’s Juvenile Detention. UW Teaching Writer Suzanne brought in a poem from a Chinese factory worker. Matt and Alvin discuss protest, despair, hope, and transformation. Links of Interest: What No One Ever Tells YouIron Moon: An Anthology of Chinese Worker PoetryIn the Words of China's WorkersUnderground W…

KITE: A. A NOTE PASSED FROM AN INMATE TO AN INMATE IN ANOTHER CELL OR TO A GUARD B. UNDERGROUND WRITING’S AUDIO ZINE FEATURING STUDENT WRITING1. Dear Self by Jay 2. Broken by Rocky3. Lost Boy Rich by Richard4. Border of Paradise by Rocky5. There Have Been So Many Times by Ray6. This City is a Map of Pain by Jay7. Goodbye to My Addiction From a Psyc…

Matt and Alvin meet with Migrant Leaders Club students to discuss the piece OUR STORY from the collaborative anthology WHEN THE DUST RISES. Underground Writing: a literature-based creative writing program serving migrant, incarcerated, recovery, and other at-risk communities in northern Washington through literacy and personal transformation.…

We’re back! Matt and Alvin witness a short piece from the Community Justice Center of Skagit County. Underground Writing: a literature-based creative writing program serving migrant, incarcerated, recovery, and other at-risk communities in northern Washington through literacy and personal transformation.…

Chris Hoke, UW Teaching Writer, shares recent student writing from the workshops at the Skagit County Community Justice Center. Note: We are a creative writing program serving at-risk populations. We do not broadcast names or identifying details of the students we work with.LINKS OF INTEREST:Rainer Maria RilkeRaymond CarverWriters in the School (Se…

What has grown into a generative collaboration began when we first met in June 2015 with Janice Blackmore, founder and advisor for the Mount Vernon Migrant Leaders Club. Underground Writing was a few weeks out from its official launch and we were meeting with Janice to talk about the club becoming our second site. Given the fact that one of the pri…

This piece comes from the Migrant Leaders Club of the Mount Vernon School District. Matt and Alvin find common ground on themes of isolation, loneliness, hatred, and division. Note: We are a creative writing program serving at-risk populations. We do not broadcast names or identifying details of the students we work with. LINKS OF INTEREST: What No…

KITE: A. A NOTE PASSED FROM AN INMATE TO AN INMATE IN ANOTHER CELL OR TO A GUARD B. UNDERGROUND WRITING’S AUDIO ZINE FEATURING STUDENT WRITING This episode features six pieces of writing from Brothers in Pen, the creative writing class at San Quentin State Prison. Kenny Brydon, short story, "A Course in Reconciliation" Emile DeWeaver, memoir, "Crum…

Chris Hoke is a Gang Pastor and Prisoner Reentry Organizer as the Founder and Director of Underground Ministries. He joins Matt and Alvin in the studio to discuss what he’s encountered in his almost four years as a Teaching Writer at Underground Writing. Note: We are a creative writing program serving at-risk populations. We do not broadcast names …

Kite: a. a note passed from an inmate to an inmate in another cell or to a guard b. Underground Writing’s audio zine featuring student writingThis episode features twelve pieces of writing from the Skagit County Community Justice Center, read by Matt Malyon. I’m Cold and the Temperature Doesn’t Change. Pancho. After the First Lightning, Where Does …

Zoe Mullery has been the creative writing teacher of Brothers in Pen at San Quentin Prison since 1999. This writing group has produced eight anthologies of:”fiction, memoir, creative nonfiction, or some hybrid.” She joins Matt and Alvin in the studio to discuss truth/facts, the purpose of humans in community, generosity and story, and the gift of l…

We continue exploring the DEAR AMERICA prompt from our site at the Skagit County Community Justice Center: ideas of balance and counter-balance, frustration and allure. Matt shares updates from a satellite program on the east coast, The Change: a book pipeline to—among other sites—the library at Green Hill School in Chehalis, WA, and a teaser for o…

Matt and Alvin wrestle with the implications of a poem of blessing from the Skagit County Community Justice Center site, and meditate on its beauty and selflessness. They also discuss the recent Hidden Truth event, performed by the Migrant Leaders Club and directed by Underground Writing’s Teaching Writer, Jennifer Morison Hendrix. Note: We are a c…

Matt and Alvin read a piece of vivid memory from juvenile detention, aftering poems by Osip Mandelstam and Marina Tsvetaeva. Matt shares updates about UW Teaching Writers, Chris Hoke and Suzanne Paola Antonetta. Note: We are a creative writing program serving at-risk populations. We do not broadcast names or identifying details of the students we w…

The day after the What No One Ever Tells You book launch, Matt and Alvin enjoy/labor over a piece from the YMCA Oasis Daylight Center that afters the poem REVERB by poet Robert Rottet. Matt shares updates from UW’s collaboration with the Washington State Arts Commission and HIDDEN TRUTH, the upcoming showcase from the Migrant Leaders Club.Note: We …

Matt shares a poem from the Skagit Juvenile Detention site, aftering a poem by Mahmoud Darwish. He and Alvin discuss confronting one’s own outcome and cause-effect. Matt shares about UW’s newest teaching writer Laurie Parker and UW’s Anthology What No One Ever Tells You being launched at the Mount Vernon City Library on February 21. Note: We are a …

Matt and Alvin wrestle with a piece from the YMCA Oasis Daylight Center. They discuss hope, despair, rebellion, and protest. Matt shares updates about the anthology What No One Ever Tells You, the incredible On Being podcast on NPR, FilmVerse now underway in its second year, the support of Red Door Thrift Shop and Christ Episcopal Church, the Washi…

Today’s piece of writing is the Foreword to What No One Ever Tells You, Underground Writing’s first anthology of student writing. Playwright and UW friend, Quiara Alegría Hudes, wrote the piece we’ve titled, “Did You Ever Feel Invisible?” Matt and Alvin talk about the anthology, give a brief update on UW’s Teaching Writers, and present music by the…

“The Salish Sea” is a poem that “afters” works by Walt Whitman and Langston Hughes. Matt and Alvin discuss the poem—which comes from our Skagit County Community Justice Center site—the Salish Sea, and other related topics. Matt updates listeners about the release of UW’s first anthology, What No One Ever Tells You—just in time for the start of 2019…

This episode features writing from our Juvenile Detention and YMCA Oasis Daylight Center sites. Matt Malyon and producer Alvin Shim discuss how the writings engage with and expand the title of What No One Ever Tells You, our first anthology of student writing. The book will be released in December 2018 and is supported in part by a grant from the W…

If you listened to this week’s catch-up podcast the day that it was published, you were probably confused. We had an error on our end uploading the correct file, which has now been fixed. Matt provides some detail on the mix-up.We thank you for your patience, for listening, and for keeping in touch with Underground Writing.…

Matt reads from a piece by a juvenile detention student, after Jimmy Santiago Baca’s poem. He and Alvin celebrate the courage of voices from the underground. Matt shares about UW’s new non-profit status, thanks board members, and gives an update from our friend Quiara Alegría Hudes’ show Miss You Like Hell. Note: We are a creative writing program s…

UW Director Matt Malyon chats with Producer Alvin Shim about “I Am Waiting,” a piece of student writing from our site at the Skagit County Community Justice Center. They share stories of waiting in incarceration, bearing the lack of options that the justice system offers, and the individual posture of waiting vs. action. Matt reads from a letter of…

This episode features writing from our Juvenile Detention and YMCA Oasis Daylight Center sites. Matt Malyon and producer Alvin Shim discuss how the writings engage with and expand the title of What No One Ever Tells You, our first anthology of student writing. The book will be released in December 2018 and is supported in part by a grant from the W…

Student writing from the Migrant Leaders Club site. Matt and Alvin remember the performance of this piece from their trip to New York earlier this year, read on stage after the musical Miss You Like Hell, written by Quiara Alegría Hudes. UW updates:Matt shares about a recent meeting with the Migrant Leaders Club of the Mount Vernon School District.…

Student writing from the Migrant Leaders Club site. Matt and Alvin remember the performance of this piece from their trip to New York earlier this year, read on stage after the musical Miss You Like Hell, written by Quiara Alegría Hudes. UW updates:Matt shares about a recent meeting with the Migrant Leaders Club of the Mount Vernon School District.…

Matt and Alvin explore odes and the ongoing conversation of Pablo Neruda, the Skagit Recovery Community Site, and the Oasis Daylight Center site. UW Updates:Matt updates listeners on UW’s first workshop at the Community Justice Center, now a weekly site serving men and women on alternating weeks. Note: We are a creative writing program serving at-r…

Matt and Alvin explore odes and the ongoing conversation of Pablo Neruda, the Skagit Recovery Community Site, and the Oasis Daylight Center site.UW Updates:Matt updates listeners on UW’s first workshop at the Community Justice Center, now a weekly site serving men and women on alternating weeks.Note: We are a creative writing program serving at-ris…

We read "Journeying," from the juvenile detention site. This is a piece in response to exploring The Odyssey, Homer's epic poem. Matt and Alvin talk about the transformation that might be produced after an intense series of adventures, struggles, and danger. UW UPDATES:Underground Writing's 2018 newsletter is published, written by Teaching Writer A…

The student writing “Dreams” comes from the Migrant Leaders Club site, exploring the gap that interrupts our aspirations, hopes, and goals. Matt gives updates on the week-long intensive coming up at juvenile detention and the Community Spotlight episode featuring Randi at Oasis Daylight Shelter.Autor: Underground Writing

This is the first Community Spotlight episode of the podcast. We speak with Randi Breuer, the lead at the Oasis Daylight Center and site host for Underground Writing. Randi speaks about how the center operates, what the strategy is in serving at-risk youth in the community, and the role of creative writing in personal restoration.…

Student Writing from the YMCA Oasis Daylight Center, after Langston Hughes' I Too. Matt and Alvin talk about the courageous nature of declarative works that these pieces have in common. Matt discusses how Hughes took the lead from Walt Whitman's work, cataloguing the nation. What is a voice? What is a country? UW updates: -Upcoming week-long intens…

Student Writing from the YMCA Oasis Daylight Center, after Langston Hughes' I Too. Matt and Alvin talk about the courageous nature of declarative works that these pieces have in common. Matt discusses how Hughes took the lead from Walt Whitman's work, cataloguing the nation. What is a voice? What is a country? UW updates: Upcoming week-long intensi…