Since Feb. 12, a group of nearly 20 Street Roots vendors has been attending a creative writing workshop hosted by Write Around Portland, a nonprofit that has brought the healing power of writing to Portland’s most vulnerable for 15 years. Write Around’s philosophy of respect, writing and community has been taught to more than 4,400 participants across 600 unique workshops.
“It’s awesome! You get to learn a lot, and everybody helps each other,” says Willie Bradford, Street Roots vendor and workshop participant.
“Lara, our instructor, is awesome to help us out,” vendor and participant Paul Ortiz says. “She helps me write what I want to write, and she does a lot. I really like the workshop on Thursdays. I get to meet different people. The piece I wrote went into the paper, so that was pretty cool too!”
The Write Around Portland workshop will be hosted through April 16. Each participant will have a chance to be published in an anthology, and vendor participants will be invited to read a selection of their work at Write Around Portland’s anthology release party after the workshop has ended.