Skagit Valley | Historical Photo

March 24, 2025 | A surprise review of The Underground Writing Podcast in Podcast Review. READ the review HERE. We’re honored to be included in this group of great indie podcasts! Thanks, Podcast Review and Alice Florence Orr. Give The Underground Writing Podcast a listen, folks, and please write us a review on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Huge Shout Outs and Thanks!

We are so grateful to the following grant organizations: The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation (Community Accelerator Grant, distributed via ArtsFund), The Seattle Foundation (and our anonymous gifting family), ArtsWA, the Renaissance Charitable Foundation, and The Norcliffe Foundation. Also—THANKS! to The Red Door Thrift Shop (CEC, Anacortes) for helping us with our podcast reboot. Thank you all for your grants that have helped sustain us in 2024, and for believing in the ongoing work we're doing. Thank you, Thank you. We're ever grateful!

We're back! On this first episode of Season 5, we talk about the reboot of The Underground Writing Podcast. Highlights include a catch-up / overview coming out of the Covid era, a few updates regarding programs and collaborations, and a reading of "Ode to My Journal," a poem by Anthony, one of our students at our writing workshop site in Skagit County Juvenile Detention. Check out the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also view it on our website, complete with the show notes. Thanks for listening, Friends!

We're back! On this second episode of Season 5 (reboot season), we feature LINEBREAK, one of the small tributaries within the larger river of THE UNDERGROUND WRITING PODCAST. On LINEBREAK, we highlight a single piece of student writing. Today's feature: "Growing Up Is Not Easy" by Juli from our site with the Migrant Leaders Club. Check out the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also view it on our website, complete with the show notes. Thanks for listening, Friends!

We're back! On this third episode of Season 5 (reboot season), we feature KITE, one of the small tributaries within the larger river of THE UNDERGROUND WRITING PODCAST. On KITE, our audio zine, we feature a small selection of student writing (usually five to eight writings). Check out the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also view it on our website, complete with the show notes. Thanks for listening, Friends!

Congrats to A.Muia, one of our generative Teaching Writers here at Underground Writing, for winning the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction. Read the press release here.

Listen here! Underground Writing featured on NPR/WUTC's radio show, DANTE'S OLD SOUTH with Clifford Brooks - Episode 65. The old time radio show features "Stories, songs, stanzas, and their real applications. The Southern Collective Experience's radio show, Dante's Old South, featuring poets, prose writers, musicians - and more!"

We are surprised, honored, and grateful to announce that the Seattle Foundation—via a wonderful anonymous donor, for the third year in a row—has given us a large, unrequested grant for our continuing work. Thank you so very much! The Seattle Foundation strengthens the health and vitality of our community by connecting generous people with well-informed philanthropic strategies. Their mission is to ignite powerful, rewarding philanthropy to make Greater Seattle a stronger, more vibrant community for all. They are one of the largest community foundations in America. More information about their important work can be accessed here.

We're very grateful to announce that we are a recipient of a 2024 Community Accelerator Grant funded by the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation and awarded by ArtsFund! This gift will accelerate our organization’s efforts as an arts and cultural organization in Skagit County, Washington and beyond. Among many things, philanthropist Paul Allen was the co-founder of Microsoft, owner of the Portland Trail Blazers and Seattle Seahawks, and founder of the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle. Allen had a huge heart for the Pacific Northwest and its people, and we're honored to be a part of this grant program.

Underground Writing’s Spring 2024 Newsletter | READ: “Satisfying Blank Pages”

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A great NEW review of The Underground Writing Podcast in Podcast Review. Read the review here. More than mere nostalgia, too. There’s a reboot underway. Stay tuned!

Underground Writing’s End of Year | December 2023 Newsletter | READ: “Geography of the Heart.”

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Underground Writing’s September 2023 Newsletter | READ: “Letters to a Young Inmate - October Launch!”

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We're very grateful to announce that we've been awarded a General Operating Support Sustaining Grant for 2023-2024 and 2024-2025. General Support offers two-year funding for general operating costs to arts organizations. This funding supports arts organizations in their work of providing creative, communal, and cultural experiences with and for the people of Washington State. Thanks to ArtsWA for your belief in, and support of, our ongoing work.

Our recent collaboration with Marilyn Montúfar and our Migrant Leaders Club workshop site will be included in BIMA's Spotlight show, open through September 24, 2023 . Highlighted: Juli's poem + photo of Juli taken by Marilyn (included here).

We're very grateful to announce that we are a recipient of a 2023 Community Accelerator Grant funded by the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation and awarded by ArtsFund! This gift will accelerate our organization’s efforts as an arts and cultural organization in Skagit County, Washington and beyond. Among many things, philanthropist Paul Allen was the co-founder of Microsoft, owner of the Portland Trail Blazers and Seattle Seahawks, and founder of the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle. Allen had a huge heart for the Pacific Northwest and its people, and we're honored to be a part of this grant program.

First steps. On March 30, 2023, we launched our new volunteer day for re/vision (our one-on-one creative writing mentorships for incarcerated writers). Good folks from the local community here, writing letters back to some of the writers we're publishing via ONE PAGE.

Live locally and want to be involved? Contact us.

Underground Writing’s May 2023 Newsletter (about the re/vision volunteer day) | READ: “Community in Writing.”

We are surprised, honored, and grateful to announce that the Seattle Foundation—via a wonderful anonymous donor, for a second time—has given us a large, unrequested grant for our continuing work. Thank you so very much! The Seattle Foundation strengthens the health and vitality of our community by connecting generous people with well-informed philanthropic strategies. Their mission is to ignite powerful, rewarding philanthropy to make Greater Seattle a stronger, more vibrant community for all. They are one of the largest community foundations in America. More information about their important work can be accessed here.

Rejoicing with Rahsaan and the Ear Hustle podcast crew! Such great news. Thanks, Rahsaan, for writing one of the letters in our forthcoming Letters to a Young Inmate initiative. More about Ear Hustle Co-Host, Rahsaan, here.

Underground Writing’s February 2023 Newsletter | READ: “Potential.”

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Another batch of books mailed out via our book donation pipeline, THE CHANGE. Thanks, Lopez Island community + Pam & James Hoyle. Mailed to the Academic Library of Green Hill School in Chehalis, WA (Washington's maximum security youth detention facility).

Underground Writing’s Current Newsletter | READ: “re/vision, beauty, and growth” - October 2022.

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October 2022 | We are excited to begin our first full cohort of re/vision mentorships this month! You can learn more about our re/vision program here. And we’re grateful to have added five new mentors to the crew. Learn more about the entire re/vision team (as well as our Teaching Writers) here.

Debuting in August 2022 - ONE PAGE, a publishing opportunity for people who reach out to re/vision (our one-year creative writing mentorship for people experiencing incarceration). Thanks to Frankie from Berea, Kentucky for leading things off. Read more about our re/vision program.

Emancipated Stories, one of our key collaborating partners, is putting on a great in-person and event-filled exhibit in New York in June/July 2022. Many stories, poems, mini memoirs, and other writings by our students are part of the exhibit. If you’re in New York, consider spending some time visiting the show. More details can be accessed here.

We’re grateful to announce that we are included in the 2022 Literary Arts Emergency Fund group, which includes funding for 313 grantees (including 122 publishers) throughout America. The Literary Arts Emergency Fund is facilitated by the Academy of American Poets, Community of Literary Magazines & Presses, and National Book Foundation, as well as the Mellon Foundation.

Huge thanks and shout outs to the Literary Arts Emergency Fund, supported by the Mellon Foundation, for including Underground Writing in this beautiful group of literary publishers and organizations.

Read press release here

"Migrant Youth / Chicana Perspectives: Living in Multiple Spaces." Our collaborative exhibit with the Mount Vernon Migrant Leaders Club and Marilyn Montúfar is open at MoNA in La Conner, WA.

Dates | February 26 - May 15, 2022.
Gallery | Museum of Northwest Art

THE SENTENCES THAT CREATE US (out this month—January 2022—from Haymarket Books and PEN America) draws from the unique insights of over fifty justice-involved contributors and their allies to offer inspiration and resources for creating a literary life in prison.

Edited by Underground Writing Advisory Board Member, Caits Meissner, Director of PEN America’s Prison and Justice Writing program.

And we’re honored to get a nod in the Resources section of this book! Thanks, PEN, Caits, and all the folks who helped this generative book become a reality.

You can order the book here.

Here’s our 2021 podcast wrap. Thanks to Alvin Shim, our Producer and Co-Host for episodes 1-43 (and our audio zine: KITE, issues 1-9). Thanks to Alice Florence Orr and Podcast Review (A Los Angeles Review of Books Channel) for their great 2021 podcast write-up—https://podcastreview.org/list/best-podcasts-for-writers/

We’re currently on an extended 2022 Covid-19 break, but plan to return to podcasting later this year. In the meantime, we have a large backlog of episodes which you can enjoy. Thanks for your interest in our ongoing work.

Check out our forthcoming initiative, LETTERS TO A YOUNG INMATE. Delayed due to Covid-19, and now launching in 2023. More information here.

Thanks to the Washington State Arts Commission (ArtsWA), St. Paul & Minnesota Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for their grants to make this happen.

READ: “Collaborative Visions” - December 2021 newsletter.

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September 23, 2021 | We’ve received another batch of replies from our collaborating partners, Emancipated Stories. Students at our Skagit County Community Justice Center site sent poems and prose to Emancipated Stories and received personal letters back. You can see the new (and older) student writings on Emancipated Stories’ Instagram publishing platform here. Some of the pieces even got set to music! Wonderful project. Thanks, Quiara and the Emancipated Stories crew!

READ: “Facilitating Hope” - September 2021 newsletter.

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We were grateful to learn recently that we received a generous grant from The Norcliffe Foundation for our work in helping to amplify student voices via our communications work. Paul Pigott established The Norcliffe Foundation in 1952. After his death, his wife Theiline Pigott McCone led the foundation for decades. Succeeding generations of the family continue the legacy today. ​ The Norcliffe Foundation's mission is to improve the quality of life for all people in our community. Thank you, Norcliffe Foundation, for believing in the work we’re doing.

Our collaboration with Marilyn Montufar continues with “En Comunidad: Latinx Photography Now (Ahora)” in New York City, May 20 – June 18, 2021. Working with the dream team, co-curators, Enio Hernandez & Vanessa Natali for Latinx Photography. If you’re in the area, you can check out new writing by our Migrant Leaders Club students, as well as portraits of them by Marilyn Montufar. Visit The Clemente’s website for hours and more details.

CROWD WITHIN | NEDDY AT CORNISH EXHIBITION (at the Jacob Lawrence Gallery in Seattle). March 10-27, 2021. Includes: New writing by some of our Migrant Leaders Club site students & Photographs: Marilyn Montufar (image is a socially distanced screen shot from the virtual tour).

Visit the exhibit: 1) Virtually: An exhibition video can be found here. 2) In-person: You can book an appointment to visit the gallery here.

CROWD WITHIN | NEDDY AT CORNISH EXHIBITION (at the Jacob Lawrence Gallery in Seattle). March 10-27, 2021. Includes: New writing by some of our Migrant Leaders Club site students & Photographs: Marilyn Montufar (pictured here - image: AJ. Lenzi).

You can view the show virtually with a clickable walkthrough of the exhibition is available here. Full videos for each artist can be viewed on Vimeo here.

March 8, 2021 | NEW podcast episode—"I Know You Remember," Ep. #43. Listen here. New writing by poet and former intern, Yesica.

A great review of The Underground Writing Podcast in Podcast Review. Read the review here.

READ: “Dear America | Student Letters to the Nation” - November 2020 newsletter.

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Thanks and shout outs to the National Book Foundation, the Academy of American Poets, the Community of Literary Presses and Magazines, and Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation for their recent grants! Thank you for supporting—and believing in—our work.

Read our Anti-Discrimination, Anti-Harassment, Diversity Policy

On June 25, 2020, we learned that we received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to be used for our ongoing website transition and upgrade, including a new section devoted to curriculum for our Letters to a Young Inmate initiative (launch date: late 2020). This is a big boost for us, both for the help it provides and the new connection. Thank you, NEA!

May 2020: INSIDE VOICES, THE NEW POETRY FOLIO BY BROADSIDED PRESS, FEATURING INCARCERATED WRITERS, AND INCLUDING TWO OF OUR STUDENTS!

Visit the INSIDE VOICES folio here.

June 2020 | We received a new batch of return messages from Emancipated Stories, our collaboration partners in New York. Students at our Skagit County Community Justice Center site sent poems and prose to Emancipated Stories and received personal letters back. Wonderful project. Thanks, Quiara and the Emancipated Stories crew!

We’ve started a hashtag & writing prompt for the Covid-19 era. Please spread the word by e-mail, word of mouth, and sharing / posting this image on your social media. Writing cannot solve everything . . . but it can go a long way towards generating hope in these times. We’re in this together!

READ: “Essential Business” - April/May 2020 newsletter.

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We were part of the judging panel for the 2020 Washington State Finals of Poetry Out Loud, hosted at The Museum of Glass in Tacoma, WA. A great time hearing our state’s finest recite great works of poetry. Congratulations to our state champion, Jordan Mattox, and best to you in the finals in Washington, D.C.! Thanks to ArtsWA for continuing to sponsor this great event.

February 2020 | Check out our new informational video here.

Thanks to REFA for providing a grant to publish two chapbooks: 1) TALK ABOUT ME (2019) and 2) DEAR AMERICA (forthcoming in 2020). We are grateful for your belief in our work!

Underground Writing’s students are featured in Issue 79 of the Bellingham Review. Read their work here.

We are grateful to announce that we’ve received a 2020 grant from ArtsWA for LETTERS TO A YOUNG INMATE, an initiative we plan to roll out next year. We are excited about this! Thanks to ArtsWA for supporting and believing in the work we're doing. Stay tuned in the coming months for more details!

Underground Writing mentioned by Karen Solie in Poetry London, Issue 94. You can read the full essay here.

A very casual snapshot of an Emmy Award. It belongs to our Teaching Writer Laurie Parker for producing Finding Home: A Foster Youth Story, a PBS documentary from 2018. Congratulations to Laurie! Laurie facilitates/teaches at the Community Justice Center and Juvenile Detention sites. More about the film here.

We’re thrilled to have the hard copy of Wendy McNaughton’s final illustrated “Meanwhile” column. The piece originated from her recent visit with us at our writing workshop in the Skagit County Community Justice Center. It’s even more beautiful in New York Times newsprint!

AND, you can see the online version here.

Emanuel, an alumnus at our Migrant Leaders Club site, is featured in a write-up that involves our new book, WHEN THE DUST RISES. Read the article here.

June 2019 | Now available! Underground Writing’s second anthology of student writing. Thanks to our student writers! Thanks to the Mount Vernon Migrant Leaders Club. Thanks to Village Books Publishing, Daniel Galán (cover design), and Juan Felipe Herrera (Foreword to the book). Thanks also to our Board, Advisory Board, Community Collaborators, Site Hosts, and our crew of dedicated Teaching Writers. Order here now.

BOOK LAUNCH | Thursday, June 13, 2019, 6:30 p.m. Mount Vernon City Library. The Book Launch will include readings by student writers, a time for Q & A, and light refreshments.

The award-winning On Being recently launched a monthly Community Spotlight feature in their newsletter. Underground Writing is honored to be the first item featured in the spotlight. Thank you Krista Tippett, Kristin Lin, and all the crew at On Being !

READ: spotlight feature

Using short films created by Mount Vernon High School students, FilmVerse explores concepts of community using narratives written by youth in Skagit County Juvenile Detention. Additionally, 4th and 5th grade students in the Highly Capable Program at Jefferson Elementary will share their own short films. | A collaboration between Voices of the Children, Underground Writing, and the Mount Vernon School District

Thursday, May 23, 2019 - 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Lincoln Theatre in Mount Vernon, WA. Entrance is by donation only. Proceeds benefit Voices of the Children and Underground Writing.

FilmVerse 2018 & 2019 films can be seen here.

Listen Here: Underground Writing featured on KNKX | NPR, All Things Considered.

Check out our collaborating partner, Emancipated Stories. Based in New York, the project aims to publish a piece of writing or art by every incarcerated person in America. A lofty goal, they admit, but they’re just getting started. You can see the writings of 15-20 Underground Writing students via the Emancipated Stories Instagram page.

April 9, 2019 | We received our first batch of return messages from our Community Collaborator partners, Emancipated Stories. Students at our Skagit County Community Justice Center site sent poems and prose to Emancipated Stories and received personal letters back. Wonderful project. Thanks, Quiara and the Emancipated Stories crew!

BOOK LAUNCH, Feb. 21, 2019, 6-7 pm, Mount Vernon City Library, 315 Snoqualmie Street, Mount Vernon, WA 98273. Light refreshments will be served after the readings. Writers will be available to sign purchased books.

February 21, 2019 | What No One Ever Tells You Official Book Launch. Thanks to the Mount Vernon City Library, our host site, Mayor Jill Boudreau for her kind words of introduction, and our student authors. And to the members of our community! Nearly 70 people showed up for the event. It was a great evening of readings, book sales, and shared stories. To see more photos of the event, visit us on Facebook or Instagram.

Underground Writing had a great 2018! | READ: Our 2018 Year in Review

January 2019 | Now available! Underground Writing’s first anthology of student writing. Thanks to Village Books Publishing, Nathan McGehee (cover design), Quiara Alegría Hudes (Foreword to the book), and our student writers. Thanks also to our Board, Advisory Board, Community Collaborators, Site Hosts, and our crew of dedicated Teaching Writers.

October 5, 2018 | We’re pleased to announce that Underground Writing’s forthcoming book—What No One Ever Tells You—is supported, in part, by a grant from the Washington State Arts Commission.

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED DUE TO AN EMERGENCY/ILLNESS IN CLAUDIA’S FAMILY | December 19, 2018 | Claudia Castro Luna, Washington State Poet Laureate - Reading, Writing, Q & A | Mount Vernon City Library in Mount Vernon, WA, 2:30 - 3:30 p.m. | Sponsored by Underground Writing

Laurie Parker (Teaching Writer), Elizabeth Riley (graduate student doing thesis research), and students from our site at the Skagit County Community Justice Center.

We launched our 5th site on September 19, 2018 | Skagit County Community Justice Center (new jail).

READ: FilmVerse event at the Lincoln Theatre in Mount Vernon, WA - May 12, 2018.

WATCH FILMS: Films by Mount Vernon High School students, based on writings by students in Juvenile Detention. A collaboration between Underground Writing and Voices of the Children.

August 27-31, 2018 - Weeklong Intensive Workshop in Juvenile Detention.

Book we’re reading, and writing-riffing on: Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds.

Thanks to the Bellingham Review for highlighting our students and program. | Read Issue 75 here

Listen: The Underground Writing Podcast

Migrant Leaders Club and Underground Writing - At the boarding gate in Seattle, heading for New York City!

Students from the Migrant Leaders Club and playwright, Quiara Alegría Hudes - Audience talkback after seeing Quiara's new musical, Miss You Like Hell at The Public Theater in New York City.  

Journals donated for our trip to New York City.  Thanks, Target - Burlington, Washington!

Forthcoming: Winter 2018. Honored to have our cover designed by local artist, Nathan McGehee.

What No One Ever Tells You is supported, in part, by a grant from the Washington State Arts Commission.

Pre-Publication Book Reading Events.

Front page of the Skagit Valley Herald, February 24, 2018.

At the Museum of Northwest Art (MoNA) for our Pre-Publication Book Reading - 2.8.18 - Students from our Migrant Leaders Club site.

At the Museum of Northwest Art (MoNA) for our Pre-Publication Book Reading - 2.8.18 - Students from our Migrant Leaders Club site.

At the Museum of Northwest Art (MoNA) for our Pre-Publication Book Reading - 2.8.18 - Students from our Migrant Leaders Club site.

At the Museum of Northwest Art (MoNA) for our Pre-Publication Book Reading - 2.8.18 - Students from our Migrant Leaders Club site.

At the Museum of Northwest Art (MoNA) for our Pre-Publication Book Reading - 2.8.18 - Students from our Migrant Leaders Club and YMCA Oasis Daylight Center sites.

At the Museum of Northwest Art (MoNA) for our Pre-Publication Book Reading - 2.8.18 - Students from our Migrant Leaders Club site.

At the Museum of Northwest Art (MoNA) for our Pre-Publication Book Reading - 2.8.18 - Students from our Migrant Leaders Club site.

At the Museum of Northwest Art (MoNA) for our Pre-Publication Book Reading - 2.8.18 - Students from our Migrant Leaders Club site.

READ: Some foundational ideas behind Underground Writing.  Photo by Jonny Clow.

Teaching Writer (Jen B.) at our Juvenile Detention workshop site.

The entrance door to our SCJD workshop site.

Juvenile Detention workshop site.

Juvenile Detention workshop site.

Teaching Writer (Susanne) at our Juvenile Detention workshop site.

Juvenile Detention workshop site.

Teaching Writer (Matt) at our Juvenile Detention workshop site.

Teaching Writer (A. Muia) at our Juvenile Detention workshop site.

At the Mount Vernon Public Library for our Pre-Publication Book Reading - 2.22.18 - Students from our YMCA Oasis Daylight Center site.

At the Mount Vernon Public Library for our Pre-Publication Book Reading - 2.22.18 - Student from our YMCA Oasis Daylight Center site.

FilmVerse - Underground Writing students' poetry being made into short films.  READ: Skagit Valley Herald article by Julia-Grace Sanders, February 11, 2018.  Photo by Scott Terrell, Skagit Valley Herald.

FilmVerse event at the historic Lincoln Theatre - May 12, 2018 at 3 p.m.  READ: Lincoln Theatre summary.

Teaching Writer (Jennifer) with students from the Migrant Leaders Club.  Preparing for 2018's Hidden Truth event at the Lincoln Theater.  Read more here.

Migrant Leaders Club workshop site.

Notebook | Template

Teaching Writer (Jennifer) with students from the Migrant Leaders Club.  Preparing for 2018's Hidden Truth event at the Lincoln Theater.  Read more here.

Migrant Leaders Club workshop site.

READ: Underground Writing's Juvenile Justice Issues Event - April 20, 2017 - Hosted screening of They Call Us Monsters.  

READ: Skagit Valley Herald article, April 13, 2017.

Farthest distance travelled by an Underground Writing T-Shirt?  T-Shirt Thank You package to our friend, Hoang Xuan Huy, designer of the Underground Writing logo, arrived safely in Vietnam.