Thank you for taking the time to receive and review this newsletter. We are grateful to be in community with you. Feel free to share this information with others.

If you have any updates, ideas, and/or concerns, we’d like to hear from you. Email us at wpwp@pitt.edu.

and the gray Sunflower poised against the sunset, crackly bleak and dusty with the smut and smog and smoke of olden locomotives in its eye—

corolla of bleary spikes pushed down and broken like a battered crown, seeds fallen out of its face, soon-to-be-toothless mouth of sunny air, sunrays obliterated on its hairy head like a dried wire spiderweb,

leaves stuck out like arms out of the stem, gestures from the sawdust root, broke pieces of plaster fallen out of the black twigs, a dead fly in its ear,

Unholy battered old thing you were, my sunflower O my soul, I loved you then!

― Excerpt from Sunflower Sutra by Allen Ginsberg

Write a description of something in nature from an unusual perspective.

― Writing Prompt from Lucy Ware

You’re invited to join us for a network meeting to discuss the work of the WPWP. During the meeting, we will write and share, engage in interactive discussions about the WPWP’s future, review vision and updates connected to the network, and fellowship with one another. All are welcome to attend. Please share this meeting with a friend. If you have any questions, please email wpwp@pitt.edu.

Date: Saturday, March 30

Time: 10 a.m. – 1p.m.

Location: The Colloquium Room (Posvar Hall 5601)
Wesley W. Posvar Hall, 230 South Bouquet Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260 (directions)

Do you have questions about our Summer Institute for Teachers? Our director will host virtual open office hours for questions and exploration around SIT on the following dates:

If you are unable to meet during these times, please email kle37@pitt.edu to set up an appointment.

Please use this Zoom link to drop in for questions.

Our Summer Institute will be held July 8–August 2 at the University of Pittsburgh!

We are pleased to offer a restorative and explorative four-week seminar for educators. If you are a classroom teacher, community educator, or education leader looking to have dedicated time for writing, improve your practice, and/or influence the writing culture in your school or organization, the WPWP Summer Institute is for you!

During the four weeks, educators (grade levels K to college, across all disciplines and communities) develop their personal and professional writing, explore new writing strategies, consider curriculum, and deepen inquiry connected to writing as a tool for education equity, access, and social justice. Together, we investigate best practices in writing and literacy instruction through shared demonstrations of practice, readings, and intentional focus on our writing and reading processes.

Please share the application and nomination form with educators and leaders. We will accept applications and nominations through April 1, 2024. If you have any questions, please email wpwp@pitt.edu.

WPWP 1987 fellow Sheila Carter-Jones was selected by the Hurston/Wright Foundation to be one of ten poets to study with award winning poet Mahogany Browne, the first poet in residence at Lincoln Center. Sheila also received one of two scholarships offered by the Hurston/Wright Foundation.

On Thursday, April 25, the Pittsburgh Poetry Society will be reading at RIVERSTONE Books in Squirrel Hill at 7 p.m. The five readers include WPWP fellows Sheila Carter-Jones and Karen Howard, as well as Jay Carson, Elisabeth Crago, and Judy Yogman. Christine Aikens Wolfe, also a WPWP fellow, will be the emcee. Free to the public. Come and enjoy our talented poets.

We are hoping to strengthen both communication and connection as we begin our 40th year as an NWP site! This year, we are enhancing our communication methods by addressing any gaps in contact information. Please complete this contact form if you haven’t already. We encourage you to share it with others who might be interested in re/connecting with the WPWP network.