Dear Western Pennsylvania Writing Project Community,

Thank you for taking 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.

Locate a photo with a person or several people in it. Take time to observe the photo and its elements. Imagine yourself from the perspective of one of the people who were photographed. Or, imagine yourself as an object or element within the photograph. Become connected to that perspective and write everything and anything you can. Use all of your senses and corners of your imagination to bring the scene to life. 

Want to share your writing with us? Email: wpwp@pitt.edu

As we celebrate 40 years of the Western Pennsylvania Writing Project at the University of Pittsburgh, we’re thrilled to introduce our new logo! This logo connects the WPWP’s collegiate sponsorship home with the esteemed history of the National Writing Project.

(sub)Verses Social Collective Fall Women’s Writing Retreat
Saturday, October 7 | Noon - 4:30 p.m.
Riverview Park Valley Refuge Shelter

Open to all. More details below.

Flight Plans: Education Workshop
Tuesday, October 17 | 5:30 - 7 p.m.
Carlow Art Gallery, located within the Carlow University Commons (directions)

Join us for an intimate education workshop around Njaimeh Njie’s Flight Plans. 

Flight Plans is an exhibition about the myth and the magic of Black folks flying. Part installation and part collage series, it draws on folklore, archives, documentary, and afro-futurist influences to meditate on what flight has meant historically and today. During this workshop, educators, students, leaders, and families are invited to reflect, to share, and to imagine what flight means to them, and the steps it might take to achieve or support it through teaching and learning. Read more about Flight Plans here.

National Day on Writing 
Friday, October 20 | 4:30 - 6 p.m.
Everyday Cafe (directions) 

As we write and share, we will enjoy time for connection and snacks. This gathering is open to all and families are encouraged. 

About National Day on Writing 

To draw attention to the remarkable variety of writing Americans engage in and to help make writers from all walks of life aware of their craft, the National Council of Teachers of English has established October 20 as the National Day on Writing^®. It’s important for everyone to share their knowledge about writing, organize participating groups in our schools and/or communities, and transform the public’s understanding of writing and the role it plays in society today. Read more here.

#WriteOut—Park and Write: WPWP at Frick Park
Saturday, October 21 | 10 - 11:30 a.m.
Frick Park (entrance near the Environmental Center) (directions) 

Join us for #WriteOut—Park and Write! We will move throughout Frick Park and write. We will provide water and light snacks. This gathering is open to all and families are encouraged. 

About Write Out

Write Out is a free two-week celebration of writing, making, and sharing inspired by the great outdoors. It is a public invitation to get out and create that is supported with a series of online activities, made especially for educators, students, and families, to explore national parks and other public spaces. The goal is to connect and learn through place-based writing and sharing using the common hashtag #writeout. Read more here.

I Love to Write Day
Wednesday, November 15 | 4:30 - 6 p.m.
Everyday Cafe (directions) 

As we write and share during I Love to Write Day, we will enjoy time for connection and snacks. This gathering is open to all and families are encouraged. 

About I Love to Write Day

[John Riddle’s] goal for I Love To Write Day is to have people of all ages spend time writing. They can write a poem, a love letter, a greeting card, an essay, a short story, start a novel, finish a novel…the possibilities are endless. But [he] wants people to take the time to put their thoughts down on paper. They will be amazed at the results. Read more here.

Check out this free education resource from Carla Shalaby. Within this Google Drive space are a set of 12 Restorative Justice skills posters for spaces serving children.