FROM OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

As we dive into our 20th year of empowering youth through writing and sharing voices with the world, we’re also reflecting on the great work we’ve accomplished. Listening, like Joseph, with both ears—one tuned toward our past, another toward our future.

This year of programming brought our alumni to the forefront in leadership roles while our teaching team traveled throughout the State to meet Maine’s young writers where they are at. This brought us as far as Washington and Aroostook County, while also doing deep work in our own backyard with partnerships at the Long Creek Youth Development Center and South Portland Middle School.

Along the way, we advanced our strategic plan, strengthening systems, closely exploring our partnership model, and began the process of updating our Theory of Change. 

None of this would have been possible without the steadfast support of our staff, volunteers, community partners, donors, sponsors, and of course, you. Thank you for believing in our youth—and our mission—for over twenty years. 

We hope to celebrate with you at our anniversary events throughout the year!

With Gratitude,

Kristina Powell
Telling Room Executive Director

“Never” by Lily Jessen

There are only three places 
where you can truly be freed of the trials of existing:
before, after, and never, 

which is a conundrum of sorts, for me.
I do not want to die, but
I do not think I want to turn fifteen,
either. I want to be like a Lost Boy, 
skipping, barefoot, through the forests of forever, crying
to the canopy and the crows 
a cacophony of defiant eternity that echoes
across the ocean, the divide,
to creep into the mainland
and hide in fairytales and lullabies—
a protest against what seems to be 
the very fundamental purpose of childhood: 
To grow up. 

People keep asking me: Are you going to take drivers ed?
I want to answer that I have no desire to drive, I want to fly 

on the wings of fairy dust, and land somewhere 
green and lush and shimmering
existing only in the whispers before bed
where I can finally feel found. 

And, wait a minute, where are all the lost girls, and 
what tore them away from the second star to the right?
They are drawn, pulled to become mothers, 
and may only sit by the window
growing old, waiting for either death 
or Peter Pan to sweep them away—whichever comes first. 

This is a poem for them, a hope that
their island will be a time capsule of the present,
without memory, only movement 
through the fields and waters 
on the toes of children, never to return.

Lily Jessen is in tenth grade and lives in Cape Elizabeth. She has written and published short stories and poems through other Telling Room publications, Stone Soup Magazine, Skipping Stones, Incandescent Review, and Root and Star. Her novel, The Pipe Tree, which won Stone Soup’s 2022 Annual Book Award, was published in 2024. When she isn’t fanatically planning the complicated plot of her next story, you can find her participating in theater, curled up with a book, or singing in her chorus. “Never” is the Cumberland County and Grand Prize Winner of The Telling Room’s 2024 Statewide Writing Contest. 

The Telling Room’s Statewide Writing Contest invites youth from all over Maine, ages 6 - 18, to show off their writing. A panel of professional writers and youth selects one grand prize winner, as well as a winner from each of Maine’s participating 16 counties.

Jonesport
Kennebunk
Kennebunkport 
Kittery
Leeds
Lewiston
Limestone
Lincolnville
Litchfield
Long Island
Millbridge
Naples
New Gloucester
Newburgh 
Newcastle
Nobleboro
North Haven
North Yarmouth
Orono
Orr's Island
Otis
Peaks Island
Portland
Pownal
Raymond
Readfield
Richmond
Rockland
Rockport
Sabattus
Saco
Saint Albans
Scarborough
Searsmont
Searsport

Skowhegan
South Berwick
South Portland
St. George
Stoneham
Stratton
Thomaston
Topsham
Trenton
Turner
Unity
Waldoboro
Wales
Waterville
Wells
West Bath
Westbrook
Westport Island
Windham
Yarmouth
York
Brooklyn, NY
Cambridge, MA
Clinton, NJ
Dover, NH
Glastonbury, CT
Nashua, NH
Oakwood, OH
Portsmouth, NH
Salem, MA
Teaneck, NJ
Washington, DC
Yukon, OK
Palm Bay, FL

Maranacook High School
Marcia Buker Elementary School
Mast Landing School
Medomak Valley High School
Middle School of the Kennebunks
Milbridge Elementary School
Mt. Ararat Middle School
North Haven Community School
Oak Hill High School
Oceanside High School
Oceanside Middle School
Orono High School
Shapleigh School
South Memorial Middle School
South Portland Middle School
Village Elementary School
Wells Junior High School
Westbrook High School
Westbrook Middle School
Yarmouth High School
York High School

RESIDENCIES

206 students served in 11 programs

We returned to the Maine School of Science and Mathematics in Limestone this year, this time leading five intensive days working on creative nonfiction with a group of highly advanced juniors and seniors. Their final pieces were published alongside the poetry their peers had written the previous spring in the chapbook, Breaking Over the Horizon. The writing to come out of this program was some of the strongest we saw all year. Two of the essays received commendations by our Founders, one of which, “To My Sister’s Shoes,” received the Founders Prize, an honor bestowed each year on the best piece of writing to come out of any of our Telling Room programs.

WORKSHOPS

957 students served in 53 programs

This spring we witnessed something truly wonderful—students at Yarmouth High School read contemporary young adult novels written by their peers at The Telling Room and were joined for an in-person conversation with authors (and fellow Clippers) Atticus Prinn and Eleanor Rasor. Longtime teaching artist and YA author Kathryn Williams led a writing workshop with Laura Esty’s contemporary YA fiction class and facilitated a conversation between the published authors and current students. We dove into character and voice, talked about how what we initially understand about a person is just the tip of the iceberg. At the end of our time together, the current students each shared a word about what they were going to carry forward from the workshop. One word came up again and again: excited. 

FIELD TRIPS

354 students served in 19 programs

Our field trip programming is on the rise, steadily climbing back to pre-pandemic levels of participation. This year we welcomed back Great Falls Elementary School, engaging all of their 5th graders for our Sensory Writing Field Trip. Students from Freeport High School’s ESOL program came for a photography field trip in the fall, and found inspiration from photography to create original poems and stories. We also had a few customized visits, notably with Casco Bay High School and Rebecca Turkewitz. While Field Trips remain a great way to introduce students to the fun and power of Telling Room writing tools, they also serve as inspiration for the educators who attend.

72 students served in 6 programs

We had high participation in this in-demand suite of afterschool programs for writers ages 7 - 18. Each section of Writers Block (Word Play, Story Sleuths, and Works in Progress) brought both new and returning students to The Telling Room, and one additional section of Story Sleuths met at South Portland Middle School throughout the year. One highlight was witnessing the strides being made by our older writers in Works-in-Progress, some of whom even participated in both the fall and spring sessions. Although no two weeks were quite the same, one constant was the process of workshopping their writing—a framework for peer support and feedback that is usually associated with graduate-level writing programs. Workshops are rarely attempted with writers below college age, because their success depends upon participants’ high-level craft-focused critical thinking, as well as the social and emotional skills required to navigate disagreements with peers and accept constructive criticism. Yet the Works-in-Progress writers consistently met these challenges and coalesced into a formidable community. They never failed to astonish with their maturity, creativity, and insight.

20 students served in 2 programs

SWARM! started in the summer of 2020 as a means of staying connected with writers during the pandemic, and four years later, SWARM! is still attracting writers from around our state—and beyond. What we have found since we began offering SWARM! is that writing doesn’t have to be a lonely endeavor. Writers, even self-identified introverts, crave connection with other like-minded souls, people for whom putting words on the page is an absolute necessity. And while creating community with folks you’ve never met in-person has its challenges, it’s also uniquely rewarding. Just ask the SWARM! veterans who keep coming back again and again to continue to hone their craft, joining two, four, even five Hives. Of course with each new Hive we also welcome writers new to The Telling Room. 

Published In:

4 students served in 1 program

Our 11th cohort of Young Emerging Authors included a junior, two sophomores, and a freshman from Portland, South Portland, and Cumberland writing memoir, a fantasy novel, historical fiction, and a collection of poetry. Themes that emerged included grappling with identity as shaped by external forces beyond our control, finding hope in dark times, and recognition of the interconnectedness of people and ourselves to the environment around us. Every project was remarkably ambitious in its own way.

Mentor relationships were once again a critical component of the program and a favorite part of the authors. Our writers were supported by authors Samaa Abdurraqib, Ellie Roy, Dan Tucker, and Maya Williams. Tremendous growth, both personal and in deep craft, was seen by every single member of the cohort. The books are stunning and something that we are exceedingly proud to help these young writers put into the world. 

51 students served in 5 programs

Young Writers & Leaders (YWL) programming began in July 2023, when we held a one-week intensive, serving 7 students, then in October 2023, we began our 9-month program, which served 28 teens from 6 high schools in the Greater Portland area. 

Students were excited to have several guest writers visit, including Maine Literary Award winning poet Lauren Saxon, and to work one-on-one with their writing coaches to revise their personal narrative pieces for publication. Their writing touched on home life, mental health, music, identity, sports, immigration, faith, and friendship. Throughout the year, they explored their cultural identities, presented their poetry at Mayo Street Arts, and published their chapbook Outbeam the Sun—which celebrated its book launch at the Portland Museum of Art. These writers bravely took the stage and the mic, cheered on by a lively and encouraging audience of nearly 200 people.   

In February, we provided a one-week YWL intensive during school break serving 7 additional teens, and included for the first time in the program’s 14 year history, students from Freeport High School, which recently welcomed 67 new asylum-seeking students. Our partners at the Portland Museum of Art invited us into their galleries, where students were able to draw inspiration for their fiction writing.

Published In:

4 students served in 1 program

This year’s session of Second Story included a small but mighty crew of writers, including a returning participant from previous semesters, and faces familiar to The Telling Room but who were new to this program. They quickly formed a tight bond, becoming a cohesive group. Together, we wrote collaborative poetry and also explored cultivating our own inner voices and creativity with guest artist Caitlin Scholl. Our semester together culminated in joining forces with the writers in Works-in-Progress for a celebratory reading to a packed crowd of friends and family.

19 students served in 2 programs

A mix of new and returning Publishing Workshop participants came together—some traveling from as far as Leeds, Lewiston, and Brunswick—to begin the process of creating our 2024 annual anthology. Publishing Workshop played a larger role in our Statewide Writing Contest this year by updating our standards for judging work, voting on pieces, then deciding our county and overall winners, learning from local literary agent Iris Blasi and our partner Molly McGrath at Pink Eraser Press along the way. At the end of the year, Publishing Workshop shared with us the joy, excitement, and empowerment they felt creating a book as a community where everyone’s ideas were valued while working with young authors throughout the publishing process. This Moment and the Next features work from 43 authors hailing from 14 counties in Maine, and was launched at Big Night to a packed house of readers.

Back Cove Books 
Bangor Public Library
BJ’s Wholesale Club
Blue Hill Public Library
Bowdoin College
Briar Patch Books
Campfire Institute
Center for Arts and Ecology at the Desert of Maine
Chance to Advance
Cultivating Community
Desert of Maine
Dimillo’s 
Dski Design
EqualityMaine
FACE Foundation
Flatbread Pizza
Growing to Give
Gulf of Maine Books
Gulf of Maine Research Institute
Halcyon
Holocaust and Human Rights Center
Hurricane Island Outward Bound School
Indigo Arts Alliance

Lucky Fox Books Maine Academy of Modern Music
Maine Association of Nonprofits
Maine Climate Action Now! 
Maine Climate Council
Maine Department of Education
Maine Youth Leadership & Development Council
Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance
Make It Happen
Market Street Eats
Mayo Street Arts
Merrill Memorial Library
NaNoWriMo
Nonesuch Books & More
Opera Maine
The Opportunity Alliance
OTTO
OUT Maine
Pink Eraser Press
Portland Community Squash
Portland ConnectED
Portland Museum of Art
Portland Public Library
Portland Public Schools Summer Learning
Prince Memorial Library

Print: A Bookstore
Prosperity ME: the Center for Financial Education
Quiet City Books 
Royal River Books 
Sherman’s Books & Stationery
SPACE
Standard Baking
Stone Broke Bread & Books
Union Wharf Market
University of New England
University of Southern Maine
U.S. Attorneys Office - Maine
Walch Publishing, Inc.
WBFY 
Winky Lewis Photo
Yarmouth Clam Festival
Youth Leadership Advisory Team