Focused on young writers ages 6 to 18, we seek to build confidence, strengthen literacy skills, and provide real audiences for our students. We believe that the power of creative expression can change our communities and prepare our youth for success both now and in the future.
If you are passionate about writing, join us! We have a number of great ways for you to meet other young writers, find mentors, and share your work with our community.
Do you have a young person in your life who loves storytelling, or maybe a student reluctant to write? Check out our different Telling Room program offerings to see what might be a good fit for the young authors in your life.
At The Telling Room, we do whatever we can to support those who are on the front lines teaching in classrooms across Maine and help your students engage with creative writing.
Volunteers are essential to our organization. Program volunteers sit with students, write with them, ask questions, and help them develop their stories or poems.
Our Young Writers and Leaders students were recently invited to have a special conversation with acclaimed author and renowned world leader President Barack Obama.
We are dedicated to prioritizing the health of our community. Please review our latest COVID-19 policies prior to joining us at The Telling Room to help keep everyone safe.
Join us for an evening filled with friends, food, stories, classic Telling Room activities, and music as we honor 20 years of our community empowering young writers and lifting up youth voices.
Did you catch Calla James' poem, "Things That I Wanted to Write Poetry About but That Are Already Poems on Their Own" from SWIMMING BETWEEN MOUNTAINS on Maine Public Radio's Poems from Here segment?
The Telling Room is thrilled to welcome Joe Conway, Brita Loppnow, Meredith McCarroll, Matty Oates and Jordene Trueh to the Board of Directors, and current Board member Libby Lauze into a new role as the incoming Board Vice President.
Join us at Words that Change the World, a novel fundraising event to benefit The Telling Room. This first-of-its-kind night at Ocean Gateway on Thursday, May 16th will feature world-changing wordsmiths and storytellers—both emerging and established—whose work has a tangible impact on our community.
“As a child, writing was a way to dream up a better world. Ultimately, I hope my words help us see a happier healthier future for our planet and our people too.”
Poet Megan Grumbling and the Portland Press Herald featured Statewide Writing Contest grand prize winner Lily Jessen and her poem in this week's Deep Water column.
Christina Nelson wrote “It’s Not as I Once Dreamed.” She is a junior at Spruce Mountain High School.
Nevyn Harvey is a senior at Belfast Area High School and wrote “Our Last Encounter.” Imogen Esmé Egenson, age 11, of Hope wrote “A Cow Named Horse.”
Lily Jessen, age 15 of Cape Elizabeth, Maine, is the grand prize winner of The Telling Room's 17th Annual Statewide Writing Contest!
Check out the February issue of Down East Magazine to read their profile on Telling Room Executive Director Kristina Powell and find out why the Portland Public Library’s atrium is one of her favorite places in Maine.
A tenth grader rolls her eyes at Thornton Wilder’s Our Town in an English class on the eve of the end of the world. A hunting party of teenagers braves the perilous Canadian desert in search of food. A robotic entity surfaces longingly from degraded ocean waters it was created to clean up. A girl whose family was displaced to Ohio by a hurricane returns to an all but deserted Casco Bay.
Leela Marie Hidier was chosen to speak at the first Girls Leading Change event in October.
“With our newly launched three-year strategic plan [entitled] 'Reading Ahead,' we’re strengthening how we elevate youth voices through our partnerships with alumni, schools, libraries, and other organizations.” — Executive Director Kristina Powell
Our hearts are with the many families impacted by last week’s events in Lewiston, which have been felt in every corner of our State.
A Maine teen from Yarmouth is among a handful of young women who were honored at the White House Wednesday as part of the International Day of the Girl.
Leela Marie Hidier, 18, was one of 15 young women honored at the White House on Wednesday for their advocacy work.
Leela Marie Hidier, 18, is a climate social justice advocate and author of an award-winning debut novel, 'Changes in the Weather.'
Telling Room author and alum Leela Marie Hidier is among 15 young women honored by First Lady Dr. Jill Biden at the White House on International Day of the Girl.
Registration Now Open! Second Story is an afterschool program where alumni of Telling Room programs dig deeper into the writing process, develop their writing habits, and share their words with the world.
Registration Now Open! SWARM! (Student Writers and Readers Meet!) is a network of youth writing and publishing groups across the State of Maine.
Registration Lottery Now Open! Writers Block is a free afterschool program to ages 7 - 18. We host three weekly sessions focused both by age and interest. The mix of structured and unstructured writing time lets students explore and practice elements of the craft, whether fiction, essay, poetry, or visual storytelling.
Registration Now Open! In this semester-based program, Publishing Workshop participants take the lead in youth publishing, learning about the book publishing industry through hands-on work.
February Break 2025 Camp Registration Now Open! Come experience The Telling Room magic for four days this February - we'll have something for everyone. This camp runs from February 18th - 21st, 2025.
Do you have a novel inside of you? A collection of poetry you’re bursting to share? Characters or stories that just won’t let you go? Each year, we work with four dedicated Maine teens to write, develop, and publish their own books.
Join us for three days to learn The Telling Room’s proven method for improving literacy skills while building confidence and a sense of community. We offer tools and techniques to teachers, artists, and nonprofit leaders in a professional development setting.
Young Writers and Leaders is a free, nine-month afterschool literary arts education program exclusively for high school students with international and multicultural backgrounds. We select 32 students a year through a competitive application and interview process to participate for nine months.
The Telling Room offers a college essay workshop led by our college essay expert, Program Director Nick Whiston. Each workshop offers four hours of small-group instruction and individual revising support.
Workshops are conveniently nestled between field trips and residencies as a medium length programming option, and we are able to host them at our writing center in Portland or travel to schools and other sites. Workshops typically last 4 to 10 hours over multiple visits.
As a teacher, there are times when it may not be possible for your class to visit us for a field trip, or you may have a whole classroom of students you want to immerse in the writer's world. Our writers and artists can come to you for an in-school residency.
Field trips are back for the school year! To arrange a visit for your students to come to The Telling Room, contact Program Director Nick Whiston at nick@tellingroom.org.
wrote poetry for it not to be heard
by the ears of my own species.
One day you won’t
be able to ignore me; you won’t
be able to trip me; you won’t
be able to point your fingers and laugh.
I am half the blood of gods; I’ll push your fists away effortlessly.
i want to call you out like a cold winter breeze full of ice and snow / but july cocoons
itself around you / flame and flame and smoke and mirrors / a wall i could never get
through /
17 and 20
Sisterhood
I see reminders of you everywhere.
This one
winter leaf,
alone in the dark,
there it lay
all cold and gray.
I hear you
Beating against the tempered glass
Your rhythmic melody
Tapping on the charcoal gray roof
It sounds like music
The “Orono Collection” comes from an eighth grade accelerated writing class in Orono, Maine, guided by Katie Quirk.
I jolted awake when my head hit the window, the cold flat surface making contact with my forehead. I opened my heavy eyelids, still drowsy. I looked outside and saw that we were still driving on a dirt road. Raindrops were racing down the window. The sun was just starting to peek through the trees in the woods. I looked up to the front of the car and groaned when I saw that it was only 5:03 a.m. “How much longer until we get there?” I asked, my voice still raspy from waking up.
The sign said, “You’re entering Maine’s largest wilderness.”
“Wait, what? Only now we’re entering Maine’s largest wilderness?” I joked as I strode proudly up Baxter State Park’s infamous Abol trail. This was one of the more challenging routes up Mount Katahdin with almost a four-and-a-half-mile ascent featuring a steep, rocky climb before a flat top. This hike was said to take ten hours, but I knew we could do it faster.
I used to hate running. Every time there was a cardio day in soccer practice, I wanted to go home. It would only take a few minutes before my legs burned and I was gasping for air. In cold weather, my cheeks would become red as a tomato. I would always be sweating, even on a short jog.
But here I was. At a cross country meet. Feeling nauseous.
A Telling Room Anthology, Introduction by Presidential Inaugural Poet Amanda Gorman
Forthcoming May 2025
This special 20th anniversary anthology includes twenty of the best pieces of writing from The Telling Room over the last ten years. This collection pairs youth voices with writers from our community—writing across genres, identities, experiences, and topics, with pen and ink illustrations throughout.