FROM OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

This year we were reminded of the importance of the space we create and hold for youth to write in community, together. We continue to witness the singular power of youth voice, as we consider where their inspiration comes from, what we see on the page, and hear from them on the stage.

Youth found inspiration in the natural world, from how the environment can be a place of deep beauty and respite, while appreciating its fragility in the climate crisis we currently face. Concern emerged around the shifts in safety and freedoms accessed by one another; attacks that focused on separating and further marginalizing vulnerable community members. From unbridled creativity and laugh-out-loud humor to plumbing the depths of personal experience—facing both challenges and great joys—youth showed up to use their voices, to write, and grow stronger together.

We are grateful to all the educators, librarians, and nonprofit partners who invited us into their communities this year, and we’re excited to welcome everyone in the year ahead to discover youth voices on a page, on a stage, or over the airwaves. Or, visit us at our new home and witness firsthand the undeniable impact of youth sharing their stories, their truths.

Kristina Powell
Telling Room Executive Director

Excerpt from “My Ndombolo: The Hum of the World” by Norka Kalonji

“Okufi na makolo?” my uncle shouted over the music. “Did your legs die?”

Heat climbed up my neck. I laughed with everyone else, but my stomach dropped.

Seconds earlier, I stepped onto the dance floor at his anniversary party, trying to keep up with Koffi Olomide’s “Papa Ngwasuma.” I bent my knees and rolled my hips like my cousins, smooth and circular, but my body kept arriving late to the beat. My uncle grinned. “Ozangi mouvement.”“You lack movement.”

At Congolese gatherings, nobody hands you instructions. A song comes on and the room expects an answer. My cousins answered easily. They began to dance Ndombolo, shoulders loose, feet sharp, faces bright. Aunties clapped on the off-beat. Someone whistled from the kitchen. I hovered at the edge, stepping in and out, counting the rhythm and watching where they put their weight. I wanted to belong without becoming the joke again.

When I could not locate the beat with my feet, I learned to bring it home. I wrote what I could not perform. I filled a notebook the way my family filled the dance floors, returning again and again until something shifted. Words became my rehearsal space. I tested rhythm in margins, counted breath in line breaks. Learned where weight belonged in a sentence.

Norka Kalonji wrote this essay as a senior at Deering High School while participating in The Telling Room’s Young Writers & Leaders program. Passionate about the interaction of STEM and storytelling, his work explores identity, discipline, inheritance, and how culture, family, and responsibility shape ambition. Norka is now studying at Bates College.

The Founders Prize is awarded annually by the three founders of The Telling Room: Susan Conley, Sara Corbett, and Michael Paterniti, to the author of the best piece of writing to emerge from a Telling Room program.

Freeport
Garland
Georgetown
Gorham
Gray
Greene
Hallowell
Hampden
Hancock
Harmony
Harpswell
Harrington
Holden
Hope
Kennebunkport
Kingfield
Kittery
Kittery Point
Lamoine
Lebanon
Leeds
Lewiston
Limestone
Lincolnville
Mechanic Falls
Milbridge
Milford
Naples
Nashua, NH
New Gloucester
New Sharon
Newcastle
Nobleboro
North Berwick
North Waterboro
North Yarmouth
Norway
Ogunquit
Orono
Owls Head
Peaks Island
Pembroke
Peru
Phillips
Pittsfield
Portland            

Pownal
Presque Isle
Richmond
Ripley
Rockland
Rockport
Rumford
Sabattus
Saco
Salem, MA
Sangerville
Scarborough
Sebago
Smyrna Mills
South Portland
South Thomaston
Southport
StandisH
Stockton Springs
Strong
Teaneck, NJ
Thomaston
TopsfielD
Topsham
Turner
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Washington, DC
Waterville
Webster
Wells
West Bath
West Gardiner
Westbrook
Wilton
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Winterport
Woolwich
Yarmouth
York
Yukon, OK

Milbridge Elementary School 
Oceanside Middle School
Peaks Island Elementary School
Pond Cove Elementary
Portland High School
Portland Public Schools
Roots Academy
Sebago Elementary School
Shapleigh School
Talbot Elementary School
Village Elementary School (Gorham) 
Vinalhaven School 
Wells Junior High School
Westbrook High School 
Winslow Junior High School
York High School

RESIDENCIES

282 students served in 16 programs

In our intensive school-based Residencies, youth write, revise, and publish a group book over the span of twelve sessions. This year we once again worked with Southern and Central Maine students from Kittery to Richmond, returning to five schools and working with a new partner, Sebago Elementary School, where eager and energetic 5th graders wrote poems and short fiction. One highlight was having Telling Room alum Devin Gifford, in her capacity as a Telling Room intern, plan and deliver a session at Brunswick Junior High School—it was a huge hit with the students! And at Marcia Buker School in Richmond, students wrote pieces of autofiction, taking a nugget of truth and exploring it through fiction. This form of narrative storytelling helped students focus on “the twist,” as well as allowing them to be very vulnerable. Many chose to write about loss, and were able to process their grief through a fantastical lens. The resulting stories are full of whimsy and deep emotion, and two of the stories were selected for this year’s annual anthology. 

WORKSHOPS

936 students served in 39 programs

We brought Workshops to several schools and organizations this year, working with students who live Down East, in the Midcoast, and in Western Maine. In our second year at Vinalhaven School, we wrote fantasy, fiction, scary stories, and personal reflections with 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. Many students shared how much fun they had writing and how they saw themselves grow as writers. Closer to our home base, we worked with students at Roots Academy on a collaboration with the Portland Media Center to write and record a video podcast. The final product is an uplifting mixture of fun and serious conversations that include an interview with megastar singer Alex Warren, as well as with a parent, a grandparent, and a cat!

FIELD TRIPS

227 students served in 13 programs

Students and educators travelled from Wells to Winslow (and points in between) to join us for Field Trips—mornings full of literary arts exploration. We hosted Winslow Junior High 7th and 8th graders who were excited to walk around the Old Port, take photographs, and engage in writing inspired by the images they made and their experiences. Peaks Island School 4th and 5th graders hopped across Casco Bay to practice collaborative processes like Face Factory, in which students each take on drawing different parts of a comic character, and try out what it means to freewrite—Telling Room style.

14 students served in 2 programs

How do you get youth ages seven to ten excited to write? Magnetic poetry, maps and collages, diving into a box of costumes, and lots, and lots of games! In both semesters of Word Play, we encouraged these young writers to engage with writing through play, coaxing even the shyest students to feel confident enough in their stories to share them at the mic. One parent shared that their child in Word Play is their fourth to come through The Telling Room; a testament to the power of our programs that families come back again and again.

33 students served in 2 programs

Many students returned to Story Sleuths this year, eager to explore writing through play. To keep even our most seasoned participants inspired, our teaching team got creative with our curriculum so that these writers were engaged all year long. Some new faces did join our group however, including one student whose family previously visited our writing studio as they contemplated a move to Maine. Sure enough, when our program began, they were here and ready to write with us.

20 students served in 2 programs

The serious group of writers in Works in Progress sought a balance of community building and dedicated writing time each week as we made sure that each writer had a chance to share their work and receive feedback from the group. One writer who has been with us for four semesters took their writing in a whole new direction—and their powerful piece ended up in the annual anthology as a result of their hard work.

26 students served in 2 programs

SWARM! continues to help writers thrive from all across the State of Maine, and these authors come back for more, again and again. In the fall semester, three of our eight participants were returning members from previous Hives. We dug deep into craft, drawing inspiration from Stephen King’s premise for fiction that a situation drives a story. The resulting writing was excellent and fantastical—garnering one participant, Ellie Levine, the 2025 Founders Prize for their work. Spring semester was focused on poetry and its different forms, drawing eleven writers into our midst, seven of whom had written and published in previous Hives. It’s always a joy to see returning writers continue their writing journey with us semester after semester, whether it’s to pursue their favorite genre or develop their writing chops across genres–this online program speaks to their needs. 

Published In:

8 students served in 1 program

It was another lively and successful year in Second Story of writing with eight highly engaged students, including a returning Second Story participant and three writers from last year’s Young Emerging Authors Fellowship, looking for a way to sustain a connection to both The Telling Room and their cohort. Based on feedback from our alumni, we opened Second Story up to include recent high school graduates up to age twenty, to help bridge the gap that some alums have reported once they graduate and leave The Telling Room. A Young Writers & Leaders alum currently enrolled at the University of Southern Maine, returned, to participate alongside the high schoolers—as both an equal and mentor. 

A highlight from our time together was our partnership with Portland Ovations, through which we received free tickets to the Broadway tour of Hadestown. We then used the show and accompanying script to talk about ekphrastic writing and revision as we explored Anaïs Mitchell’s book, Working on a Song. It was an inspiring way to kick off the semester and provided the group with an invaluable opportunity to experience writing as a heightened art form..

4 students served in 1 program

An epicurean poet from Westbrook, a sci-fi writer from Portland, a poet with a naturalist’s eye from York, and a memoirist Orono: These were our Young Emerging Authors Fellows as we embarked on the first year of our fifteen-month fellowship timeline. Many of our fellows were veterans of other Telling Room programs and experiences, like SWARM!, our Statewide Writing Contest, or Works in Progress, giving them a solid foundation in their work from the start of the Fellowship. Our new timeline created more space for the writers to draft and play in the summer, build community in the fall, and dig deeper into revision with their mentors and second readers.

These intrepid authors did not shy away from tackling challenging topics in their writing. Their work explores the agency of artificial intelligence, our complex and fraught food systems, reflections on transgender identity in a harsh environment, and one Ukrainian-American family’s journey from undocumented immigration status to citizenship. Our four bold fellows were up to the task, working through difficult questions, taking feedback in stride, and ultimately producing four incredible books ready for readers far and wide, already garnering attention and accolades.

58 students served in 5 programs

This year’s nine-month Young Writers & Leaders program served twenty-four students from six area high schools, and once again, our Young Writers & Leaders alumni played a key role in helping the new cohort reach their fullest potential. Alumni ambassador Johan Sifa, in her role in finance at a local banking institution, joined us for a financial literacy session with one cohort, and we collaborated for the first time with Junior Achievement of Maine and cPort Credit Union to coach our second cohort. 

Over the winter, alum and current Bowdoin student Askar Azeez served his Bowdoin winter internship with us and assisted by co-teaching. We also had six Young Writers & Leaders alumni return as writing coaches, taking time out of their busy day to day schedules as college students, educators, and medical professionals to help support our current cohort. 

This year’s Young Writers & Leaders cohort’s work reached a wide audience thanks to several community partnerships. SPACE Gallery featured Evana Wakati’s poem “The Hidden Heart of Words” on their Poetry Hotline, and the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance selected a poem by Caroline Chong for Maine Public Radio’s “Poems from Here” series. In addition to reaching audiences over the airwaves, our writers packed the house for their readings at Mayo Street Arts in the winter and our book launch for Through My Eyes at the Portland Museum of Art in the spring.

Published In:

18 students served in 2 programs

Publishing Workshop was once again filled with many returning participants who brought their skills and expertise to the editorial and publishing process alongside new workshop members. Many of our participants were alumni of other Telling Room programs who were eager to dive into the writing and publishing process from another angle. In the fall, our passionate group thoughtfully read and discussed over 330 pieces of writing submitted to our annual writing contest—and ultimately selected the winners—one from each of Maine’s sixteen counties. 

In the spring semester we curated our 2025 anthology, When Fish Walk, having important conversations about how to best represent a diverse range of voices, genres, themes, writing styles, and identities along the way. When Fish Walk includes poems, essays, and stories by forty-four authors from twenty-three towns across all of Maine’s sixteen counties. This year, the anthology includes many more of our youngest authors, who proudly took the mic at Big Night, our annual celebration of Telling Room authors, to share their writing.

Back Cove Books 
Bangor Public Library
BJ’s Wholesale Club
Bowdoin College
Briar Patch Books
Campfire Institute
Center for Arts and Ecology at the Desert of Maine
Chickadeeds
Costco Wholesale
cPort Credit Union
Cultivating Community
Dski Design
EqualityMaine
The Equality Community Center
FACE Foundation
Flatbread Pizza
Growing to Give
Gulf of Maine Books
Gulf of Maine Research Institute
Holocaust and Human Rights Center
Hurricane Island Outward Bound School
I’m Your Neighbor Books
Indigo Arts Alliance
Junior Achievement of Maine
Lucky Fox Books

Maine Arts Commission 
Maine Association for New Americans (MANA)
Maine Academy of Modern Music
Maine Association of Nonprofits
Maine Climate Action Now! 
Maine Climate Council
Maine Department of Education
Maine Family Planning
Maine Maritime Museum
Maine Public Radio
Maine Youth Leadership & Development Council
Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance
Make It Happen
Mayo Street Arts
Merrill Memorial Library
Nonesuch Books & More
Novel
The Opportunity Alliance
OUT Maine
Partners in Island Education
Pink Eraser Press
Portland Community Squash
Portland ConnectED
Portland High School
Portland Museum of Art
Prince Memorial Library
Portland Ovations

Portland Public Library
Portland Public Schools Summer Learning
Print: A Bookstore
Quiet City Books 
Queerly ME
Royal River Books
Scarborough Public Library 
Sherman’s Books & Stationery
SPACE
Speak About It
Stone Broke Bread & Books
Tempo Arts
The Writing Company
University of New England
University of Southern Maine
Walch Publishing, Inc.
WBFY 
Winky Lewis Photo
Yarmouth Clam Festival
Youth Leadership Advisory Team