Thanks to a partnership with An Open Book Foundation, the wonderful poet Mahogany Browne joined 17 young SMP writers for a workshop on August 5th. As part of our #ShoutInPlace storytelling project, we organized this event to provide an opportunity for authors to connect with an award-winning writer whose work engages with topics that arose in their submissions, such as social justice, racism, discrimination, and resilience-- to and ask any questions about writing or process and celebrate their many contributions to #ShoutInPlace.
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A lot of things have changed for me since March 11, including being without work for almost three months…But mostly, it has been a time to reflect more on myself, to think about what I can do better and what I need to change. It has been a time in which I realized that life is short and anything can happen from one day to another.
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Shout Mouse Press condemns the ongoing state-sanctioned violence towards Black people across the nation. We stand in solidarity with Black communities, racial justice advocates, and all of you who are outraged by repeated acts of racism, violence, and abuse of public trust. We support the Black Lives Matter movement and share in their mission of combating white supremacy and "creating space for Black imagination and innovation, and centering Black joy."
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Writing this book was a special exercise in stretching and strength. I’ve been uncomfortable, uncertain, nervous, tired. I had to grow during our two week writing intensive. My mind was out of words and ideas, but my soul wasn’t out of stories. I had to stretch to get out all the tales I felt obligated to tell. I drew on my fellow authors for inspiration, drive, and energy. Music, memory, stereotypes, hyphens, we talked about everything.
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In solidarity with the #DignidadLiteraria movement, we are sharing a post from Rosa, who is a 21-year old Latina immigrant, author of Voces Sin Fronteras: Our Stories, Our Truth, first generation student studying health science in Washington, D.C., and Shout Mouse Press intern.
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Recently, an author of Voces Sin Fronteras had the opportunity to do an author talk at the District’s Central Detention Center (“DC Jail”) through our partners at Free Minds Book Club and Writing Workshop. Free Minds provides books, creative writing workshops, and peer support to DC youth who have been incarcerated as adults to help them achieve their education and career goals — and become powerful voices for change in the community. They host a book club in the DC Jail that meets once a week to read and discuss contemporary literature. The members choose what books to read democratically. In September, the Spanish book club Mentes Libres decided to read Voces Sin Fronteras, our collection of comic memoirs by young Latinx immigrants, and our partners at Free Minds invited an author to come speak! In this blog post, Erminia reflects on her experience talking to the book club.
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Its official! I Am Night Sky and other reflections by muslim american youth, Shout Mouse Press’ newest antholgy featuring the stories of Muslim youth from the DMV area has launched. After a year of writing, editing, and rewriting Next Wave Muslim Innitiative’s youth authors presented their book I Am The Night Sky to an audience full of friends, family, readers, and supporters.
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Recently, Ballou High School graduates and co-authors of How to Grow Up Like Me, Our Lives Matter, and Humans of Ballou, Carl Brown and Darne’sha Walker visited a class of 6th-8th graders at Kendall Demonstration Elementary School (KDES). KDES is a day school serving deaf and hard of hearing students from birth through grade 8 located within Gallaudet University’s campus.
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Help us celebrate the new year by donating to our cause and helping meet our year-end fundraising goal.
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We are incredibly honored to feature the work of Critical Exposure Fellow Amir Price in upcoming novel-in-stories, "The Day Tajon Got Shot." Here, Amir explains why he traveled to Baltimore in 2015 to document the aftermath of the tragic murder of Freddie Gray.
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Ballou Story Project (BSP) took the stage for the first time a few weeks ago and we could not be more proud of the work of these young writers.The performance, directed and produced by our partners at Young Playwrights’ Theatre and featuring five talented professional actors, tenderly handled sensitive topics of abuse, cancer, and loss.
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This month, Shout Mouse went on a book tour to Granville, Ohio. We were honored to be invited by Denison University to speak on campus as part of the Women’s and Gender Studies Program’s Laura C. Harris Symposium.
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This year, the authors of Free Minds were invited to attend the National Book Festival to share their own important book, The Untold Story of the Real Me.
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Recently, we sat down with Jonae, a Beacon House author of Trinitoga and our upcoming book, The Day Tajon Got Shot. We got the opportunity to ask her about her reaction to other students and adults who have read her work, and what it means to her to be a teenage author.
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We recently sat down with Najae, one of the authors of The Day Tajon Got Shot. Najae is writing the chapter for Bobby, a drug dealer who gets in an argument with Tajon before he is shot. She's also helped with the character of Dwayne, Tajon’s father. Najae talked to us about her inspiration for writing and the importance of being able to see the world through different perspectives from her own.
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Yesterday was the Book Launch for Reach’s 2015 books, and we couldn’t be more excited for our authors. So much celebration, so much pride, and so much support for these talented and important young voices. We had the chance to catch up with new author Daijha Cain, who co-wrote A Little Girl in a Big, Big World, during the launch at the Pepco Galley. Daijha dazzled us with her imagination and motivation when we worked with her this summer, and she’s already looking to the future!
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We are so proud of Dreonna Richardson, one of the essayists in How To Grow Up Like Me, who was featured in WAMU 88.5's series Beating the Odds, in which education reporter Kavitha Cardoza profiles students in the Washington, D.C. area who have overcome struggles and found ways to thrive academically and socially.
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