The Underground Writing Podcast

It’s been something—this year of 2020: the pandemic, the quarantine, the killing of George Floyd and the ensuing protests, the wildfires currently occurring up and down the west coast, the looming November election . . . It’s been a year of great challenges, and a year of hope for true and lasting change.  How will this year—and how will we—be remembered?  In this episode, Matt and...

To say that the Coronavirus has changed things is an understatement. The world is in a state of forced improvisation. Things have been quite different for us, too, during the quarantine. In this episode, Matt provides a summary overview of the situation for Underground Writing, program updates and adaptations, and shares new student writing created in response to the current COVID-19 era. LIN...

BEFORE any stay-at-home orders were in effect, Elizabeth Riley joined Matt and Alvin in the studio to talk about her research project, the high school classroom vs leading a creative writing workshop with UW, and how she navigated a love of reading/writing into a career. Elizabeth is a graduate student at Gardner-Webb University, researching the effect/outcome of Underground Writing’s workshops on...

“Club Icarus” is a poem by Matthew W. Miller that was brought in to UW writing workshops at the Skagit County Community Justice Center. Elizabeth Riley, local high school teacher and grad student, joins Matt and Alvin in the studio to explore the myth of Icarus. LINKS OF INTEREST: Hadestown Mythology by Edith Hamilton Myth of Icarus Club Icarus by Matthew W. Miller Underground Writing: a literatur...

KITE: A. A NOTE PASSED FROM AN INMATE TO AN INMATE IN ANOTHER CELL OR TO A GUARD B. UNDERGROUND WRITING’S AUDIO ZINE FEATURING STUDENT WRITING Susanne Antonetta, UW Teaching Writer and editor of the Bellingham Review , shares student writing from the workshops at Skagit County Community Justice Center. I Have to Swallow the Time by C Ode to My Socks by Robin I Have Been Known by Alison I Have Been...

We’re back for the first podcast of 2020. Matt and Alvin revisit the numbers from 2019 and give you a heads up of what’s planned for 2020, so mark your calendars. Thanks to the Rick Epting Foundation for the Arts and ArtsWA for supporting our efforts. Talk About Me , by Yesica Solano is available now Upcoming Events: Dear America chapbook To be published in early 2020 Finding Home: A Foster Youth...

When people ask, "What's Underground Writing?" the quick answer is that we're a creative writing program for at-risk communities. One of the follow up questions we sometimes receive: "How does it all work financially?" We think this is a great year-end question! Matt and Alvin discuss these aspects of the organization, and invite listeners to partner with Underground Writing so as to con...

“His Cup” is a piece of student writing from the Skagit Recovery Community Site. Matt gives context on this site and he and Alvin discuss grief and mourning, as we carry the items of our deceased loved ones. LINKS OF INTEREST: Brigid Collins Family Support Center Habibi , retail pop-up shop in Mount Vernon, Washington—in collaboration with Skagit River Poetry Foundation and Voices of the Children...

KITE: A. A NOTE PASSED FROM AN INMATE TO AN INMATE IN ANOTHER CELL OR TO A GUARD B. UNDERGROUND WRITING’S AUDIO ZINE FEATURING STUDENT WRITING A. Muia, UW Teaching Writer, shares student writing from the workshops at Skagit County Juvenile Detention. Where I’m From by E I Am From by J I Belong Here by A Visitation Hours by B One Medicine I’ve Taken by M I Feel Like a Loaded Gun by J A Painting by...

Habibi is Arabic for beloved, darling. It's also the holiday pop-up market in downtown Mount Vernon sponsored by Voices of the Children, Skagit River Poetry Foundation, and Underground Writing. This short episode has the directors of those local organizations and Habibi's Featured Artist Asil Jabr around the table at the pop-up retail space.  Features:  Asil Jabr and Aaron Wagner: Voices...

Julie Ryan and UW Director Matt attended graduate school together in Vancouver, B.C. Earlier this year, Julie reached out to Matt from her English classroom in Dunedin, New Zealand in response to The Underground Writing Podcast episode about our 2018 week-long intensive at juvenile detention . She has since started a creative writing group at St. Hilda's Collegiate School and is with us in the stu...

This episode of KITE 5 is part 2 with our first intern, Yesica Solano. KITE: A. A NOTE PASSED FROM AN INMATE TO AN INMATE IN ANOTHER CELL OR TO A GUARD B. UNDERGROUND WRITING’S AUDIO ZINE FEATURING STUDENT WRITING4. Smile Like You Mean It5. My Favorite Lesson6. Get Up7. Jose LuisLINKS OF INTEREST: I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter - Erika L. SánchezUnderground Writing: a literature-based crea...

This episode of KITE 5 is part 1 with our first intern, Yesica Solano. KITE: A. A NOTE PASSED FROM AN INMATE TO AN INMATE IN ANOTHER CELL OR TO A GUARD B. UNDERGROUND WRITING’S AUDIO ZINE FEATURING STUDENT WRITING1. Stranger2. Letter to My Mom3. No Woman’s Land Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This piece comes from our site at Skagit County’s Juvenile Detention. UW Teaching Writer Suzanne brought in a poem from a Chinese factory worker. Matt and Alvin discuss protest, despair, hope, and transformation. Links of Interest: What No One Ever Tells YouIron Moon: An Anthology of Chinese Worker PoetryIn the Words of China's WorkersUnderground Writing: a literature-based creative writing progra...

KITE: A. A NOTE PASSED FROM AN INMATE TO AN INMATE IN ANOTHER CELL OR TO A GUARD B. UNDERGROUND WRITING’S AUDIO ZINE FEATURING STUDENT WRITING1. Dear Self by Jay 2. Broken by Rocky3. Lost Boy Rich by Richard4. Border of Paradise by Rocky5. There Have Been So Many Times by Ray6. This City is a Map of Pain by Jay7. Goodbye to My Addiction From a Psychotic Poet by Nick8. Reconciliation by Skylar9. A...

Matt and Alvin meet with Migrant Leaders Club students to discuss the piece OUR STORY from the collaborative anthology WHEN THE DUST RISES. Underground Writing: a literature-based creative writing program serving migrant, incarcerated, recovery, and other at-risk communities in northern Washington through literacy and personal transformation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informa...

We’re back! Matt and Alvin witness a short piece from the Community Justice Center of Skagit County. Underground Writing: a literature-based creative writing program serving migrant, incarcerated, recovery, and other at-risk communities in northern Washington through literacy and personal transformation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chris Hoke, UW Teaching Writer, shares recent student writing from the workshops at the Skagit County Community Justice Center. Note: We are a creative writing program serving at-risk populations. We do not broadcast names or identifying details of the students we work with. LINKS OF INTEREST:Rainer Maria RilkeRaymond CarverWriters in the School (Seattle)SUMMER RECOMMENDED READING:MemoirAnother Bu...

What has grown into a generative collaboration began when we first met in June 2015 with Janice Blackmore, founder and advisor for the Mount Vernon Migrant Leaders Club. Underground Writing was a few weeks out from its official launch and we were meeting with Janice to talk about the club becoming our second site. Given the fact that one of the primary goals of the club is having students tell the...

This piece comes from the Migrant Leaders Club of the Mount Vernon School District. Matt and Alvin find common ground on themes of isolation, loneliness, hatred, and division. Note: We are a creative writing program serving at-risk populations. We do not broadcast names or identifying details of the students we work with. LINKS OF INTEREST: What No One Ever Tells You Migrant Leaders Club of Mount...

KITE: A. A NOTE PASSED FROM AN INMATE TO AN INMATE IN ANOTHER CELL OR TO A GUARD B. UNDERGROUND WRITING’S AUDIO ZINE FEATURING STUDENT WRITING This episode features six pieces of writing from Brothers in Pen, the creative writing class at San Quentin State Prison. Kenny Brydon , short story, "A Course in Reconciliation" Emile DeWeaver , memoir, "Crumbling Brick Dreams" from  Brothers in Pen:...

Chris Hoke is a Gang Pastor and Prisoner Reentry Organizer as the Founder and Director of Underground Ministries. He joins Matt and Alvin in the studio to discuss what he’s encountered in his almost four years as a Teaching Writer at Underground Writing. Note: We are a creative writing program serving at-risk populations. We do not broadcast names or identifying details of the students we work wit...

Kite: a. a note passed from an inmate to an inmate in another cell or to a guard b. Underground Writing’s audio zine featuring student writingThis episode features twelve pieces of writing from the Skagit County Community Justice Center, read by Matt Malyon. I’m Cold and the Temperature Doesn’t Change. Pancho. After the First Lightning, Where Does the Rain Go? Zachary.206. Zachary. I Will Ask Your...

Zoe Mullery has been the creative writing teacher of Brothers in Pen at San Quentin Prison since 1999. This writing group has produced eight anthologies of:”fiction, memoir, creative nonfiction, or some hybrid.” She joins Matt and Alvin in the studio to discuss truth/facts, the purpose of humans in community, generosity and story, and the gift of listening inward in a world of posturing and ego. T...

We continue exploring the DEAR AMERICA prompt from our site at the Skagit County Community Justice Center: ideas of balance and counter-balance, frustration and allure. Matt shares updates from a satellite program on the east coast, The Change: a book pipeline to—among other sites—the library at Green Hill School in Chehalis, WA,  and a teaser for our next Community Spotlight episode. Note: W...