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The Underground Writing Podcast

The Underground Writing Podcast

By: Underground Writing
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Summary

The Underground Writing Podcast is an audio channel focusing on student writing. Flowing in and through this river, as it were, are interviews, guests, and organizational updates, as well as two smaller tributaries: Linebreak (a single piece of writing) and Kite (our student writing audio zine).


We are a literature-based creative writing program serving migrant, incarcerated, recovery, and other at-need communities in Washington through literacy and personal transformation. We facilitate generative readings of literature spanning the tradition—from ancient texts to those written in our workshops. Honoring the transforming power of the word, we believe that attentive reading leads to attentive writing, and that attentive writing has the power to assist in the restoration of communities, the imagination, and individual lives.

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Underground Writing Art Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Linebreak | Behind the Reflection

    Linebreak | Behind the Reflection
    Apr 28 2026
    LINEBREAK is a single piece of student writing, offered as a pause during your daily life. We hope it will be generative of further creativity, perspective, and thought.---Show Notes:Today’s student writing is a poem by Eloisa (Ela), a student at our workshop site with the Migrant Leaders Club in the Mount Vernon, Washington school district.Some items mentioned in—or aligned with—today’s episode + Announcements:1. For more about writing being a tool for your life: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/bully-wise/202512/want-to-transform-your-life-writing-may-hold-the-key2. For a 5th year in a row (!), we have received a very significant organizational grant from an Anonymous Donor via the Seattle Foundation. We want to thank the donor—we hope you’re listening, and the Seattle Foundation for believing in the work we’re doing and helping our students continue to read, write, and make their voices heard.3. We’re excited to announce that we’re in the very beginning stages of working on our third anthology of student writing. Details are forming, and talks with a publisher are underway. We’re excited and—as with all creative projects—letting the energy and ideas have a time of incubation before talking any more about it. But stay tuned—more details will be coming in the months ahead.And in case you don’t know, or haven’t revisited our work in awhile, we already have two anthologies of student writing—What No One Ever Tells You and When the Dust Rises—in stock and available via our website store – at www.undergroundwriting.org4. What a year already—seemingly unending wars, a divided country teetering on the precipice, and deep funding and staff cuts in the Arts sector— and this is at both the national and local levels. As a community arts nonprofit that depends on grants and individual donations for our survival, we need your support now as much as ever. We’d be honored if you’d keep us in mind as you plan for your advocacy and charitable giving: https://undergroundwriting.org/donate5. We regularly hear from folks asking how they can be involved with—or help out—Underground Writing. We’re grateful for the interest. Please check out our “Get Involved” page on our website: https://undergroundwriting.org/get-involved Also, to highlight a few inroads for getting involved: 1) If you live locally, consider joining us for our once-a-month re/vision volunteer day (https://undergroundwriting.org/revision), 2) Spread the word about our Letters to a Young Inmate initiative (https://undergroundwriting.org/letters-to-a-young-inmate), and 3) Consider partnering with us by becoming a patron-donor – we’re only able to do our work because of our individual donors and grant partners . . . and we are always in need of these donor-partnerships so that we can continue our work (https://undergroundwriting.org/donate).---We’re repeating ourselves, but it’s good to say again . . . Listeners!—You can also help us by writing a review on Apple Podcasts or other outlets. And something new—we may even read some of them on the air. Podcast reviews help other like-minded folks find out about our show, as well as our broader work. Any help you can lend to this effort would be greatly appreciated.Our website: www.undergroundwriting.orgYou can send inquiries, or pitches for advertising, here: podcast@undergroundwriting.orgThanks for listening, Friends.Safe journey, and take good care.: Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    18 mins
  • Linebreak | The One

    Linebreak | The One
    Feb 14 2026

    Today’s student writing is a poem is by Justin, a student at our workshop site with the Skagit County Community Justice Center (our county’s jail for adult women and men).


    Some items mentioned in—or aligned with—today’s episode + Announcements:


    1. The long quote about the subject of time in today’s episode was from the Life Wisdom podcast episode, “Everything Has Its Timing.”


    2. What a year already—seemingly unending wars, a divided country teetering on the precipice, and deep funding and staff cuts in the Arts sector— and this is at both the national and local levels. As a community arts nonprofit that depends on grants and individual donations for our survival, we need your support now as much as ever. We’d be honored if you’d keep us in mind as you plan for your advocacy and charitable giving: https://undergroundwriting.org/donate


    3. We regularly hear from folks asking how they can be involved with—or help out—Underground Writing. We’re grateful for the interest. Please check out our “Get Involved” page on our website: https://undergroundwriting.org/get-involved Also, to highlight a few inroads for getting involved: 1) If you live locally, consider joining us for our once-a-month re/vision volunteer day (https://undergroundwriting.org/revision), 2) Spread the word about our Letters to a Young Inmate initiative (https://undergroundwriting.org/letters-to-a-young-inmate), and 3) Consider partnering with us by becoming a patron-donor – we’re only able to do our work because of our individual donors and grant partners . . . and we are always in need of these donor-partnerships so that we can continue our work (https://undergroundwriting.org/donate).


    ---


    We’re repeating ourselves, but it’s good to say again . . . Listeners!—You can also help us by writing a review on Apple Podcasts or other outlets. And something new—we may even read some of them on the air. Podcast reviews help other like-minded folks find out about our show, as well as our broader work. Any help you can lend to this effort would be greatly appreciated.


    Our website: www.undergroundwriting.org


    You can send inquiries, or pitches for advertising, here: podcast@undergroundwriting.org


    Thanks for listening, Friends.


    Safe journey, and take good care.


    :

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    8 mins
  • Robert S. (Student/Alumnus) // Interview & Catch Up

    Robert S. (Student/Alumnus) // Interview & Catch Up
    Jan 31 2026
    We’re excited to let you know that after a series of pilot writing workshops in the Summer and Fall of 2025, we have—as of January 22, 2026—officially launched our 6th writing workshop site—Boys & Girls Clubs of Skagit County (https://skagitclubs.org/). Thanks to Yesica, Dena, Marco, Clemente, Cynthia, and all the staff and students at the site for welcoming us. We look forward to reading and writing with you all.-----------Today’s feature was an interview with Robert S., an alumnus of our program. He was a student in our very first writing workshop—July 8, 2015—at our site in Skagit County Juvenile Detention. He is the poet who wrote, “Dear System” in our 1st anthology, What No Over Ever Tells You. Robert currently reads, writes, and lives in Alaska with his girlfriend and their three cats.You can support students like Robert by spreading the word about our podcast, purchasing student writing anthologies in our website store, and making a donation to help sustain our ongoing work via our website’s secure donation portal.Some items mentioned in—or aligned with—today’s episode & announcements:1. Robert’s writing is included in What No One Ever Tells You, our first anthology, and available via our website’s store here: https://undergroundwriting.org/store2. Radio story Robert appears on . . . Thanks again to NPR / KNKX for featuring Underground Writing a couple of weeks ago, on October 10, 2025 in their series: Agents of Change: Addressing Youth Violence — Lessons that Work. And thanks to Emil Moffatt for the interview. If you’re interested in listening to the story: https://www.knkx.org/tags/agents-of-change-addressing-youth-violence-lessons-that-work3. What a year already!—seemingly unending wars, a divided country teetering on the precipice, and lots of fear throughout the country. On a lesser note, there are also deep funding and staff cuts in the Arts sector— and this is at both the national and local levels. As a community arts nonprofit that depends on grants and individual donations for our survival, we need your support now more than ever. We’d be honored if you’d join our work as a patron-supporter: https://undergroundwriting.org/donate4. We regularly hear from folks asking how they can be involved with—or help out—Underground Writing. We’re grateful for the interest. Please check out our “Get Involved” page on our website: https://undergroundwriting.org/get-involved Also, to highlight a few inroads for getting involved: 1) If you live locally, consider joining us for our once-a-month re/vision volunteer day (https://undergroundwriting.org/revision), 2) Spread the word about our Letters to a Young Inmate initiative (https://undergroundwriting.org/letters-to-a-young-inmate), and 3) Consider partnering with us by becoming a patron-donor – we’re only able to do our work because of our individual donors and grant partners . . . and we are always in need of these donor-partnerships so that we can continue our work (https://undergroundwriting.org/donate).---We’re repeating ourselves, but it’s good to say again . . . Listeners!—You can also help us by writing a review on Apple Podcasts or other outlets. And something new—we may even read some of them on the air. Podcast reviews help other like-minded folks find out about our show, as well as our broader work. Any help you can lend to this effort would be greatly appreciated.Our website: www.undergroundwriting.orgYou can send inquiries, or pitches for advertising, here: podcast@undergroundwriting.orgThanks for listening, Friends.Safe journey, and take good care.: Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show More Show Less
    25 mins
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