Thanks to a generous grant from the Montana Arts Council, Free Verse will be able to bring Danez Smith to the juvenile detention center to give a workshop; they will also be performing one of our kids’ poems at their reading at the Montana Book Festival, and collaborating with us on our Free Verse chapbook. … More Visiting Artist
Mom, You were gone for a long time. But when you called I felt emotions I haven’t in a very long time. I thought you were either dead or in prison. There was an empty pocket in my heart. When I saw you I was overwhelmed. I didn’t know if it was true til I … More A Letter to a Mother
One of our kids brought us this poem and art he’d done.
Here is one of our favorite poems from our time at Pine Hills. Honestly, it’s one of my favorite poems from all time. Dark mornings blue nights There is some things you can’t make right But you still fight for a better life Then that’s when it takes you by the grasps And tells … More Dark Mornings
Thanks to the Humanities Montana grant we recently received, Jules Ohman, Caylin Capra Thomas, and Sarah Kahn spent two days in Miles City, MT, with the incredible kids living at Pine Hills. We taught five classes a day and worked with over 45 kids. Their writing was amazing, but their participation in classes was equally compelling. … More Pine Hills Workshops
Humanities Montana awarded Free Verse a $2,910 grant so that we can expand our work to include detention centers across Montana and youth outside the halls. This summer, we’ll be going to Cascade Falls, Boulder, and Miles City to work with kids incarcerated there. We’ll be visiting our first new facility, Pine Hills, on the 30th. … More Humanities Montana Grant
The Missoula Independent featured a great story on Free Verse today!
Our kids contributed some amazing writing and art to this new issue of The Beat.
Our kids’ work featured in a new issue of The Beat!
In our last lesson, we talked about Beyoncé’s “Formation” and how she reclaimed the word “Bama” (and other instances of reclamation/ identity politics). We asked the kids to reclaim or redefine a word (could be something they’ve been called or a word that has particular meaning to them). This writer chose the word “end” and … More End; Beginning
Free Verse Writing Project 