HOW 5 POEMS BY A TEEN LAUNCHED REVOLVING DOOR ARTS
In May 2016, a member of the youth slam team that I have coached for the past 7 years, shared with me 5 poems he'd recently written. We always discussed, as a team, the importance of writing beyond competition season as much as we discussed the importance of writing who we are and our most authentic experiences regardless of competition. Over the course of our 6 month preparation, we pushed this particular member to put himself more and more into his poetry, to recognize the gift he had to write moving lines that called for the political and thoughts of action he sought to achieve in more overt text. We asked him to tell his story, to be vulnerable, and to pull us in with his ability to etch compelling imagery. The 5 poems he shared with me accomplished all of these things. It became ever more clear to me that there was a need to create space for young writers to collaborate and author collections of their work to share with the world.
HELP US EMPOWER & SUPPORT TEEN AUTHORS!
The Teen Chapbook Series is one of Revolving Door's first youth initiatives which publishes teen writing at the manuscript level through peer-editing and curation, and connection to established writers. We believe that mentorship is key to the artistic development of young people and we are grateful for the support of established writers such as Erika L Sanchez and Jacob Saenz who will be providing the introduction for our teens' chapbooks.
HELP US CONTINUE TO ACTIVE TEEN AUTHORS & TEEN PUBLISHERS
We believe that the creative arts remain an integral part of our society and that young people are critical to its sustainability and evolution. We also believe that the creative workforce development can provide young creatives with new forms of exposure to sustainable, life-long careers in the arts.
Our vision is to grow this initiative into a teen-driven publishing house where teens are given the space to professionally produce teen creative work in fiction, poetry, memoir, essay, and more. Our youth publishing house will give teens an opportunity to serve as editors, graphic and layout designers, and PR personas as they curate, collaborate, produce, and promote small collections of creative writing by their peers.
Your support will help us develop a program that places young people into our literary landscape as active contributors and stakeholders to and within the publishing industry.
Revolving Door Arts also strongly believes in intergenerational connections and collaborations. The teen publishing house will connect teens to industry professionals including writers, editors, marketing professionals, and more that support exposure to potential career and education pathways in creative industries.
Your support will not only help us publish compelling and moving work by four young people and many more to come, but it will help us continue an innovative movement of empowering young people to be contributors to the artistic fabric of our society.
WE APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT!
Sincerely,
Jennifer Steele, Founder & Executive Director
ABOUT REVOLVING DOOR ARTS
The mission of Revolving Door Arts is to empower artistic evolution of young and emerging writers and artists; to professionally activate young people within the publishing industry; and to produce artistic works of and by the untold and unheard.