Wednesday, May 28, 2025
6 p.m. - 7 p.m. ET
Virtual
May can be a hectic but hopeful time as warm days and long evenings invite us outside and we gather with loved ones to celebrate graduations, mothers, and more. Let's remind ourselves to pause daily and take stock of it all.
The WPWP is proud to invite you to participate in our May daily writing challenge! You can use this slide or this document to choose a prompt each day, or you can write on a topic of your choice. Please share any writing you'd like on the WPWP May writing challenge padlet. A few sentences, a bulleted list, even a word each day is all you need to aim for--all writing is real writing, and all writing "counts."
We will gather together virtually on Wednesday, May 28 at 6 p.m. to share some of the writing we've done in May, and to hear from others. All are invited, whether you "completed" the challenge or not. No registration needed, just use this link to join!
Saturday, May 3, 2025
10am-1pm
Northside
Writing marathons began in the early 1990s with the Southeastern Louisiana Writing Project and have been adapted for use in National Writing Project Institutes, classrooms, literary festivals, and writing groups throughout the country.
During a marathon, small groups or individuals travel through different landscapes, writing and composing along the way in any genre they like, drawing inspiration from their surroundings and also from their fellow writers.
We will meet at Randyland, 1501 Arch St, Pittsburgh, PA 15212, at 10am. The marathon will conclude with a read-around from 12:30pm-1pm at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, located at 1230 Federal Street.
Saturday, April 5, 2025
9 a.m. - 11 p.m. ET
Posvar Hall 4303 (CUE)
This workshop focuses on reflection, community, and grounding ourselves in why we do what we do as literacy educators. By the end of the session, we will all be able to describe the role of reflective professional writing, both for ourselves and for our professional communities. We will also explore potential avenues for sharing our writing–while acknowledging that sometimes, this writing might just be for us. We will explore personal reflection, professional blogs, and conference proposals, Participants will have time to review a variety of types of professional writing and respond to them, personally and collaboratively.
We look forward to seeing many of you in person at the Center for Urban Education (room 4303 in Posvar Hall) at the University of Pittsburgh, and we welcome those who wish to attend virtually as well! Breakfast will be served. We look forward to thinking, writing, and being together.
Presenters: Lucy Ware and Hannah Lewis
Saturday, March 15, 2025
10 a.m. - 12 p.m. ET
Posvar Hall 4303 (CUE)
Join us for a time of fellowship, support, solidarity, or whatever you prefer to call it – a time to hold one another up when we can, and lean on one another if we need.
Saturday, March 15th, Western PA Writing Project participants will gather to help one another “survive the Ides of March.” Mid-March can be a challenging time of year for educators, waiting eagerly for the rest that Spring Break promises. Instead of waiting, let’s come together to prioritize rest, self, and community care. We’ll think, write, and talk about how to navigate our own and one another’s needs in hard times, as well as how we might use writing to support our students in their trying seasons as well. Join us in-person at 10:00 AM at the Center for Urban Education for food and fellowship.
Or, join via Zoom, so you can bring the coziness of your own coffee, tea, bed, couch, or blankets along with you.