One thing I’ve always said about Yellow Wood is that it is a place that gives teachers the freedom and autonomy to experiment and learn, to take on projects, and see where they go. I have written previously about my experiences creating a tea club, and discovering a passion for community building. But today I’m excited to announce one of my newest projects: The Yellow Wood City of Literature Project

First, a little background. In 2004, UNESCO launched its Creative Cities Network, an organization of cities whose objective is- “placing creativity and cultural industries at the heart of their development plans at the local level and cooperating actively at the international level.” Cities in the network specialize in some form of creativity from film to music to gastronomy. And, of course, Literature.

The reason I bring this up is that Seattle is one of only two Cities of Literature in the US and three in North America. We became a City of Literature in 2017. I’d been following the movement closely and got to know some of the leaders since I moved to the Seattle area in 2018. I’d always had the idea in the back of my mind that somehow there was a potential for a partnership between Yellow Wood and Seattle City of Literature.

And then the opportunity presented itself when I became the head of the Language Arts Department this year. I reached out to some of the members and was able to set up a meeting with the vice president of SCOL, Juan Carlos Reyes. It turned out that they had been looking for schools to partner with- it was a perfect match!

Back in 2020, they published a book of essays by local writers called Seismic- "a collection that asks writers to consider what the designation means for our city and how literature might be an agent of change". It was meant to be the start of a conversation and they had been hoping the next voice in that conversation would come from schools. And with that, we had a plan.

Last month, Seattle City of Literature supplied us with free copies of Seismic. Students who choose to participate (it is completely optional) will have a chance to read the essays and pick one to respond to- in whatever medium they choose: literary arts, drawing, music, 3D printing - the list could go on and on. We will be having an event later this year to showcase their work and it looks like we may be able to have the original authors of the essays be involved as well!

The PDF version of Seismic is available for free online as well: Seismic

Keep an eye out for updates as this project comes together. I’m excited to see where our students and teachers take this!

Announcing the Yellow Wood City of Literature Project - by Eric Braun