The Telling Room

Celebrate our young writers published from 2025 - 2026 in our newest anthology, PERIPHERAL VISON, at Big Night on June 18th! This free evening will include a book fair with sales and signings, interactive activities, award announcements, and more. From twenty-six towns across Maine, the writers in PERIPHERAL VISON ages eight to eighteen look closely at themselves and the world, offering us a lens (and sometimes a mirror) through which to view the world we live in. To preorder the book now and learn more about Big Night, visit: https://www.tellingroom.org/big-night-2026

We are thrilled to announce our next talented Young Emerging Author: Ethan Moro! Ethan Moro is a seventeen-year-old rising senior at Baxter Academy for Technology and Science. He spends his free time learning guitar, illustrating portraits, and hanging out with his cats, Snowy and Midnight. Born and raised in the Portland area, Ethan loves rocky beaches and quiet late-summer nights. His writing centers on the desire to escape labels and see beyond circumstance. In his book, he explores the complexities of relationships – how they heal and hurt us, and why we choose them anyway. He hopes his story reminds readers that not being okay is okay.

To learn more about the Young Emerging Authors program, visit: https://www.tellingroom.org/programs/young-emerging-authors-fellowship

Mark your calendars: June 18th is Big Night! We hope that you will join us at Portland High School to celebrate our inspiring authors and the release of our 2026 anthology, PERIPHERAL VISON. We can't wait to see you there!⁠ To preorder the book now and learn more about Big Night, visit: https://www.tellingroom.org/big-night-2026

We are so excited to introduce you to our 2026 - 2027 Young Emerging Authors, starting with Lucy Griset!

Lucy Griset is a freshman at Brunswick High School. Having been involved in climate justice activism since she was very young, she is passionate about using her voice to open and deepen discussions about the climate crisis through fiction. Her forthcoming novel, inspired by her many trips to visit family in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah, follows a young woman living in the West, grappling with the devastating effects of the wildfires that threaten her community. Growing up on the coast of Maine, with childhood walks in the forest and sunny afternoons in the garden, Lucy has fostered a strong connection to nature. When not lost in the woods somewhere, she can be found singing and playing her guitar, Nordic ski racing, and rowing on the Androscoggin River.

To learn more about our Young Emerging Authors program, visit: https://www.tellingroom.org/programs/young-emerging-authors-fellowship

When we walk into a classroom and begin an in-school residency, students don't always know what to expect. Here's what some of this year's students said they expected to get out of a residency with The Telling Room at the very beginning of our programs:

✏️ For others to see how I express myself as a writer...for people to see my unique writing and to envision how I see the entire writing process
✍️ I want to get better at handwriting
💸 Fame & fortune
🧁 Cake

By the time we're finished with our multiweek resdiencies, students have shifted their perspectives while learning something new about themselves, their writing, and of course—they've gotten some cake along the way, too. Here's what they said were their biggest takeaways as they completed their time with us:

📝 How to have fun while writing
🧠 I really liked brainstorming and drafting because I really like finding out what I'm going to do
📣 Believing I have a unique voice
😊 I'm more confident sharing my story

To us, those are huge wins as we strive to fulfill our mission of empowering youth through writing and sharing their voices with the world—which would not be possible without the support of our entire community. And we need your help to meet our goal of raising $150,000 by June 30th. Today, we’re 77% to our goal, with $34,500 remaining to be raised.

Every gift we receive through the end of June is being matched up to $60,000 thanks to a group of generous Telling Room donors. Right now, we're less than $4,500 away from receiving the full match—but we need your help to reach this milestone. If you have not had a chance to show your support yet, there's still time to donate at: https://www.tellingroom.org/donate

Will you join us?

Join us for Big Night and celebrate PERIPHERAL VISION, The Telling Room's 2026 Anthology! Hear from our talented young authors and meet them for yourselves on Thursday, June 18th at 5pm at Portland High School Auditorium. This event is free and open to the public. To learn more, visit: https://www.tellingroom.org/big-night-2026

Adults: join us on June 10th to learn how to bind your own book and start to fill it with writing and art! We'll use a variety of papers and materials to create our own simple signature books, then play around with Telling Room prompts to generate some writing and art inside. All materials provided; no experience needed. To register now, visit: https://www.hisawyer.com/the-telling-room/schedules/activity-set/1906208?source=camps

If you are still searching for your amazing summer plans, look no further! There are still few remaining spots open in our exciting creative writing camps Big Ideas, Little Books and Rock Paper Paper. You won't want to miss them! To register now, visit: https://www.tellingroom.org/programs/camps

Due to some unexpected cancellations, spots just opened up in a few of our most popular camps - Character Creation, Word by Word, and Pride Camp. There is only 1 spot left in each camp so grab it fast! To register now, visit: https://www.tellingroom.org/programs/camps