In celebration of our 25th anniversary, InsideOut created Poetry for the People – a series of workshops, installations and performances in neighborhoods across the city designed to demystify poetry and engage new audiences in the ways that language can connect to and enrich their lives….
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It’s an understatement to say that InsideOut has changed over the past five years – from staffing to programming to fundraising, we have grown. While I often reflect on the “state of the organization,” my leadership has also changed over the last five years. In…
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Last year’s Write-A-Thon was the first time since middle school I attempted any kind of crowdfunding. Growing up in Detroit’s suburbs, my familial attitude was that it was not nice to bother people with yet another invitation to buy Girl Scout cookies, wrapping paper, or…
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From Zoom classes to Facebook live streams and InsideOut At Home lessons, InsideOut’s programs have looked a little different this year for both students and teaching artists. But despite all of the new challenges of virtual teaching, our Writers-in-Residence have made the most of this…
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This year marks the first step of InsideOut’s next 25-year journey. We’ve celebrated this occasion by lifting up five stories from five different eras of our history, from our inaugural class in the mid-90s to our most recent graduates. The stories (which you can explore…
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Thriving Together is a three-year-long environmental justice and creative writing program led by the Detroit Zoological Society and InsideOut Literary Arts. In the summer of 2020, we quickly transitioned the program online after stay-at-home orders were enacted. “While students would normally be wearing waders in the Detroit River and…
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In 2019, the Detroit Free Press found that “ninety percent of teachers and principals across the Detroit Public Schools Community District reported that more than half their students have been impacted by trauma that impedes their learning.” Addressing trauma and the social-emotional needs of our students has always…
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This year, InsideOut is focused on supporting our students and embracing opportunities that lie in the unexpected. We understand that students have experienced a great deal of change and uncertainty over the past 6 months, and we want to be as sensitive and responsive as…
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I was happily surprised when Suma and her team chose “Share the Light” as the theme for InsideOut’s annual fundraising gala. They had selected the phrase from my introductory essay in To Light a Fire, an anthology of essays by our teaching poets. I was…
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