The Telling Room

Join us on October 11th for this event in partnership with The Poets Corner, where authors from our 2026 anthology, RISE: AN ANTHOLOGY OF YOUTH CLIMATE WRITING AND ART, share their works, hopes, and inspirations for the future! This event is free and open to the public, and will provide a space to listen to young voices lead a discussion on the ways that climate change, art, and science intersect.

The discussion will be hosted by The Poets Corner and will be held virtually over Zoom. To register for this event and get access to the Zoom link, visit: https://www.thepoetscorner.org/events/rise-an-anthology-of-youth-climate-writing-andart

Last week, one of our Young Emerging Authors, Mo Drammeh, was featured on Bangor’s News channel, WABI TV5 , to discuss their book, WHERE THE CRYPTIDS FLED. Tune in for the conversation here: https://www.wabi.tv/2026/09/14/author-mo-drammeh-discusses-where-cryptids-fled/

Mo Drammeh grew up in Bangor, Maine, where they have lived all of their life. In 2022, Mo won the Crime Flash Competition from the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance and was named among Maine Magazine's Mainers of The Year. Mo is now in their senior year at the University of Maine, and is still recognized for their incredible storytelling and world-building, even past their time spent at The Telling Room as a young author.

Stay tuned for more opportunities to hear from Mo as more events and workshops are announced on our socials!

Last week, four of our ambassadors performed their poetry at the Maine Immigration Forum (MiF) 2026, hosted by Maine Immigrants' Rights Coalition. It was an honor to be thought of for this event, and we couldn’t be more proud of our storytellers for sharing their experiences with so much tenacity. There was not a dry eye in the building after our writers shared their pieces, and it was a compelling moment to witness.

Our ambassadors—Sophia, Ahmednoor, Didon, and Askar (not photographed)—were once students at The Telling Room, like many of our writers who join our programs. But over the years, they have strengthened their storytelling capabilities, learned how to command a room with their words, and are now a part of our staff, extending our impact as an organization everywhere they go.

This was our second time performing at MiF, and we look forward to more opportunities to share our writer’s voices through the literary arts. If you want to learn how to get involved and see what the magic at The Telling Room is all about, visit us at our Open House on Friday, October 2nd from 2:30pm-6:30pm at our new home on 55 Washington Ave! Check out the new space and meet with Telling Room staff for a night full of fun and community. For more information, visit: https://www.tellingroom.org/upcoming-events/open-house.

And a huge thank you to Maine Immigrants' Rights Coalition, MIRC members, and event speakers—Eisha Khan, Mikey Lopez, and Fatima Saidi—for everything they shared, the work that they do, and the kind words we received from this event!

We’re traveling up to Presque Isle for a special world-building workshop and a reading led by two of our Young Emerging Authors, Mo Drammeh and Sophia Tyutyunnyk!

The big event happens on Saturday, October 3rd, at the Mark & Emily Turner Memorial Library (in The Library House) with the workshop taking place at 1PM, and the reading from both of our authors at 5PM. Hear from our authors whose works differ in genre between fiction and non-fiction, but emphasize the power of setting and storytelling.

Mo Drammeh will be reading from their debut novel, WHERE THE CRYPTIDS FLED, a cautionary tale that interrogates validity: who is valid, and why? Who determines what identities are wrong and right? And most of all, when you are determined to be invalid, when society has rejected you, what do you do?

Sophia Tyutyunnyk shares an excerpt from her coming-of-age memoir, CANDLE ON THE TREE, about the anxious and formative months she spent living in Ukraine during the final stages of her family’s path to legal residency in the United States.

Please join us for a day full of workshopping, interactive writing exercises, and heartfelt reading in the beautiful Presque Isle area! We will be closing out the reading with a Q&A, and copies of both Mo and Sophia’s books will be available for purchase. Learn more at: https://ow.ly/I3ts50ZPqZA

You’re invited to our Open House on Friday, October 2nd, from 2:30PM - 6:30PM!

Our event will take place at our new home: 55 Washington Avenue, Suite 1E, in Portland, Maine. There will be a bunch of fun activities to immerse yourself in, as well as light refreshments and snacks.

Our new home is nestled in between our awesome neighbors, CÔNG TỬ BỘT and Fiore Home, and we feel grateful to be a part of this bustling community on Washington Ave!

One of our alumni and interns, Jules Vasquez, described our new space with yearning and excitement when she said, “The Telling Room has taught me that space can hold stories, but that stories don’t belong to one space”. Our stories will follow us wherever we go, because creating a sense of home, of belonging, and possibility is paramount to all we do.

Please join us for a special night of reintroductions and new beginnings at The Telling Room! You won’t want to miss it.

Join us for an informational session on how to apply for our Young Writers and Leaders program!

Our Young Writers and Leaders Program is a free, nine-month afterschool literary arts education program for high school students with international and multicultural backgrounds. We select 26 students a year through a competitive application and interview process, during which students will explore different genres, work one-on-one with a writing coach, and become a published author!

If you’ve participated in any of The Telling Room programs in the past and are looking for a course that will allow you to focus on and enhance your writing, Young Writers and Leaders might be for you.

Join us at one of our many informational sessions to learn more from Swathi and Sonya, our incredible program leads for Young Writers and Leaders. Visit: https://ow.ly/mGjQ50ZNsnW to learn more about the program!

The Telling Room is moving this week!
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Please note that our staff may have limited availability to respond to emails and phone calls as we relocate from 225 Commercial Street to our new location at 55 Washington Avenue in Portland. We can't wait to welcome everyone into our new home as we prepare for Fall programs.⁠
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If you're as eager to see the new space as we are, please join us at our Open House on Friday, October 2nd, from 2:30pm-6:30pm! Creating a sense of home, belonging, and possibility is paramount to all we do, and our new home will allow us to continue bringing that mission to life!
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Thank you for your patience, and reach out to us at [email protected] in the meantime with any questions.
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One of our amazing 2026 summer interns, Hannah Herbst, was featured in Bates College's article, "Working in Vacationland: Batesies Reflect on Maine-based Summer Internships." 👏⁠
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Hannah offered so much support to us during this year's summer camps, assisting everywhere from curriculum design to overall educational implementation at The Telling Room. She also acted as a mentor to our young writers, and empowered them to share their voice every day they joined us for camp. ⁠
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Our interns are not only a part of our greater network of support, but are direct examples of how storytelling positively impacts our daily lives. Their excitement to empower our writers is infectious, and we are lucky to have them join us time and time again!
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Another round of applause to Hannah, as well as the rest of our 2026 summer interns! Be sure to visit: https://www.bates.edu/news/2026/08/28/working-in-vacationland-batesies-reflect-on-maine-based-summer-internships/ to read about other student's experiences interning in Maine.
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Back to school season is here, and that means it’s time to register for our Fall programs!

Here’s a brief overview of each of our programs that typically run throughout the entire school semester. All of our programs are free thanks to our community supporters! We offer writing workshops for all ages, and each one is unique to a specific stage of the writing process!

Whether you’ve enrolled in one of our programs before, or you’re a first ever Telling Room writer, our doors are open to you! We welcome you to find your voice through the power of storytelling.

Visit: https://www.tellingroom.org/the-telling-room-programs to get a detailed description of each of these exciting writing opportunities. Registration is now open!

Mark your calendars and set your alarms! ⏰⁠
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It's back to school season here at The Telling Room. 🍎✏️ Fall registration opens at 9AM on September 1st, with our lottery-based program drawing (Word Play, Story Sleuths, and Works In Progress) taking place on September 14th!⁠
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Check out https://www.tellingroom.org/programs for more details on our specific programs so you can see which might be the best fit for your writing needs. We're excited to welcome in a new season of students and to empower more youth through writing. ✍️⁠
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We hope to see you in our afterschool programs, whether you've never joined us before or you're a seasoned Telling Room student. Our classroom welcomes you the same. 🫂⁠
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And remember, Fall programs this season will be conducted in our new space over at 55 Washington Avenue! More details on directions and parking to come—stay tuned for more updates on our move. 🚚⁠
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