At the Indiana Writers Center, we believe that everyone has a story to tell, and we help them tell it. Our public youth program is called Building a Rainbow and is free to student participants and supports and improves the literacy and creative writing skills of students ages 6-18 in the city of Indianapolis.

Working one-on-one, Indiana Writers Center instructors, university student interns, and volunteers help the young writers get their words on the page and also encourage them to reflect upon the experiences they've written about, considering how what they've learned can make their dreams come true.

Funded by the Summer Youth Program Fund (SYPF), I Remember: Indianapolis Youth Write About Their Lives is a collection of the stories and poems crafted by the children attending our program at the Indiana Writers Center in Indianapolis, Indiana with our Indianapolis community partners, St. Florian Youth Development Camp, Horizon's at St. Richard's School (HRES), and the Felege Hiywot Center.

Reading their stories will take you from a chair in a beauty shop to a beach in Mexico to King's Island. You'll plunge downward in a rollercoaster, paddle a canoe up a creek, and join in a Juneteenth barbeque. You will hear stories of Black boy joy and Black girl magic. Above all, you'll hear these students' voices—glorious young voices, full of hope for the future.

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