The Telling Room

Specialties

The Telling Room is a nonprofit writing center in Portland, Maine. Focused on young writers ages 6 to 18, we seek to build confidence, strengthen literacy skills, and provide real audiences for our students’ stories.

History

Established in 2004.

The Telling Room was founded in 2004 by three writers — Sara Corbett, Mike Paterniti, and Susan Conley — in Portland, Maine, who wanted to make a difference in their community. Sara Corbett and Mike Paterniti are both contributing writers for the New York Times Magazine and other notable publications. Susan Conley recently published a nationally acclaimed memoir about her family’s time abroad in China. Though all three had traveled the globe in search of compelling stories, Sara, Mike, and Susan imagined that getting in touch with the youth of Portland and their stories could be like putting your ear to a seashell and hearing the whole ocean.