826DC’s After-School Writing Lab (AWL) students are about to publish a chapbook called When Change Hits. Check out the foreword by Tyler Grigsby, 826DC Community Programs Manager:
Foreword to When Change Hits
Back in September of 2024, 826DC’s After-School Writing Lab (AWL) kicked off the semester by introducing the theme of change. This was intentionally open-ended and intended to be an exploration of all the many ways change can materialize in a story.
From there, each young author developed their own plot, characters, and setting with change as a central theme. Some of these plots were centered on real-world changes they’d like to see shift in their lifetimes. Others chose to explore change through fantastical impossibilities, some decided to grapple with present-day issues in a different time period.
Through these pages, we travel through magical woodlands, outer space, rainforests, and school hallways. Although the settings, time periods, and examples of change are as multifaceted and varied as the personalities in the room, you will notice some common threads woven throughout.
Recurring themes of authoritarian rulers, social control, class stratification, violence, incarceration, escape, anxiety, fitting in, and insecurity appear multiple times across stories.
While you may notice this book contains more content notes than our last few books, I see this as a sign of the times and a poignant snapshot of what it means to be a young person growing up in Washington, D.C.
To quote one of our own young authors:
“Even during the apocalypse there are people like them: horrible, racist, and sexist.” -Ella
I am constantly reminded every day how deeply young people are listening and absorbing the complexity of the world around them. While perhaps the apocalypse is an extreme example, I feel like this present moment forces us to confront what kind of people we’d like to be, and what world we will build from here. I encourage you to read through each of the author biographies in the back of the book, and sit with what each of our writers has envisioned for their future.
I invite our adult readers to think back about how you felt as a young person when faced with the decisions made by adults that you did not agree with, when you did not have as much autonomy or choice as you do in your present reality. How did you cope? How did you imagine different realities? Where did you find power and agency?
Every day I am grateful for the opportunity to facilitate a space where young people can express themselves, and stand outside the expectations of what many adults believe they should think, feel, say and write. I’m proud to say AWL is an intergenerational space, centered around the indomitable creativity and brilliance of young writers. I hope that everyone who participates in After-School Writing Lab, from mentors to students, leaves with a sense of another world being possible. One where community care is central, inclusion is not optional, and everyone’s story can be told their way.
I hope that all readers of this book embrace this collection of stories, ranging from heartbreakingly visceral, to hilarious, heartwarming, beautiful, and absurd. I hope that you feel inspired to speak out for changes you’d like to see in the world. Your creativity and determination is necessary.
To my students, please continue to think outside the box. Each of you are so exceptional and important. I hope you feel proud of all the work you put in this semester. You dove deeper, pushed yourselves, preserved and came up with stories as unique as each of you are. You are so talented, and this world needs you in it. I hope you always remember how important your voice is, and surround yourself with people who deeply listen to you.
Keep telling stories, and keep listening to others.
Congratulations on your latest publication.
Happy reading,
Tyler Grigsby
Community Programs Manager
Interested in When Change Hits?
Let us know here and we’ll email you when it’s available at our online shop!