Pongo Poetry Project

Pongo Poetry Project is a Seattle-based nonprofit that uses personal poetry to facilitate healing among youth coping with devastating traumas, such as abuse, neglect, racism, and exposure to violence. Pongo has mentored poetry with over 6,500 individuals. Research and evaluation demonstrate the significant therapeutic benefits of our programming and high levels of satisfaction among the youth we serve. And through our publishing program, we have released 16 poetry collections featuring work authored by the youth we serve. Our trainings on the Pongo Method equips professionals with the knowledge and skills to create trauma-informed writing programs based on our approach. Our training has led to the creation of 95 projects based on the Pongo Method around the world. At the heart of our program is the Pongo Method, a trauma-informed technique for teaching poetry, created in consultation with prominent community psychiatrists from the University of Washington. Pongo’s approach offers youth a safe, gratifying way to express feelings about some of the worst experiences imaginable, including incest, rape, beatings, abandonment, and witnessing violent death. Our approach engages youth in writing poetry in service of finding healing and inspiring resilience.