Fort Vancouver High students’ storytelling event returns

English teacher Ben Jatos’ juniors have something to say. They have a lot to say, actually, the way the Fort Vancouver High School teacher tells it.

For the fifth year in a row, Jatos and his students will present Orpheus, a live storytelling event featuring student writers and professional authors reading their work on stage. About 35 students and 17 authors are expected to read their articles, essays, stories and poetry over the next four weeks.

The series gives students a chance to take risks with their own writing and present in front of a live audience. It also gives them the opportunity to meet with and learn from professionals in the field.

“I want them to write for an authentic audience,” Jatos said. “If they do that, they put a little more thought and effort into it.”

Students’ stories range from humorous to serious, Jatos said. In the past, students have written about feminism, moving to different schools, consent and relationships.

“A lot of the stories they’re revealing some of themselves, and that takes guts,” Jatos said.

Washington Post reporter Eli Saslow, who in 2014 received a Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for his coverage of food stamps, is among Tuesday’s featured writers. While this is his first year participating in Orpheus, Saslow co-founded Press Pass Mentors in Washington, D.C., a program pairing professional journalists with low-income high school students. He called teenage writers “funny and irreverent and totally unpredictable.”

“There’s no shortage of levity,” he said.

It’s important, Saslow said, for young people and writers to feel heard and feel like their work resonates with people. That’s the reason writers write, he said: in order to make some kind of difference.

“To be able to do that in an audience where you really feel like you’re carefully listened to, that’s a super empowering experience,” he said.

Portland writer Tabitha Blankenbiller has been reading at Orpheus since 2015, after Jatos approached her, asking her to participate. She’ll also be reading tonight.

Blankenbiller’s personal essays have appeared in Hobart, Serious Eats and Longreads, and her debut collection of essays, “Eats of Eden: A Foodoir,” was released this spring.

Blankenbiller praised Orpheus, saying students have written pieces tackling complicated and personal subjects with thoughtfulness and insight.

“It’s really inspiring,” Blankenbiller said. “It’s just incredible to think what could happen if they keep going.”

And for at least one student, Orpheus has been a platform to keep going. Skye Edwards, 17, read her piece “The Other F-Word” at the event last year. The essay detailed her move from Mississippi to Washington, exploring feminism and the roles of women in the two states. The piece was later published in the anthology “VoiceCatcher.” Edwards also continues to participate in speaking events. She credits Orpheus for helping her find her voice as a writer.

“I really have been so inspired by this past year,” Edwards said. “I’m really inspired to continue writing and making my voice heard for every girl out there.”

If you miss tonight’s free reading, there are more opportunities to hear from the Fort Vancouver High School English students; there will be three more readings through May 22.