Editor Letters

Matt Shaw

July 8, 2026Editor LettersCommunity is Hard (and Possible)Speak Up writing groups hit on multiple levels. They provide individual invitations. These spaces let people discover and uncover things within. Carving out time to pause and write can help…March 23, 2026Editor LettersCitadels of Pause and Presence: Speak Up Writing GroupsWe gathered, leaned in around tables with steaming cups of coffee, sticky donuts on paper plates, and a delightful collection of shared writing prompts. For ninety minutes, we wrote…January 5, 2026Editor LettersWrite with Speak Up This WeekIn Speak Up writing groups, we gather with a simple purpose. We write from shared prompts. We read aloud and honor each reader with our attention and applause. So much happens from this…December 12, 2025Editor LettersSpeak Up Weekly: Write and ShareWe’re three meetings in to the newest Speak Up writing community: in the Matthews Public Library in Matthews, NC. It is a particular delight to watch this new community grow and form. The…December 10, 2025Editor LettersSpeak Up Open Mic Next WeekJoin us next week for a Speak Up Open Mic Night in downtown Rock Hill, SC. The Speak Up community of workshop writers, old friends, supporters, readers, and the general public are all…December 5, 2025Editor LettersSpeak Up Weekly: Join, Attend, WriteOne of Speak Up’s donors is matching everything donated—up to $12,500—between November 24th and the end of the year. 12/5/25 UPDATE — $2,000 of $12,500 raised. Thank you to that matching…November 24, 2025Editor LettersSpeak Up Weekly: Join the MovementWhere will it be?One month ago there was a single weekly Speak Up writing community. Now there are three! The first one began in April 2024 at the main library in downtown Rock Hill, SC.…November 18, 2025Editor LettersSpeak Up Weekly: New Workshop Milestone. This Week's Prompts.Another writing community launching this week! This week there are three Speak Up writing communities meeting in three different places. Two in Rock Hill, SC, one in Matthews, NC. This is…November 12, 2025Editor LettersBuilding a Successful Writing CommunitySpeak Up writing workshops are simple gatherings where people from all walks of life gather in person, write together, and listen to one another read their work aloud. Unhoused and housed…August 20, 2025Editor LettersPrinted Workshop MagazineWe’re preparing to publish a printed anthology magazine of select writings from the Speak Up workshops. All current and former workshop writers are invited to submit multiple pieces of…December 30, 2024Editor LettersCorrecting the terrible affliction of homelessnessA new year is almost here! Here’s a year-end blessing Benjamin Franklin: Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better [person]. For…December 5, 2024Editor LettersThis Week's Homeless Writing Workshop PromptsWe don’t actually call it “homeless writing workshop” and no one has to reveal their housing status or self-label to participate. In fact, part of the beauty of this weekly group is that…September 12, 2024Editor LettersWriting WorkshopEvery week for the last five months I've been leading a writing group at the local public library. It was first advertised with posters in the library: “Stories from the…March 30, 2024Editor LettersSpeak Up on NPRGood Morning! I'm excited to share that South Carolina Public Radio, a local NPR affiliate, broadcast a story yesterday about a Speak Up writing workshop we facilitated earlier this…May 31, 2023Editor LettersAll About Pursuit PacksBut if you only have 20 seconds, here's the short version: For two years we've been promoting and distributing "job in a box" outreach kits called Pursuit Packs.…April 25, 2023Editor LettersLetters to Speak UpWe get mail from people facing homelessness. Letters come from folks who are incarcerated. They also send emails, leave voicemails, and drop notes on Facebook. Those dispatches—however they…September 3, 2022Editor LettersThis is RuthRuth joined Speak Up in 2012. Over the years, she’s sold thousands of magazines (she says “it feels like millions”), impacted hundreds of readers, made many dozens of friends, and spread…August 18, 2022Editor LettersWriting Guidelines: Street InterviewsNovember 30, 2021Editor LettersNot a bad person. Just invisible.Meet Amber. She is 31 and, like the sign reads, she is not a bad person. I saw her every night that I was in the French Quarter. She doesn't ask for help. She will talk when engaged…November 12, 2021Editor LettersSometimes They Just EndMike first showed up at Speak Up’s Charlotte office with two friends. They’d been living together in an abandoned house for a couple months. His friends were sharp and mostly…September 16, 2021Editor LettersThree Ways to ImpactThis update gives three ways to help give a voice to voiceless and opportunity for those in need. “Pursuit Packs” are simple kits to help people facing homelessness or poverty join Speak Up…August 31, 2021Editor LettersTrue BelieverBy the time Doug met Speak Up, he had faced—and overcome—years of homelessness and drugs. His story was one of crippling darkness and humiliating rock bottom followed by dramatic redemption…March 17, 2021Editor LettersGetting StartedA few months ago we set out to create Pursuit Packs—portable starter kits that would allow anyone anywhere to begin earning income by selling magazine and all-access digital subscriptions.…January 28, 2021Editor LettersIn desperate need of loveI’ve had hundreds of personal encounters with people who are facing homelessness. Nearly every person who approaches us at Speak Up and reaches out to participate in the writing and…March 2017Editor LettersMy introduction to the world of homeless support services came in early…2010 when I volunteered to help with that year’s Vulner ability Index Survey—a counting of people living on the streets. I was assigned to assist on one of the “camp teams.” We went to…July 2016Editor LettersGlimpses and SnapshotsSyrian refugees, street gangs in Chicago, the ex-Finance Minister of Greece…this issue is a bit different. Speak Up is a member of the International Network of Street Newspapers (INSP), a…2016Editor LettersSecond ChancesA second chance came abruptly for Doug and Abby. They came into Charlotte a couple weeks ago, penniless and afraid. “I’ve never been homeless before,” she said. They slept on newspapers in…February 2016Editor LettersClose Encounters (Three Kinds)As founder of Speak Up, I’ve had hundreds of personal encounters with people who have been on the streets. Nearly every person who approaches us and reaches out to participate in the…December 2015Editor LettersSpeak Up Is…Speak Up is an opportunity for people on the streets to transform their lives. It is a chance to work and earn money instead of begging for it. It is an invitation to replace a mindset of…October 2015Editor LettersI Will ThriveI’ve been re-reading “Toxic Charity” by Bob Lupton. If you are reading Speak Up but haven’t read his book, get it now! He draws on four decades of experience as a worker among impoverished…2015Editor LettersFor nearly three months at the weekly vendor meetings in Charlotte we…have been reading through Og Mandino’s classic sales book, “The Greatest Salesman in the World.” Published in 1968, it sold millions of copies and continues to win devotees today. The book…2015Editor LettersSpeak Up Vendors Bring Inspiration One Magazine at a TimeDear Friends, There’s a good chance that you bought this magazine from a Speak Up vendor. The vendor who sold it to you is either homeless, vulnerably housed, or recently homeless. Right…2014Editor LettersI’m immensely impressed with and proud of this magazine you are holding.…It represents hundreds of hours of planning, learning, photographing, recalibrating, interviewing, collaborating, editing and design. It wasn’t created by professionals or even by the…2014Editor LettersA Pivot for Speak UpThe publication of this little booklet in your hand is the most significant thing we’ve done since launching the first issue of the magazine over two years ago. You may have read Speak Up…2014Editor LettersINSP-iring ChangeSpeak Up’s co-founder Lana Shaw spent last week in Glasgow, Scotland, at the 20th Annual Meeting of the International Network of Street Papers (INSP). There are over 100 street papers and…2014Editor LettersIntersections, Relationships, TransformationsThis edition of Speak Up Zine is making my hair stand up. When Speak Up began three years ago, it was influenced by dozens of other street papers and magazines around the world—like them…2011Editor LettersVoices. As I survey the completed draft of this issue you’re about to…read, it’s hard to pick a highlight because there are so many diverse voices within. Like previous issues, this magazine captures the stories, struggles and hope of a variety of…