Still Waters Collective

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Still Waters Collective Connecting the breaths, steps, gasps, slips, turns, flutters, stomps, wails, offerings, claims, curi

Still Waters Collective is a youth serving organization that combines the art of spoken word with the craft of writing to build confidences and capabilities and communities.

10/17/2026

Of all the outreach I've done in my life+work, being welcomed to build community behind prison walls has been the MOST satisfying. Yes, yes, yes, I love the chi'ren and the grown up scribblers and the creatives and the leaders and all of the partnerships I've cultivated over the years .... but creating sanctuary for souls condemned to cages has been both humbling and affirming. I bring my tools and my spirit; they bring their earnest ideas and vulnerability. Together, we make r o o m for all the words. When they get out, we keep trading those glimmering words.


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In this episode you hear from some people who came to a special poetry workshop with Dasha. These guys met Dasha when they were inside, but she has stayed in touch with them and invited them to hang out and create some new works. We are excited to share their poems with you!

Jeffery Bodine is a self proclaimed everyday spoken word poetry writer. He credits Dasha Kelly for blessing him with her raw spoken-word-talent, and for unfolding his three powerful souls filled with a treasure of love, joy, inspiration, happiness, history, and spoken words. In this clip you will first hear a poem written by Jeffery Bodine during a group poetry workshop led by Dasha Kelly. It is followed by Bodine's explanation of his thinking, and inspiration behind the message of his poem "I Know Why Rain Falls Upon the Ground".

Audio: Human Powered Podcast: Humanity Unlocked
Listen to the full episode --which includes a writing exercise-- by clicking the link in the bio

10/15/2026

An essential part of the book tour for the award-winning anthology, A Line Meant, was creatively including poets who wrote from a cell. At each stop of our 10-city tour, local poets read their published works AND a poem from an incarcerated peer. I witnessed each room melt into a shared a moment of heart-seizing humanity every. single. time.

With a lot of determination and a bit of ingenuity, we were able to include Heru on our 10-city book tour! We look forward to having him on tour IN PERSON for the next anthology volume as he'll be released soon, after doing 20 years!

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The award-winning A Line Meant Anthology, published through Jaded Ibis Press, features 60 poets from nearly two dozen cities across the state and a set of found poems written by Dasha Kelly, Wisconsin Poet Laureate Emerita and anthology editor. In this poetry anthology, Kelly has solicited cosmopolitan voices across the state, from established poets to farmers, retirees, inmates, and more. Starting with single lines of existing poetry, participants not only crafted their own unique works, but also shared their poems and insights as a form of connective tissue with one another. Like a tree from many roots, A Line Meant threads together both the professional and hobbyist poet, growing new, powerful art from the margins between.

10/13/2026

Over the years, my "students" have been coeds, munchkins, executives, artists and inmates. Regardless of where we connect, it's always a joy to witness their flourishing, out here in the world. I'm thankful that they're usually giddy to see me out in the world, too.


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Andron Lane’s personal mission is simple - “to give back and nurture the community he grew up in and loves.” An innovator, as well as a fitness and mindfulness practitioner, Lane also launched his own business which focuses on individual goal setting, empowerment, and health lifestyle choices. In this clip you will first hear a poem written by Lane during a group poetry workshop led by Dasha Kelly. It is followed by Lane's explanation of his thinking, and inspiration behind the message of his poem "I Know Why Tears Evaporate."

Audio: Human Powered Podcast: Humanity Unlocked
Listen to the full episode --which includes a writing exercise-- by clicking the link in the bio

10/11/2026

From concept to community, the A Line Meant initiative has become its own force multiplier! Community Project to Award-Winning Publication to a Paid Fellowship Program for formerly incarcerated creatives and organizers
... and it all started with a few lines of poetry.

Please consider and/or share with possible candidates for the second cohort of the ALM Fellowship. Applications are due October 16!

Apply at StillWatersCollective.com/ALineMeant

THANK you What's Brewing for helping us with the launch!!

10/10/2026

For 20 years I have volunteered as a creative writing instructor in prisons. I have been entrusted to shape voices, sharpen skills and help build community. Over the years, my students became collaborators, co-producing year-round programming and signature performances inside the facilities. When I became Poet Laureate for the State of Wisconsin, I built a statewide poetry exchange to center the participation and visibility of poets residing in carceral facilities. The initiative attracted hundreds of submissions from across the state, including works from inmates, professors, other laureates, farmers, students, engineers and many lives in between. The resulting anthology, A Line Meant published by Jaded Ibis Press, has already earned two national publishing awards.

Now, the A Line Meant (R) project offers paid professional development and leadership training to formerly incarcerated organizers and creatives.

With seed funding from the Ruth Arts Foundation, my nonprofit -Still Waters Collective- has successfully piloted a paid fellowship exclusively for formerly incarcerated creatives organizers. Over the course of eight months, we provide training, coaching and a platform to polish and showcase their skills as small group facilitators, project managers and community builders. Fellows host small group creative sessions at local venues and learn to replicate the publishing project locally. Local participants from their small groups (also systems-impacted due to incarceration, foster care, military combat, contract farming, etc.) will also have their works considered for the second edition of the national anthology.

DM to learn more or visit StillWatersCollective/ALineMeant

10/09/2026

...a phenomenon, an aura...

who ME??



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In this clip, you will hear Fontaine Baker recite a poem from a phone inside a Wisconsin correctional facility. Since he was a child, Fontaine has chosen writing and performance music as a way to escape the challenges of his childhood. At the age of twenty-four he was sentenced to 40 years in the Wisconsin prison system. He was one of the first students of Prose & Cons, a poetry workshop series initially led by Dasha Kelly in Racine Correctional Facility, and is now a leader with the writing collective. He has earned a Bachelor of Arts in Biblical Studies, a minor in psychology, a Doctorate in Divine Metaphysics, and is an ordained minister. He is involved with organizations inside and outside of prison focused on conflict resolution, social justice, ending gun violence, and supporting the families of people who are incarcerated and he is a socially-impacted coordinator for “A Line Meant,” a state-wide poetry project.

Audio: Human Powered Podcast: Humanity Unlocked
Listen to the full episode --which includes a writing exercise--> https://wisconsinhumanities.org/podcast/death-defying-feats/

10/08/2026

From concept to community, the A Line Meant initiative has become its own force multiplier! Community Project to Award-Winning Publication to Paid Fellowship Programs....
... and it all started with a few lines of poetry.

THANK you What's Brewing for helping us launch the book. We're accepting poems for VOLUME TWO! Visit StillWatersCollective.com/ALineMeant

10/07/2026

Sometimes, my Fellas reach out once they're released to let me know they're out ... and that they're still writing. Sometimes, they reach out because they want --need-- to write, to find community, but don't know where to start. Every time, I congratulate and welcome them home, try to connect them with creative safe space.

When Josh came home, he wasted no time getting on my phone. He's published in the A Line Meant anthology, has lead workshops in his new town, and curates an online community for poets and muscians on Tik Tok and Discord called "J Shine". Home hasn't been easy, but he's built a network of poets to help make things sweeter.


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Joshua Wells is a poet and spoken word artist, a guitarist, a singer, and a songwriter, and self-proclaimed "incurable coffee snob with eclectic music obsessions and a passion for great art of all kinds." While he was in the Wisconsin prison system, he was part of Prose & Cons, a writing group led by Dasha Kelly. Prose & Cons uses both written and spoken verse to restore voice to people who have been rendered voiceless.

Wells was asked to help lead the group and says about the experience: "I learned and gleaned far more from these amazing individuals than I could ever have given them. Their voices still echo throughout my own writing." Since he has been released from prison, Josh has continued to carry the mission of Prose & Cons as he works to expand the program into communities in Wisconsin and beyond. He says he is driven by a belief that the power of poetry and narrative shared openly and honestly can reach hearts, change minds, and restore community.

Audio: Human Powered Podcast: Humanity Unlocked
Listen to the full episode here --> https://wisconsinhumanities.org/podcast/death-defying-feats/

10/07/2026

of COURSE you could block off time to write that short story collection... but you see how you haven't...?

YET!

and don't hang your head, you're not the only one with a manuscript to START *looks in mirror* Let's get at these pages, together.

Every November Monday, recognizing National Novel Writing Month, we write.

The virtual series is free to my Quill community, only $25 for the month for guests.

RSVP at DashaKelly.com

10/06/2026

CONGRATULATIONS to our 2026 ALM Fellows: Tahira Malik, Sean Duerr and Andron Lane. They committed to eight months of coaching, coordinating and creating. They led free, community-based writing circles. (re)Verb is their 2026 community chapbook.

Here, we celebrated with their Capstone presentations and a book signing for all of the community participants --- now a community of authors!

Accepting applications for Cohort 2 through October 16. Statewide. Apply at bit.ly/ApplyALM

Address

300 W Walnut Street Ste 1
Milwaukee, WI
53212

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

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