Write Out Loud offers nine core programs throughout San Diego County: 1)Story Concerts – actors read literature aloud in a variety of venues; 2) Stories for Seniors – short story presentations in independent and assisted living facilities and senior centers; 3) Kamishibai – introduces elementary students to a Japanese teaching tradition that combines storytelling with pictures and written words; 4) Read Imagine Create – challenges students in grades 6-12 to read a particular book, respond to the book’s themes, and create a personal expression (e.g. story, poem, visual art, film); 5) Poetry Out Loud – Regional coordinator for national poetry recitation competition for High School students; 6) Let Your Voice Be Heard – K-12 poetry initiative providing poetry writing workshops and public displays of student poems; 7)Ripples From Walden Pond – a one-man play about Henry David Thoreau; 8) PoeFest – a series of performances of literature of the macabre; 9) World Kamishibai Forum – Monthly on-line workshops for educators and Kamishibai (Japanese storytelling form) artists from across the globe.