When we started running creative writing workshops at the Onsite treatment centre six years ago, we didn't expect for that workshop to multiply across several other spots throughout the inner city.

And none of us expected to publish a book (a book!) from those weekly sessions. There, an evolving, talented crew of workshop facilitators guided participants to engage in the therapeutic, empowering potential of writing.


The writers crafted poems and short stories that knocked our socks off. We proudly published the work in Megaphone. In the process, the work of writing helped people heal.


Says Downtown Eastside poet Jim Ryder, "I was in really rough physical shape and mental shape after coming out of a coma. If I didn't get involved with Megaphone and started getting my work out there, I don't know where I would be."

Jim is one of 32 published authors in Voices of the Street, Megaphone's special literary anthology now celebrating its fifth anniversary.

The book—expanded, redesigned, and for the first time featuring original photography and biographies of authors and vendors—is a celebration of literary talent in a community that's often overlooked, misrepresented, or painted with just one brush.

"The Downtown Eastside is a major theme in my writing," Jim says. "I want to write so that someone who is unfamiliar with the Downtown Eastside will listen and understand what it is like. A lot of people in the community have never had anyone listen to their opinion. When someone gives you the opportunity to share your story down here, it's totally validating."

Today, Voices of the Street is fresh off the press and in the hands of Megaphone vendors working in Vancouver and Victoria. Vendors buy the book for $2.50, selling it for $5. They keep the profit.

Find a vendor to pick up Voices of the Street today. We're also working to raise $15,500 by May 31 to continue amplifying the voices of marginalized people through Megaphone's writing workshop program. Please donate to Megaphone to support the program, to support writers in the community, and to support vendors.

We hope you enjoy reading Voices of the Street as much as we enjoyed putting it together. It's a gorgeous collection of writing that means so much to so many people.

We're thrilled to share it with you.

Thank you for your support,

Jackie Wong
Editor, Megaphone