Arissa Viering | Goodday Mineral Wells | 10/29/2020 | Events | Art | The Wishing Well of Mineral Wells
Krista Allen has a passion for writing, Liberal Arts, and Humanities and remembers the days at her middle school in Irving, TX when she used to participate in her Spoken Word group. Spoken Word is a nonprofit organization dedicated to allowing youth to have a safe place to speak about their lives and transform their thoughts and emotions into written artwork. Participants can enter their works to be published and into competitions.
Krista, a former Spoken Word writer, has decided to start her very own Spoken Word group within Mineral Wells and is opening up the group to all teens within the community.
“Writing is an art form, but it’s not about who’s a better writer.”
Krista Allen
Krista believes the Spoken Word group will fulfill a strong need within the Mineral Wells community. “We don’t have YMCA, a skating rink, we don’t have a lot outside of bible study and sports.” Krista believes that the Spoken Word group will grant teens within the Mineral Wells area a safe space to vent, especially with all that has occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I have a younger sister who is fifteen years old. She tells me students are depressed, that they have questions of sexuality…There have been a lot of suicides within the last year. So, I will say, ‘okay, well write it down – you need to start writing it down.’ She found it helpful and she really wanted to do it for everyone else, too.”
Krista Allen
Krista states that the purpose of her group is to “help teens deal with feelings, build confidence, improve their public speaking abilities, and learn assertive communication skills.” With the rising presence of social media in the lives of all teens, Krista states that these skills are “becoming more and more minuscule.”
Krista began writing in her Freshman year of college and fell in love with her first piece, an eight page paper on Tim Burton as the last living expressionist. She holds a great amount of knowledge on all things writing, communications, poetry, and literature.
Currently, Krista is holding her Spoken Word nights at Norma’s Playhouse at 6PM on Thursday nights. She has plans to hold an open mic night at Sit n’ Sip books in the very near future after the group has had more time to create their written work. Snacks are available and the group is open to all teens in the Mineral Wells area. Most of all, Krista wants the teens to know that the group is completely open and is a safe space to vent:
“I’m not gonna tell you you cant write a cuss word or about abortion, your background, or your home life. You can talk about what you want in a constructive manner. I’m not gonna push my views on you either – I don’t like the color purple, but I’m not going to tell you the color purple is irrelevant.”
Those who wish to donate to the group may do so by contacting Krista directly. Currently, the group is in need of pens, pencils, notebooks, eating utensils, disposable cups, unopened drinks, and pre-packaged foods.
Anyone interested may contact Krista directly by texting her at 817-902-9157 8am – 5pm, M-F.
Former Co-Founder | June 2020-Nov 2020 | Graduate of Texas Christian University with a background in medical anthropology, psychology, and creative writing. Passionate about writing novels. Loved the Mineral Wells community and all that it had offered her and her family.
