Eleven Years of Anthologies
The PATHfinder Club (formerly known as POPS the Club) has published a collection of poetry, stories, artwork, and photography by club members each year since 2013. These anthologies are healing for families, relished by students from elementary school through college, used in prisons and detention centers as inspiration, and praised by librarians, educators, and literary journals. In 2023, The Pathfinder Network assumed operation of POPS the Club, carrying on their publishing legacy through the expansion of The PATHfinder Club.
Our anthologies are published by Out of the Woods Press, established to dismantle barriers and to challenge the notion that some lives matter more than others. Out of the Woods Press publishes stories, poetry, and artwork created by people whose lives have been altered by incarceration. These books are designed to educate, enlighten, and open readers’ hearts and minds.
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The creators represented in A Secret Chord: Poetry, Stories & Art are a testament to the power of transforming pain into poetry, silence into song, sorrow into art, and isolation into community. These teens write searingly of this historical moment, some anonymously and some in their own names.
As Leticia Longoria-Navarro, Executive Director of The Pathfinder Network, reminds us—expression is power, and even the softest voice, uttering truth, can shake the world. These young people “are not simply telling stories; [they] are rewriting what is possible.”
This special anthology is now available to pre-order! A Secret Chord: Poetry, Stories & Art will be released on May 19, 2026.
The young artists of The PATHfinder and POPS Clubs whose poetry, stories, and art are represented in Home and Away let readers in on their vulnerability and longing, their tenderness and understanding. They write of dreams of bright futures and of challenging pasts. With each piece, we are invited to dive more deeply into their truths.
And in this powerful collection we learn that when youth feel safe, seen, nourished, and respected, they can fully express themselves. These creators’ lives have been impacted by carceral systems, and because their clubs offer spaces where they are seen, heard, and respected, they have breathed extraordinary life and light into their creations.
Published in April 2025, this special anthology is available now to purchase online!
“Divided into 12 thematic chapters, the work’s varied contents—from photographs to acrostic poems—showcase the nearly 100 different creators’ emotional and intimate deep dives into their motivations, hopes, and goals. A common theme running through their work is the experience of being affected by the U.S. carceral system; all the contributors participated in clubs run by a nonprofit dedicated to supporting teens whose lives have been touched by “incarceration, detention, and deportation.” . . . It’s gratifying to see multiple pieces by the same creators appear, highlighting their introspection and providing a roundness to their contributions that would not be present if readers had only one opportunity to interact with their works. The poetry of Genalyn Guerrero, from Venice High School in Los Angeles, is particularly strong and threads throughout the text in a way that allows readers to feel they are following the writer’s journey.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Home and Away: Stories, Poetry and Art is a reminder to all of its readers that high school students can produce works as evocative and powerful as many an adult. It features all kinds of art, from photographs to drawing, that are as expressive and hard-hitting as the prose and poetry that accompany them. What results is an extraordinary synthesis of art and raw life experience that will appeal to a wide audience.
The first thing to note about Home and Away is its diversity. What at first seems a structural diversity of topics and artistic examinations expands to represent a multiplicity of emotions and experiences. The central feature of the The PATHfinder and POPS Clubs is to cultivate a safe, creative space where students can explore their individuality and creativity without judgment or condemnation. Home and Away is proof positive of their success in achieving this mandate.”
—D. Donovan, Midwest Book Review
Advice to 9th Graders: Stories, Poetry, Art & Other Wisdom
Early in this volume of poetry, essays, stories, and wisdom created by the youth of The PATHfinder Club and POPS the Club and edited by Amy Friedman, Tamira Shany advises readers that we have just two options: “Take pride and fail or endure and succeed.”
As you dive into Advice for 9th Graders (designed to guide 9th graders as they navigate high school but equally inspiring for the rest of us), we begin to understand that these young people are steering us toward endurance. As Rachael Galper’s photograph, Biased Comparisons, so beautifully illustrates, the best course is to find a way to express yourself without fear of judgment.
The Stories, The Experiences, The Wisdom
Impacts of Incarceration Video Library
This free resource is designed to educate, empower, and create meaningful change by sharing the stories, experiences, wisdom and resilience of people impacted by incarceration. The Pathfinder Network is proud to present Impacts of Incarceration in collaboration with filmmaker Andy Langdon of Good Pictures and producer and POPS the Club founder Amy Friedman.
With this video library, 19 interviewees offer their wisdom and guidance, with the goal of eliminating the shame and stigma connected to mass incarceration.
The library features interviews covering 10 key topics. Interviewees include individuals who grew up with an incarcerated loved one, those who have been incarcerated, and those working with individuals and families impacted by incarceration. It is available, free of charge, to anyone seeking support, connection, guidance, and wisdom.
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