Elder Voices Project
About the Elder Voices Project
The Elder Voices Project pushes back against stereotypes of aging through poems and short prose written by elders in our communities.
As the Aging Well Whatcom Blueprint reminds us:
[We have] an incomplete and often negatively biased vision of aging. This works against aging well and makes it harder for the community to benefit from the contributions of our elders. Shifting the culture around how we view aging and older adults is foundational to building a community for aging well.
"Older adults" are not a homogeneous group. Older adults in our community have a broad range of age, health status, family structure, geographic location, culture, ethnicity and other aspects of identity.
Aging Well Whatcom Blueprint
Open Call for Submissions
The call for submissions to the second anthology is open from
December 1, 2025 -
March 31, 2026
The first anthology, Elder Voices: Wistful, Wondering, Wise was published in March 2025 and captured the voices of 69 elders living in Whatcom County exploring aging in all its complexity and nuance. This project was funded by the Chuckanut Health Foundation.
A second anthology of Elder Voices, sponsored by the Palliative Care Institute, will be published in Fall 2026. This volume will feature poems, short essays and fiction from writers across Washington State.
The call for submissions to the second anthology is open from December 1, 2025 through March 31, 2026.