"My hand is so complicated and my mind is a mystery," begins a poem by one of Houston's young writers as part of Writers in the Schools (WITS). I feel the same way sometimes. Most writers do.

WITS is on my mind these days for several reasons: The New York Times best-selling author Jeannette Walls is the featured speaker for the WITS Celebration of Story gala on Nov. 4. Walls' novel, The Glass Castle, is currently being made into a feature film.

The evening also honors Mayor Annise Parker for her ongoing advocacy in literary and arts education. Last year, Li Cunxin, Houston Ballet dancer turned author of Mao's Last Dancer, headlined. Phillip Lopate, WITS co-founder with Marvin Hoffman, is coming to town as part of the Cinema Arts Festival for the showing of Chekhov for Children, a film that chronicles Lopate's 1979 production of Uncle Vanya, performed by fifth and sixth graders.

Lastly, I ran into Jennifer Watson at FotoFest and promised to write a WITS story some day. This is that day.

WITS has been spreading its message of the pleasure of reading and writing to Houston children since its inception in 1983. From in-school and after school programs to special partnerships with museums, hospitals and community centers, there are numerous ways to experience WITS. The origins of the organization hark to the Teachers & Writers Collaborative and today they are part of The WITS Alliance, a professional network of school-based literary arts programs.

WITS was named the No. 1 literary organization in Texas by the Texas Commission for the Arts and can boast 10 years of data demonstrating that WITS students outperform other students. I'm impressed.

For Robin Reagler, WITS Executive Director, the connection between children and the written word is a natural. "There's a certain chemistry between children and writers," Reagler says with a knowing grin. "We both love stories."

Some 75 writers, (poets, novelists and playwrights), enlist their special talents to excite children on every aspect of the writing process, from idea to a published piece of writing.

"We are a tight knit group," Reagler says. "There's a lot of camaraderie between the writers." There's also a long-term connection to UH's Creative Writing Program as many WITS writers are also current or former students.

It's been over a decade since I passed WITS writers in the halls of HISD while I was a teaching artist at the Texas Institute for Arts and Education. I always wondered what they did with the kids. Visiting with novelist and veteran WITS teacher Melanie Malinowski, I finally found out.

Malinowsky received her Ph. D. at UH's Creative Writing Program and has been working with WITS for the last decade. I caught up with her at Texas Children's Hospital Renal Dialysis unit where she works with children one-on-one while they are tethered to a dialysis machine for three hours at a time.

Malinowski begins by reading a Charles Simic's poem called "Late September" with such expression that even her young scribe comments on the animated quality of her reading. Simic's imagistic poem serves as a prompt to get the writing juices flowing. And flow they do, in a space of about 10 minutes,

Malinowski, the poem whisperer, coaxes a substantial piece of writing from her student. She moves on to her next writer, managing to get his attention away from the TV for a brief period. It's evident that she loves what she does, creating a safe atmosphere where children feel free to express their thoughts.

Kent Shaw, a fifth-year WITS teacher, is finishing up his Ph.D. at UH. He sees a strong tie between his experience as a WITS teacher and his own writing.

"Working with the kids gets me thinking about something essential in what makes a poem a poem," Shaw says. "I have to stay in touch with what makes writing exciting."

Shaw finds it's important to bring in literature that he really likes. If he's interested, the children pick up on that. Shaw has used such favorite pieces as a vivid chapter from Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities to the Carol Muske-Dukes poems, "The invention of Cuisine."

"We ended up writing about the invention of excitement," he says. For Shaw, WITS has given him a great part-time job and a fresh perspective on what it means to be a writer.

I can tell from visiting with Malinowski and Shaw that it takes a special kind of writer to succeed in this setting. Word wonks need apply. Tortured types, not so much. WITS writers know how to spark the pen to page. WITS Assistant Director Bao-Long Chu is in charge of transforming writers into teachers.

"We look for passionate, creative writers who can connect with kids. It's an ability to understand where the child is living in his or her skin," says Chu. "After 13 years, it's an instinct to tell whether or not someone will be comfortable in the classroom."

WITS writers visit a classroom once a week for 26 consecutive weeks. "They really get to know the children," Chu says. At the end of the year each class will have a published collection of their writings.

Chu places professional development for teachers as a high priority.

"WITS has found that classroom teachers often say that working with a professional writer changes their teaching," he says. "We find that when teachers and writers work together, they are able to enliven writing, enhance their schools’ literary culture, and expand students’ literary lives."

This year alone, some 20,000 children will have a chance to express themselves because a WITS writer is in the room. It warms my language-loving heart that another generation of writers is growing right here in Houston. Writing is altogether a different process than thinking and talking. It's a form of self-witnessing, making your mark and getting your story out into the world. What better skill to give a child.

WITS young writers read from their work: