As digital communication begins to overwhelm many forms of personal interaction, certain young people around the world are feeling a growing nostalgia for the tactile and immediately human art of letter writing. Bloggers Youngna Park and Corie Trancho-Robie have realized that technology can facilitate rather than dismantle unwired communication. They’ve created an online network of pen pals called the Modern Letter Project. After submitting a name and address, participants receive an email with the name and address of a letter-writing partner. After the first letter, a Modern Letter writer will typically author at least two epistles per month. One is a response, and the other a note to a new pen pal. The Project currently hosts over 200 people from the U.S., Canada, and the UK. Park and Trancho-Robie act as the den mother-supervisors of the pen pal ring. They match the participants, organize “Meet-Ups,” and check in with everyone—letting people know when a letter is in the pipeline and gauging reactions to the Project with survey questions. The Modern Letter website is an ode to bespoke creativity and the handcrafted element of letter-writing. The Project blog highlights beautifully made writing supplies and provides insights into the history and manufacturing processes that make letter-writing possible. Past blog posts have included stationary recommendations and an interview with stationery designer Breck Hostetter of Sesame Letter Press. The creators hope to make the site a self-moderated network, where people can find pen pals and create connections on their own.
—Sherrie Hui
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