Writerscorps
Encyclopedia
WritersCorps is an American artists-in-service organization that hires professional writers to teach creative writing
to youth. It grew from a national service
model in the WPA tradition and is now an alliance of separately-run organizations in three cities.
and AmeriCorps
with the goal of furthering a group of artists to teach creative writing at public schools and social service
organizations in order to help underserved youth improve their literacy and communication skills and to offer creative expression as an alternative to violence, alcohol and drug abuse
. They selected San Francisco, Washington, D.C. and Bronx, N.Y. as the three initial sites.
In 1997, WritersCorps transitioned from being a federally funded program to an independent alliance that is supported by a collaboration of public and private partners. DC WritersCorps is a nonprofit organization
while San Francisco and the Bronx WritersCorps are projects of the San Francisco Arts Commission
and Bronx Council for the Arts, respectively.
The organizations lead writing workshops, produce youth events, and create books of youth work
, including two national anthologies published by HarperCollins
: Paint Me Like I Am and Tell the World.
and San Francisco Public Library
.
WritersCorps classes exercise the imagination and allow young people to expand their possibilities, improve their critical thinking and become more self-aware. The organization publishes anthologies of youth writing, produces writing contests and puts on performances at community venues.
The organization serves over 600 young people a year, ages 6-22, who are low-income, incarcerated, immigrant, homeless and educationally disadvantaged. WritersCorps conducts workshops in public schools, community centers, detention facilities, after-school programs and in low-income housing.
As of the 2010-2011 school year, San Francisco has six teaching artists who offer creative writing workshops to 600 students at ten sites, including public schools, libraries, and the juvenile justice system.
at a White House ceremony.
Chosen from a pool of more than 400 nominations and 50 finalists, WritersCorps was one of 15 after-school and out-of-school programs across the country to receive the 2010 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award (formerly, the Coming Up Taller Award), the highest honor such programs can receive in the United States. The awards are administered annually by the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities.
The award honors WritersCorps for its effectiveness in developing creativity and fostering academic success by engaging young people in the arts and humanities.
published "Days I Moved Through Ordinary Sounds: the Teachers of WritersCorps in Poetry and Prose," an anthology of poetry, fiction, memoir and playwriting by fifty teaching artists in the National WritersCorps, each of whom led writing workshops in San Francisco, Washington D.C., or the Bronx with youth in public schools, housing projects and detention facilities.
In 2010, San Francisco WritersCorps independently published its first travel and poetry anthology, "City of Stairways: A Poet's Field Guide to San Francisco," written by students in the Apprentice Program, an after-school program for advanced young writers. Part travel guide and part literary anthology, the book is 7x7 inches, to reflect the dimensions of San Francisco (7x7 miles). "City of Stairways" includes original poetry, photography, artwork, maps, and tips on neighborhoods and sites in San Francisco. The book was lauded by former mayor Gavin Newsom
as "an engaging approach to seven San Francisco neighborhoods seen through the eyes of the newest generation of San Francisco poets."
Writers who have taught in WritersCorps include Stephen Beachy
, Ishle Park, Jeffrey McDaniel
, giovanni singleton, and Chad Sweeney
.
Creative writing
Creative writing is considered to be any writing, fiction, poetry, or non-fiction, that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, and technical forms of literature. Works which fall into this category include novels, epics, short stories, and poems...
to youth. It grew from a national service
National service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
model in the WPA tradition and is now an alliance of separately-run organizations in three cities.
History
WritersCorps was born out of discussions between the National Endowment for the ArtsNational Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
and AmeriCorps
AmeriCorps
AmeriCorps is a U.S. federal government program that was created under President Bill Clinton by the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993 and later expanded by 50 percent under President George W. Bush...
with the goal of furthering a group of artists to teach creative writing at public schools and social service
Social work
Social Work is a professional and academic discipline that seeks to improve the quality of life and wellbeing of an individual, group, or community by intervening through research, policy, community organizing, direct practice, and teaching on behalf of those afflicted with poverty or any real or...
organizations in order to help underserved youth improve their literacy and communication skills and to offer creative expression as an alternative to violence, alcohol and drug abuse
Drug abuse
Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, refers to a maladaptive pattern of use of a substance that is not considered dependent. The term "drug abuse" does not exclude dependency, but is otherwise used in a similar manner in nonmedical contexts...
. They selected San Francisco, Washington, D.C. and Bronx, N.Y. as the three initial sites.
In 1997, WritersCorps transitioned from being a federally funded program to an independent alliance that is supported by a collaboration of public and private partners. DC WritersCorps is a nonprofit organization
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
while San Francisco and the Bronx WritersCorps are projects of the San Francisco Arts Commission
San Francisco Arts Commission
The San Francisco Arts Commission is the official San Francisco County, USA arts council.The San Francisco Arts Commission It was established in 1932 and runs under the California state arts council, the California Arts Council . The commission is appointed by the major...
and Bronx Council for the Arts, respectively.
The organizations lead writing workshops, produce youth events, and create books of youth work
Youth work
In the United Kingdom youth work is the process of creating an environment where young people can engage in informal educational activities. Different varieties of youth work include centre-based work, detached work, school-based work and religion based work....
, including two national anthologies published by HarperCollins
HarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
: Paint Me Like I Am and Tell the World.
San Francisco WritersCorps
Since its inception in 1994, San Francisco WritersCorps has helped over 16,000 young people from neighborhoods throughout San Francisco improve their literacy and increase their desire to learn. WritersCorps is a joint project of the San Francisco Arts CommissionSan Francisco Arts Commission
The San Francisco Arts Commission is the official San Francisco County, USA arts council.The San Francisco Arts Commission It was established in 1932 and runs under the California state arts council, the California Arts Council . The commission is appointed by the major...
and San Francisco Public Library
San Francisco Public Library
The San Francisco Public Library is a public library system serving the city of San Francisco. Its main library is located in San Francisco's Civic Center, at 100 Larkin Street at Grove. The first public library of San Francisco officially opened in 1879, just 30 years after the California Gold...
.
Mission
WritersCorps hires experienced teachers who are published poets, fiction writers, playwrights and performers. These writers-in-service work long-term and in-depth in communities to build lasting relationships and to provide positive role models for young people. In addition to teaching creative writing, the WritersCorps teaching artists work together as a team to produce special projects and support each other as resources in the field of community arts.WritersCorps classes exercise the imagination and allow young people to expand their possibilities, improve their critical thinking and become more self-aware. The organization publishes anthologies of youth writing, produces writing contests and puts on performances at community venues.
The organization serves over 600 young people a year, ages 6-22, who are low-income, incarcerated, immigrant, homeless and educationally disadvantaged. WritersCorps conducts workshops in public schools, community centers, detention facilities, after-school programs and in low-income housing.
As of the 2010-2011 school year, San Francisco has six teaching artists who offer creative writing workshops to 600 students at ten sites, including public schools, libraries, and the juvenile justice system.
National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award
In October 2011, San Francisco WritersCorps was recognized with a prestigious national award by First Lady Michelle ObamaMichelle Obama
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama is the wife of the 44th and incumbent President of the United States, Barack Obama, and is the first African-American First Lady of the United States...
at a White House ceremony.
Chosen from a pool of more than 400 nominations and 50 finalists, WritersCorps was one of 15 after-school and out-of-school programs across the country to receive the 2010 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award (formerly, the Coming Up Taller Award), the highest honor such programs can receive in the United States. The awards are administered annually by the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities.
The award honors WritersCorps for its effectiveness in developing creativity and fostering academic success by engaging young people in the arts and humanities.
Books and Teaching Artists
In 2009, City LightsCity Lights Bookstore
City Lights is an independent bookstore-publisher combination that specializes in world literature, the arts, and progressive politics. It also houses the nonprofit City Lights Foundation, which publishes selected titles related to San Francisco culture. It was founded in 1953 by poet Lawrence...
published "Days I Moved Through Ordinary Sounds: the Teachers of WritersCorps in Poetry and Prose," an anthology of poetry, fiction, memoir and playwriting by fifty teaching artists in the National WritersCorps, each of whom led writing workshops in San Francisco, Washington D.C., or the Bronx with youth in public schools, housing projects and detention facilities.
In 2010, San Francisco WritersCorps independently published its first travel and poetry anthology, "City of Stairways: A Poet's Field Guide to San Francisco," written by students in the Apprentice Program, an after-school program for advanced young writers. Part travel guide and part literary anthology, the book is 7x7 inches, to reflect the dimensions of San Francisco (7x7 miles). "City of Stairways" includes original poetry, photography, artwork, maps, and tips on neighborhoods and sites in San Francisco. The book was lauded by former mayor Gavin Newsom
Gavin Newsom
Gavin Christopher Newsom is an American politician who is the 49th and current Lieutenant Governor of California. Previously, he was the 42nd Mayor of San Francisco, and was elected in 2003 to succeed Willie Brown, becoming San Francisco's youngest mayor in 100 years. Newsom was re-elected in 2007...
as "an engaging approach to seven San Francisco neighborhoods seen through the eyes of the newest generation of San Francisco poets."
Writers who have taught in WritersCorps include Stephen Beachy
Stephen Beachy
Stephen Beachy is a writer. He was born in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1965. His first novel, The Whistling Song, was published by W. W. Norton with cover illustrations by Curt Kirkwood in 1991 and his second, Distortion, by Harrington Park Press, in 2000 and was reprinted in December 2010 by Rebel...
, Ishle Park, Jeffrey McDaniel
Jeffrey McDaniel
Jeffrey McDaniel is an American poet. He has published four books of poetry, most recently 'The Endarkenment' . He is the recipient of a creative writing fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts...
, giovanni singleton, and Chad Sweeney
Chad Sweeney
-Life:Chad Sweeney is the author of three books of poetry, Parable of Hide and Seek , Arranging the Blaze , and An Architecture ; and four chapbooks, most recently A Mirror to Shatter the Hammer...
.
External links
- San Francisco WritersCorps: http://www.writerscorps.org
- Bronx WritersCorps: http://bronxarts.org/bwc_writerscorps.asp