Wednesday, October 13, 2010
6:30 p.m.
Jefferson Market Library
425 6th Avenue
New York, NY

Free!

Featuring:
Tamiko Beyer
Nivea Castro
Sahar Muradi
Tema Regist
Courtney Young

Saturday, August 21st at 3 p.m.!

We are proud to announce the return of our popular Fort Greene Park Summer Literary Festival. Six weeks of outdoor creative writing workshops for young people (ages 7 to 17) will culminate in our 6th annual free outdoor reading. This literary festival will feature NYWC’s young writers from the workshops reading alongside six poets who have appeared at the Calabash International Literary Festival and in the anthology So Much Things to Say: Kwame Dawes, Gregory Pardlo, Willie Perdomo, Carl Hancock Rux, Patricia Smith, and Cheryl Boyce Taylor. This exciting event brings several generations of writers together to build on the rich literary traditions of the neighborhoods surrounding the beautiful Fort Greene Park.

The event will take place at the monument in Fort Greene Park.  

Mission Statement: Drawing upon the rich and diverse literary history of Fort Greene Park and its surrounding neighborhoods, The Fort Greene Park Summer Literary Festival provides a means for self-expression and creativity for area young people, and builds community through arts and literature.  The Lit Fest consists of a six-week series of free Saturday creative writing workshops for young people and an end-of-summer reading featuring literary icons reading alongside our young writers.  The Lit Fest honors the power of the written word to build inclusiveness and give voice to the thoughts and experiences of everyone, not just the privileged and powerful.

The Fort Greene Park Summer Literary Festival is presented by NY Writers Coalition, Akashic Books, GTHQ, and the Fort Greene Park Conservancy, with additional support from Greenlight Bookstore and The Walt Whitman Project.

Sponsors include Amazon.com, the National Endowment for the Arts, State Senator Velmanette Montgomery, City Council Member Letitia James, Brooklyn Community Foundation, Poets & Writers, Inc. through public funds from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, and the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation.

New York Writers Coalition: Summer Youth Program from Alex Santos on Vimeo.

New York Writers Coalition Summer Youth Program from Alex Santos on Vimeo.

New York Writers Coalition Summer Youth Program from The Fort Greene Local on Vimeo.

Read writing by NYWC’s young Lit Fest writers featured on The NY Times website!

More poems by our amazing young writers will be featured in the weeks to come.

8/24: Behind The Lines and From the Mouth of Babes: wrapups and video of the Lit Fest!

8/11: Dear Brooklyn by Anjelika Amog, Age 13.

8/10: Summer (read by the author on video!) by Aliah Gilkes-Richardson, Age 10.

8/9: My Super Power by Samori Covington, Age 10.

8/6: There Once Was A Boy Who Told A Lie by Aidan Amog, Age 10.

8/5: The Winter Hat by Victoria Sahadi, Age 9.

8/4: Video of some of our young writers reading freshly created work!

8/2: Dogs by Ixele Akinmowo-Simon, Age 8.

7/30: If I Was Able to Eat Lightning by Talaia Regist, Age 10.

7/28: Cold by Lyric Joseph, Age 12.

7/27:  One Night on Planet Nile by Sam Holdengraber, Age 8.

7/26:  My Spider, by Tayon Regist, Age 7.

7/23: Barbie vs. Ladybug, by Anwen Burns, Age 8.

If you are interested in becoming a NYWC volunteer creative writing workshop leader, download our volunteer application (nywcvolunteerapplicationfall2010 ms word format)  (nywcvolunteerapplicationfall2010 pdf format).  Some people report trouble downloading these, so you may also email aaron@nywriterscoalition.org to request an application via email.

Workshop leaders undergo 18  initial hours of training, followed by another 4 hours of training on their own. Our next training session will be Friday, November 5 from 7 to 9 Pm and Saturday and Sunday November 6 and 7 from 10 am to 6 PM each day.   The deadline to submit applications for the Fall training is September 1, and those chosen to be interviewed will be interviewed on September 20 and 22.  Those accepted to the training will be notified by October 1. Trainings take place at NYWC’s offices in Fort Greene Brooklyn.  Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, so the earlier you submit, the better.

Dig Deep is NY Writers Coalition’s online literary journal, which features writing from NYWC Workshops.

This issue includes fourteen pieces from eight workings, including The 14th Street Y, Bayview Correctional Institute,  Brooklyn Public Library Bedstuy Branch, Brooklyn Public Library Sunset Park Branch, CIDNY, The Creative Center, Imani House, and Prime Time workshops.

Click here to read it!