Bronx WritersCorps is part of a national program created to improve literacy levels and to provide avenues of expression for residents of underserved and challenged neighborhoods.

Performance poets provide literary opportunities for youth up to age 18, introducing them to creative writing and spoken word techniques. The program is in its 14th year of sending professional writers to community-based organizations in the Bronx.

Organizations include: The Jackson Avenue Family Residence, The Willow Avenue Family Residence, The Nelson Avenue Family Residence, Bridges Juvenile Detention Center, Crossroads Juvenile Detention Center, Horizons Juvenile Detention Center, Owen Dolen Recreation Center, and Westchester Square Branch Library.

Each site produces a year-end poetry anthology and site participants make up a team in our Annual Youth Poetry Slam League to compete for the best performance presentation in poetry. Poetry slams have become a very popular activity in the world of “hip-hop” culture as well as for inner-city youth in general.

Many of the participating teens develop performance skills and become accomplished young writers. All participants benefit by learning public presentation techniques, improving public speaking, enhancing writing skills, and developing a higher sense of self-esteem. At the end of the season, four teams are selected to compete at the preliminary slam. The two winning teams from the preliminary compete in our Final Slam.

Our young writers (pictured above) also participated in a public reading at Bay Plaza’s Barnes and Noble in the Bronx celebrating the publication of Tell the World (Harper Collins, 2008), an anthology of works from WritersCorps participants in the Bronx, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.

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