{"id":32,"date":"2019-04-19T17:31:41","date_gmt":"2019-04-19T17:31:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.dccww.org\/?page_id=32"},"modified":"2022-05-23T17:39:40","modified_gmt":"2022-05-23T21:39:40","slug":"about-us","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/dccww.org\/index.php\/about-us\/","title":{"rendered":"About Us"},"content":{"rendered":"
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About the D.C. Creative Writing Workshop<\/h2>
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The D.C. Creative Writing Workshop, based in the Congress Heights neighborhood of Southeast D.C., unites parents, teachers and students to create a literary renaissance in this often ignored part of the city.<\/p>\n

Since 1995, when Charles Hart Junior High became the first school in Washington to have an extra-curricular creative writing program, the Workshop’s writers-in-residence have introduced thousands of students to the joys of self-expression and the written word, opening for them a world of opportunity that exists outside of the historically neglected area in which they live.<\/p>\n

While continuing to serve Hart, now a middle school, the Workshop expanded its programs in 2004 to neighboring Ballou High School and Simon Elementary. Students from these schools and nearby charter schools have attended readings, plays and other literary events, won hundreds of writing awards, and enjoyed a wealth of new experiences not otherwise available to young people in Ward 8.<\/p>\n

WRITERS-IN-RESIDENCE<\/h3>\n

Nancy Schwalb, Executive Director and Writer-in-Residence<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nancy Schwalb is the founder and Executive Director of the D.C. Creative Writing Workshop. She has an MFA in creative writing from George Mason University and has taught creative writing at Hart Middle School since 1995. Her work has been published in the GW Review<\/em>, the Washington City Paper<\/em>, Vanity Fair<\/em>, Barragua<\/em>, Argus<\/em>, and the English Journal<\/em>. She has served as a teaching fellow for the KennedyCenter, is a six-time Larry Neal Award winner, won the 2002 Shayne Nonprofit Leadership Award, and was honored as a Local Hero by the Bank of America Foundation in 2011. Schwalb was a founding member of D.C. WritersCorps, and also a co-founder of the D.C. Youth Poetry Slam League. She has four years of experience doing poetry therapy with children, adolescents, and adults at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital. Additionally, she has completed specialist training in Substance Abuse Prevention (ADASA, Gaston Neal), Mental Health (Biloti Lawrence), Conflict Resolution (United Way), and Violence and Substance Abuse Reduction (Department of Justice).<\/p>\n

Patrick Washington, Writer-in-Residence<\/strong><\/p>\n

Patrick Washington (aka Black Picasso) is regarded by many as one of the country\u2019s premier performance poets. Patrick represents classic poetry for the hip-hop generation. Forged in Washington D.C.\u2019s now-legendary U Street Poetry Scene, Patrick is a master of genre fusion. A Def Poetry Slam Champion, Patrick became a semi-regular performer on HBO Presents Russell Simmons Def Poetry. He is half of the duo POEM-CEES, a musical group that has four full length albums and has been featured in dozens of compilations. He has conducted interactive workshops for The American Poetry Museum and has been a teaching artist for Words Beats & Life. Patrick has also led workshops for: Young Audiences of Maryland, America Scores, Youthbuild, and the Gateway Community Development Corporation.<\/p>\n

Ashley Stevenson, Writer-in-Residence<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ashley Stevenson has participated in the Workshop every year since she was a sixth\u00a0grader at Hart Middle School, through graduation at Ballou Senior High, and after graduation. Ashley won many writing awards and, as a longtime Workshop participant and leader, has a great deal of authority with the students.<\/p>\n

BOARD OF DIRECTORS<\/h3>\n

John Cotman, Chair
\nAbbey Chung
\nSusan Gerson
\nHelen Hooper
\nBernie Horn
\nBrian Gilmore
\nWilliam Newlin
\nNancy Schwalb<\/p>\n

ADVISORY BOARD<\/h3>\n

Toi Derricotte, Award-winning poet and professor at the University of Pittsburgh
\nRita Dove, Former Poet Laureate of the United States and professor at the University of Virginia
\nCornelius Eady, Finalist for the National Book Award in Poetry
\nNikki Giovanni, Grammy-nominated poet and professor at Virginia Tech University<\/p>\n

FORMER WRITERS-IN-RESIDENCE<\/h3>\n

Bomani Armah, best known for his single “Read a Book<\/a>”
\nDwayne Betts, author of A Question of Freedom: A Memoir of Learning, Survival, and Coming of Age in Prison<\/a> <\/em>and other books; in 2021, Dwayne won a prestigious MacArthur Foundation \u201cGenius\u201d Award
\nDerrick Weston Brown, author of Wisdom Teeth<\/a><\/em>
\nAbbey Chung, author of Alien Virus Love Disaster: Stories<\/em><\/a>
\nKerry Danner-McDonald, professor at Georgetown University
\nAndrew Evans, author of The Black Penguin<\/em><\/a> and numerous travel books
\nJamila Felton, poet and mixed media artist<\/a>
\nAndy Fogle, author of The Last Apprenticeship<\/em><\/a> and several other books of poetry
\nAlan King, author of Point Blank<\/em><\/a>
\nRuby McCann, known for both her poetry and plays<\/em><\/a>
\nMarla Melito, author of The Doppler Effect<\/em><\/a> and professor at Skidmore College
\nVenus Thrash, author of The Fateful Apple<\/em><\/a> and co-editor of Beltway Poetry Quarterly<\/p>\n

FORMER PLAY & MOVIE DIRECTORS<\/h3>\n

Kathleen Akerley
\nTom Mallan
\nKerri Rambow
\nScott Sedar
\nJohn Vreeke<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/p><\/div>

Founded in 2000, the Workshop has given over 8,500 students their first experience with the literary arts and taken hundreds to see their first play.<\/h4>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":117,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dccww.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/32"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dccww.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dccww.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dccww.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dccww.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/dccww.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/32\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":732,"href":"https:\/\/dccww.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/32\/revisions\/732"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dccww.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dccww.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}