TThe Bronx Academy of Letters
339 Morris Ave., Bronx, NY 10451
Joan Sullivan, principal
info@bronxletters.org
         
         
         
         
 


Bronx Academy of Letters
WRITERS’ FORUM
2008-2009

The Writers’ Forum at the Bronx Academy of Letters is the synthesis of all the writing programs that make our school a unique model for literacy education in New York City and beyond. Our school publications encourage students to write and edit their own work; our writers in residence present students with the opportunity to learn from working writers; our partnerships with writing-focused organizations bring books to our school and offer students the chance to see how the written word propels the working world. The Writers’ Forum brings all of these elements together on a regular basis.

Every week, all of Bronx Letters convenes in the auditorium to hear from people who have structured their lives around the written word. Publishing houses connect us with diverse writers who visit the school and speak intimately to the students about how they arrived at their calling. Whether our students meet a prizewinning poet, an unsigned rapper, a magazine editor, or an advertising executive who’s turned to crafting science fiction, the common denominator is the power of the written word to communicate, to persuade, to move — and the dedication of those who work daily to master it.

Students interview guests for the school paper beforehand, read their work and prepare questions, and polish their own pieces, which they present at the assembly’s open-mic portion. Afterward, they follow up by writing thank-you letters and posting notes from the assembly on the Bronx Letters web site. The Writers’ Forum, in one single assembly, stands to have a lasting impact on every student in the school.

2008-2009 High School Writers Forums
Bronx Letters Auditorium 3 p.m



September 17, grades 9-11;
Abena Koomson
www.myspace.com/abenakoomson









October 8, grade 9;
Caitlin Meissner
www.caitlinmeissner.carbonmade.com/about/









October 22, grade 10
Fish Vargas
http://www.louderarts.com/poets/fish/









November 5, grade 11
Ama Nyamekye










November 19, grades 9-11
Aracelis Girmay
http://www.curbstone.org/authdetail.cfm?AuthID=167









December 3, grade 9
Taylor Mali
http://www.taylormali.com/









January 14, grade 10;

February 11, grade 9-11;

February 25, grade 11;

March 11, grade 9;

March 25, grade 10;

April 29, grade 11;

May 13, grade 9-11;

May 27 literary celebration evening


June 6, 2006: Willie Perdomo, poet

May 2, 2006: Rich Villar, poet

April 25, 2006: Oscar Bermeo, poet

April 4, 2006: Sam Vargas, poet

March 28, 2006: Rockelle Henderson, editor, Amistad Books

December 6, 2005: Elliot Wilson, editor and music journalist

November 29, 2005: Patricia Smith, poet

November 15, 2005: Martha Southgate, novelist

November 1, 2005: Jimmie Briggs, journalist

October 25, 2005: Santiago Taveras, novelist and educator

September 27, 2005: Dave King, novelist

September 20, 2005: A.J. Jacobs, nonfiction writer and editor

September 13, 2005: Danyel Smith, novelist, journalist, and editor

May 24, 2005: Flaco Navaja and Lemon, poets

April 12, 2005: Lori Carlson, poet, story writer, editor, and translator

March 29, 2005: Adrienne Miller, novelist and editor

March 8, 2005: Colin Channer, novelist

February 15, 2005: Lisa Schwarzbaum, film critic, Entertainment Weekly

February 8, 2005: Scratch DJ Academy

December 14, 2004: Richard Price, novelist

November 30, 2004: Dax-Devlon Ross, novelist and journalist

November 16, 2004: Felicia Luna Lemus, novelist

October 26, 2004: Rich Villar, poet

October 19, 2004: Bassey Ikpi, poet

October 5, 2004: Clay Chapman, novelist and story writer

September 29, 2004: Bob Holman, poet

June 2, 2004: Robert Lipsyte, novelist and journalist

May 25, 2004: Chinaka Hodge, poet

May 11, 2004: Nick Balaban, songwriter

May 4, 2004: Daniel Bergner, journalist

April 20, 2004: Kayo, poet

March 30, 2004: Jenny McPhee, novelist, and Amy Scheibe, editor

March 1, 2004: Adrian Nicole LeBlanc, journalist

February 24, 2004: Hal Sirowitz, poet

February 10, 2004: Susan Kuklin, journalist and photographer

January 13, 2004: Regie Cabico, poet

December 16, 2003: Bram Gunther, essayist

December 9, 2003: Matt Sharpe, novelist

December 2, 2003: Adam Mansbach, novelist and poet

November 18, 2003: Dzieci, performance troupe

November 7, 2003: Bill Bradley, former senator and NBA Hall-of-Famer

October 28, 2003: Felice Belle, poet

October 21, 2003: Robert Sullivan, essayist

September 30, 2003: Cheryl Boyce-Taylor, poet

September 24, 2003: Willie Perdomo, poet

September 16, 2003: K~swift and Frog Prince, spoken-word poets from Urban Word NYC