FAQ

What does WritersCorps do?

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. We publish anthologies of youth writing, produce writing contests and put on performances at community venues. Through events and publications, WritersCorps represents youth in all their potential, power and vulnerability. We create forums for youth to be heard and provide a positive public awareness bringing adults and young people from all experiences together.

Who does WritersCorps serve?

We serve low-income, incarcerated, immigrant, homeless and educationally disadvantaged youth ages 6 to 22. WritersCorps conducts workshops in public schools, community centers, detention facilities, after-school programs and in low-income housing.

Sites selected to host a WritersCorps teacher receive valuable teaching and mentoring services, as well as long-term, quality literary arts programming.

How can I take a WritersCorps workshop?

If you are a youth who would like to attend workshops, please see our site list to find out if you already attend one of our school sites.

We also offer free workshops for teens at the San Francisco Public Library’s Main Branch. Contact the Teen Center librarians for more information at 415-437-4831

We offer workshops during the school year. We do not offer workshops for adults.

How can I teach for WritersCorps?

If you are interested in becoming a WritersCorps teacher, please read about our requirements and application process. We accept applications in the spring for positions opening in the fall.

How can my school or community center become a WritersCorps site?

Sites must apply to receive a WritersCorps teacher the summer prior to the school year. There is currently a waiting list, but we encourage interested sites to contact us for more information.

How else can I get involved?

If you are interested in volunteering, please email us for information on events and special projects.

You can also donate to WritersCorps to support our literary services in the communities that need them most. Donations are tax-deductible.

What has WritersCorps published?

Lots of books! Here is a list of some of our books. This does not include site publications, which are small runs of site-specific anthologies.

• Solid Ground (Aunt Lute Books, 2006)
• Jump Write In! (Jossey-Bass, 2005)
• Where Were You (2005)
• Ten (2004 limited edition multimedia box set)
• City of One (Aunt Lute Books, 2004)
• Talkin’ Back (2003 limited edition multimedia box set)
• Paint Me Like I Am (HarperCollins, 2003)
• Believe Me, I Know (2002)
• Lessons Along the Way: Creative Writing Exercises (2001)
• Jump (2001)
• Smart Mouth (2000)
• What It Took for Me to Get Here (1999)
• Same Difference: Young Writers on Race (1998)
• Curves on a Sidewalk Street (1997)
• Word from the 415 (1996)
• Flavors of the City (1995)

Where can I buy WritersCorps books?

WritersCorps books are available from Small Press Distribution and directly from us. We will have an online bookstore set up soon, but in the meantime if you have a PayPal account, you can order books from us through email. Please contact us for more information.