San Francisco Examiner, Style Section, Wednesday, June 2, 1999
SF youth on
the Write path
Anthology details 'What It
Took for Me to Get Here"
By Craig Marine
Of the Examiner Staff
ANYONE INTERESTED in what's on the minds of San Francisco's youth could do a lot worse than to pick up a copy of a new anthology put out by the San Francisco Writers-Corps, titled 'What it Took for Me to Get Here: Young Writers on the Journey Through Life." The collection, put out to celebrate the fifth year of the WritersCorps program, which helps at-risk youths from the ages of 6 to 21 by encouraging and developing their
literacy skills, is an illuminating glimpse into topics as diverse as immigration, incarceration and riding Muni.
"This is the first time many of these kids have been recognized for accomplishing anything," said WritersCorps Program Director Janet Heller. "Many of them have never been singled out as gifted, or
praised for being smart. For them to put this much effort into their writing, and then to have it
published, is an incredibly positive experience for them."
Seventy writers are captured in the anthology, as well as works from the Writers Corps teachers--a group of writers who go into the community and work with the children. The book is roughly in chronological order, with the younger writers featured near the beginning and the older ones toward the end. It features poetry and short prose stories, with the teachers’ section closing the book.
About 40 of the young writers will gather at 5 p.m.Wednesday in the Koret Auditorium of the San Francisco Main Library to read from their works. The anthology features an introduction by Dorothy Allison and photographs by Rick Rocamora.
The talent spans a range of ages, as shown by 9-year-old Danica Bartolome’s poem, "The Street."
I come from the street.
I come from a street that
understands me.
A street that is afraid of cars.
A street that wonders.
A street that hates.
A street that’s ugly.
A street that’s colorful.
Or a poem that 13-year-old Jennifer Diaz-Romero wrote that any Muni writer, particularly a younger person, can relate to. Titled, "The Way to School," it reads:
There is always something
happening on the bus.
There are people with their radios,
people drunk saying dumb things,
people laughing,
people talking,
people fighting,
the driver getting mad,
and the radio’s always on.
The graffiti makes my head hurt,
girls scream for boys,
older people look at younger people
like they are weird.
And when I get off
the people are still crazy.
Heller said there are currently about 650 enrolled in the San Francisco WritersCorps program, bringing the total number of kids helped in the program’s five year existence to close to 4,000. In addition to publishing an anthology each year, WritersCorps, which is administered by the San Francisco Arts Commission, sponsors other programs like the Youth Poetry Slam League
"Almost 80 percent of the kids who have gotten involved with WritersCorps have shown an increased interest in school," Heller said.
"We have kids who have been offered college scholarships and others who have received national recognition. We're very proud of
what many of these young people go on to accomplish."
Some of the most powerful work -comes from WritersCorps participants incarcerated et the Log Cabin Ranch, e youth detention facility in La Honda for young men ages 14 to 18. While some of what's
written comes across as a bit of unresolved macho posturing, much of the work coming out of the
ranch shows an emerging ability to reflect on life's harsh twists and turns.
This poem, called "Incognito,"is just credited to 17-year-old Cleavon, since the Log Cabin participants are identified by their
First names.
I think 90% of me is Darkness.
The other 10% of me is good,
pure and clear as crystal.
I have lived in seclusion for so long,
I can’t relate to people long enough
to love them.
So I keep my distance.
I cannot predict the future,
only live in the present
and watch the clock tick and
stay tucked in the Dark.
The anthology also includes moving accounts of kids’ memories of their home countries and the often difficult, always exciting transition to a new world and a new way of life. Only the details of a 14-year-old boy’s journey from Kyrgyzstan and a 14-year-old girl’s memories of Peru vary from a 15-year-old girl’s vivid recall of leaving Canton, China, as a 9-year-old. If nothing else, the anthology shows that people are much more alike than different.
"What it Took for Me to Get Here: Young Writers on the Journey Through Life" is available at A Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books, Friends of the Library Bookstore, Borders Books and Music.
