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InsideOut Literary Arts, the WITS Alliance organization in Detroit, is seeking a new Executive Director. Their founder, Terry Blackhawk, is retiring after and illustrious 20 year run. Check out the press release (below) or their website for more information.

NEW CHAPTER BEGINS FOR DETROIT’S LARGEST LITERARY ARTS NONPROFIT
Founder Terry Blackhawk Retiring in June

(DETROIT, MI) InsideOut Literary Arts Project ( iO) is pleased to announce a national search for its next Executive Director, as founding director Dr. Terry Blackhawk prepares to retire June 30th after 20 years.

“I am excited about entering a new phase with iO and thrilled to see the organization flourishing as we launch our 20th anniversary year,’’ says Blackhawk, an award-winning poet and educator. “The work has grown beyond my wildest imaginings.’’

iO was founded in 1995 in just five Detroit high schools, with weekly classroom visits by a writer-in-residence, the publication of a literary journal for each school, and a vision of sharing the power of poetry with youth. Twenty years later, iO has taught more than 50,000 K–12 students how to “think broadly and create bravely.’’ iO’s work has earned national exposure(including invitations to the White House) and a feature presentation on PBS NewsHour.

Blackhawk’s retirement will coincide with a series of public arts celebrations honoring her work and iO’s longevity. The anniversary year will be anchored by the publication of “To Light A Fire: 20 Years with the InsideOut Literary Arts Project,’’ an essay compilation published by Wayne State University Press and edited by Blackhawk and iO’s Senior Writer, Peter Markus. With essays by 23 iO writers, the book shines a light on the triumphs and challenge of using poetry as a bridge of understanding between a city and its children. “When I founded InsideOut in the mid 1990s, the burgeoning creative writing movement, industry, community — call it what you will —was beginning to take off but I could not have imagined the reach that it has today.’’

The search for Blackhawk’s successor, who is expected to be named in September, is being led by the Non-profit Personnel Network. Long-time iO Associate Director Alise Alousi will manage day-to-day operations starting July 1st.

CONTACT: Nichole Christian, director of communications, info@insideoutdetroit.org or 313.577-4601

ABOUT iO: InsideOut Literary Arts Project is a nationally recognized 501c3 nonprofit, celebrated as a hub of creativity for Detroit K-12 students who are curious about exploring their worlds through poetry and self-expression. Major funders include Detroit Public Schools, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Skillman Foundation and the United Way of Southeastern Michigan.

WITS Alliance at AWP 2015

Booth: #1301

Hashtag: #WITSAlliance #AWP15

Thursday, April 9

Life After the MFA: Extra/ordinary Career Paths for Writers
1:30-2:45 p.m.
Room 101 B&C, Level 1

Panelists: Erin Kottke, Charlie Scott, Giuseppe Taurino, and Zayne Turner

Genre 2.0: Game-Based Learning and Creative Writing
4:30-5:45 p.m.

Room 205 A&B, Level 2

Panelists: Michael Angst, Rick Brennan, and Long Chu

WITS Alliance Reception

6:30-8:00 p.m.

Location: Room 203B, Level 2

Friday, April 10

WITS Alliance Membership Meeting

10:30-11:45 a.m.

Room 208 C&D, Level 2

Host: Robin Reagler

The Creative Writer as an Agent of Change

1:30-2:45 p.m.

Room 208 A&B, Level 2

Panelists: Tina Cane, Laura Moulton, Monica Prince, Mary Rechner, and Renée Watson

The Writing on the Wall: Poetry for Public Places

3:00-4:15 p.m.

Room 205 A&B, Level 2

Panelists: Kate Brennan, David Hassler, Michele Kotler, Christine Podas-Larson, and Alice Quinn

Saturday, April 11

Start a WITS Program at Your University
12:00-1:15 p.m.
Room 211 A&B, Level 2

Panelists: Terry Blackhawk, Julia Kasdorf, Frances Payne Adler, Amy Swauger, and Terry Thaxton

The Resuscitation of Childhood: A WITS Reading

1:30-2:45 p.m.

Room 101 D&E, Level 1

Panelists: Matthew Burgess, Jason Koo, Erin Malone, Emily Perez, and Tiphanie Yanique

Download Schedule »

Teachers & Writers Magazine is now ONLINE with a beautiful site and archives too. With the transition from print to web, anyone can subscribe for FREE. Here’s more about the journal:

T&W publishes Teachers & Writers Magazine as a resource for teaching the art of writing in kindergarten through college and in non-classroom settings. The online magazine presents a wide range of ideas and approaches, as well as lively explorations of T&W’s mission: “educating the imagination.”

Classroom teachers and WITS Writers can search lesson plans on the site. You can submit articles online too. Subscribe today!

Colorado Writers in the Schools (WITS) has released a new video documenting their work with students. Learn more about their program, which is a part of the Aspen Writers’ Foundation.

Check out a wonderful essay, Texting the Shining Prince, by David Andrew Stoler from Teachers & Writers Magazine. In it Stoler tells about how he made ancient Japanese poetry relevant and vital to New York City teenagers. It’s a great read! Here’s an excerpt:

And while it may be true that each generation of teenagers invents the entire world from scratch (just ask them!), we’re not talking here about text messages and Twitter, despite the similarities. No; a thousand years ago teenagers in the Japanese Court were doing the same thing as their modern counterparts—sending secret messages back and forth—limited then by formal poetic structure instead of digital character count. These messages, though, were being sent under markedly different conditions than those faced by modern-day texting teens: traditional court etiquette made it difficult for a teenage boy to even properly see a girl who wasn’t  in his family, forget about holding a conversation. And if the wrong boy was caught talking to the wrong girl, they weren’t simply sent to their rooms, didn’t  just get their phones taken away for a month—they were exiled far away, sent to live a life of poverty, coldness, and isolation.

 

So, instead, Japanese teenagers—and, in fact, most members of the Heian  Japanese court—sent each other poems. A glimpse of just the outline of a member of the opposite sex behind a carriage window screen was all it took to begin a steady stream of poems back and forth. Often snuck out in the sleeves of staff members, the poems followed the strict structure of early 11th-century Japanese Waka, a form  that  dictated  a set number of characters /syllables, and whose subject matter often revolved around nature. The quality of the metaphors—and the penmanship—were used to judge the potential suitability of a sweetheart: the equivalent of today’s Jordans or Uggs. Puns and double-meanings abounded—if the poems were intercepted, one could at least then argue his or her innocence.

 

The form was famously immortalized in Murasaki Shikibu’s The Tale of Genji,  a classic text considered by some to be the first-ever novel.The book follows the life and loves of the title character from his boyhood to his death (and beyond, actually—the English translation is 1000-plus pages long and goes deep into the romantic history of his sons, too), and is loaded with Waka that are both opulent and emotional. It also makes a perfect lesson for middle and high school students today, connecting them to the history of poetry via a structure and a type of secrecy that are immediately familiar to them from the late-night texting barrages that swell their parents’ cellphone bills each month.

 

Click here to read the rest of the essay. 

 

WITS is a Literary Partner at this year’s AWP Conference in Seattle. Interested in learning more about WITS or how to start a program like it in your city? WITS will host panels, meetings, and a reception during the conference. Come by and chat with us at booth #200!