Kelly Writers House
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The Kelly Writers House is a non-profit, community organization dedicated to the literary arts, particularly creative writing. It is partially funded by, and located on the campus of, the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA.
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[edit] History
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[edit] Mission
The original mission statement for the Kelly Writers House states that the Writers House aims to be a "central and established location" for writers and writing-related groups that will enable them to
- easily provide information regarding events to those that are interested in participating in writing-related activities
- reserve space in which to regularly and consistently engage other writers in such activities, and
- find a place in which disparate groups can work together with common goals and purposes.
More generally, this mission includes supporting and promoting all activities related to the literary arts, especially in Philadelphia.[1]
[edit] Community
The Writers House community has many members that are affiliated with the House in a variety of ways. Perhaps the largest group of people affiliated with the Writers House are students of the University of Pennsylvania, particularly those that attend creative writing classes at the Writers House. Many other groups of people are affiliated with the Writers House, however, including:
- Philadelphia residents that read at or attend events
- elementary school students from the surrounding Philadelphia neighborhood that participate in the Write-On! literacy program[2]
- faculty and staff of the University of Pennsylvania that teach or hold office hours in the House
- several literary magazines that use resources provided by the Writers House to create and distribute their publications
- other groups that meet to discuss or review writing at the Writers House
- visual artists that display work inside the Writers House
- organizations that collaborate with the Writers House by sponsoring events[3]
- the Writers House administrative staff[4]
- a network of friends and donors that support the Writers House financially
[edit] Electronic Mailing Lists
The Writers House uses electronic mailing lists extensively to facilitate communication within and between various groups of people that are affiliated with the House.
[edit] The Planning Committee
The Writers House Planning Committee, also known as the Hub, is the group that founded the Writers House and was initially responsible for planning the events hosted in the building.[5]
[edit] The 15th Room Press
Those who founded the Writers House in the 1995/1996 school year wished to include within the House a printing press. Though the House proved too small for such a thing the idea lived on due to the appeal of exposing young writers to both the modern possibilities of printing and publishing on a computer as well as the time-honored practice of using ink, movable type, and mechanical labor. In 2005, when the University began discussion of how to best celebrate the Ben Franklin tercentenary, the Writers House collaborated with both the Van Pelt Library and the Department of Fine Arts to help establish what has become the University's Common Press.[6] Three printing press, ink, and movable type were purchased. The 15th Room Press, so named to imagine an extra room beyond the 14-room Writers House, has become a space in which students have learned to design printing projects, hand-set moveable type, ink and clean the presses, and produce hand-printed broadsides. There are two broadside series, one of which features the work of visiting poets and the Hub Series, which features the poetry of members of the Writers House community. The 15th Room Press serves to remind writers that writing is a communal activity that requires practical skills and hard work to bring it to readers. The colophon symbol of the 15th Room Press, three mismatched chairs modeled after chairs in the Writers House Arts Cafe, reminds them of the communal nature of both writing and the Press itself.
[edit] Programs and Events
The Writers House hosts over 300 different writing-related programs each year. While many of these are one-time events, others are part of several long-standing series. Some important programs are listed below:
[edit] The Writers House Fellows Program
The Writers House Fellows Program is a class offered by the University of Pennsylvania through the creative writing department. During the course students read from the works of three writers of great distinction; then, after an exhaustive study of each writer, the writers visit the Writers House to participate in a one-hour discussion with the Fellows class, which is webcast worldwide and archived on the Writers House website. Writers House Faculty Director, Prof. Al Filreis, directs the Fellows Program. More information, including a list of all the previous Fellows, can be found on the Fellows website. [7]
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Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. |
[edit] The Junior Fellows Program
The Kelly Writers House Junior Fellows program was founded by Writers House supporters Ralph and Bette Saul in 1998 to enable recent Penn alumni that had been involved in the Writers House community during their college careers to continue their study of the literary arts. The Junior Fellow receives a grant for the year to support their proposed program; the funding can be used for any purpose--paying visiting speakers, expenses for the program including food, materials, equipment, etc.--as long as the program concludes with a presentation for the Writers House community at the Writers House. The program encourages recent Penn graduates with a history of involvement in the Writers House community to remain close to it and gives them an opportunity to pursue their literary interests beyond their college career.[8]
[edit] The Write-On! Literacy Program
Write On! is a children’s literacy program run by the Kelly Writers House at the University of Pennsylvania in collaboration with the Lee Elementary and Penn Alexander schools in West Philadelphia. The weekly program presents a safe, fun, and educational extracurricular activity for students in grades 4 to 8. Students work in small groups under the supervision and guidance of student coaches from the University to improve their creative writing, poetry, public speaking, and more. While most time is spent at the Writers House, Write On! has taken some small field trips to other University buildings, local bookstores and coffee shops, and writing-related places in Philadelphia to supplement the program's curriculum. The organization has also participated in the One Book One Philadelphia campaign and has brought local authors in to work and speak with the kids. Write On!'s mission is not only to open the eyes of young students to the world of writing but to help them see that there are many different possibilities for the way they can live their lives. [9]
[edit] 7-Up
7-Up is an annual event at the Writers House. Seven speakers are invited to speak for seven minutes each on a single concept or topic of the Hub's choosing. The Hub strives to make sure that the chosen topic is approachable from a variety of angles, possessing many interpretations and allowing each speaker's talk to be entirely unique. Past topics have included "Bitter"; "Ben", for the University's founder Ben Franklin; and "Gold". [10]
[edit] LIVE at the Kelly Writers House
LIVE at the Writers House is a collaboration between the Writers House and radio station 88.5 FM WXPN. The hourly program airs six times during the University's academic year and features readings of poetry, prose, and other spoken-word art in addition to one musical guest. LIVE broadcasts from the Writers House Arts Cafe and is made possible through the support of BigRoc. [11]
[edit] Emergency Reading Series
The Emergency series addresses issues of "emergence, influence, and community" and the question of whether poetry is still a relevant cultural force in America. The series brings together emerging and established poets for readings and discussions in order to create an ongoing dialog on those issues. Emergency was begun in the fall of 2006 and continues to the present day. [12]
[edit] External links
- The Kelly Writers House Homepage
- The Common Press at the University of Pennsylvania
- The Kelly Writers House MySpace
[edit] References
- ^ Kelly Writers House Mission Statement, authored by Shawn Lynn Walker and the Writers House Planning Committee
- ^ About Write-On!
- ^ Collaborations between the Kelly Writers House and other organizations
- ^ The Kelly Writers House Staff, 2006-2007
- ^ The Writers House Planning Committee, also known as "the Hub."
- ^ The Common Press at the University of Pennsylvania
- ^ The Fellows Program
- ^ The Junior Fellows Program
- ^ The Write On! Literacy Program
- ^ 7-Up at the Writers House
- ^ LIVE at the Kelly Writers House
- ^ Emergency Reading Series
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