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Raising Questions/Generating Answers -- Fall 2008
Neighborhood Writing Alliance (NWA) participants address what questions they thought should be on America's agenda.
These days, most of our conversations, whether nationwide or at the dinner table, are shaped by those other than us. Our Raising Questions/Generating Answers project was an attempt to reclaim those conversations.
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WHERE WERE YOU -- Winter/Spring 2008
Neighborhood Writing Alliance (NWA) participants explore their connection to historical moments
"Where Were You?" was taken from the question commonly asked in relation to major historical events such as “Where were you when Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed?” or “Where were you when U.S. astronauts landed on the moon?” "Where Were You?" illustrates the connections between the writer's personal, family, or community stories and broader events, helping to define their place in history.
Related Events
- Question and answer session with playwright Ifa Bayeza
- Writings of reflections on Emmett Till (displayed in the Goodman Theater Lobby)
- "Defining Our Place in History" reading as part of Chicago's 2nd Annual Looptopia
- Publication of "Authors of History"
GETTING AROUND -- Fall 2007
NWA participants explore the theme of transportation
"Getting Around" illustrated the impact of transportation on our daily lives and on our city, examining the topic from various perspectives, including getting around town and navigating Chicago's traffic, as well as barriers to mobility and access and safety on public transportation.
Related Events
- "Getting Around" -- Chicago Humanities Festival performance with Artistic Director Baba Eli Hoenai
- Chicago Public Library Book Festival Reading
- Publication of "Round About," with introduction by journalist Richard Cahan.
LEARNING CURVES -- Winter/Spring 2007
NWA participants explore the theme of formal and informal education
"Learning Curves" took a broad approach to the issue of education, exploring people's individual learning experiences, and examining the deep historical and cultural relationships between education and issues of race, culture, gender, and class. The project also questioned what defines education, emphasizing the role of informal and non-school-based education.
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WRITING OFF THE CHARTS -- Winter/Spring 2006
NWA participants explore individual and community health
NWA's "Writing off the Charts" project explored the issue of health, including not only physical health, but also issues such as gender, violence, and war. Participants covered topics ranging from access to health, dental care, and home remedies to concerns about smoking, disabilities, mental health, everyday stress, and terminal diseases.
Related Events
- Oral histories of Chicago residents collected by Eve Tulbert
- "Folklore and Medicine" -- Special workshop with Sue Eleuterio
- "Health and Literature" -- Special workshop with Dr. Geraldine Gorman using The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman
- Public forums co-hosted with The Public Square at the Illinois Humanities Council:
- How Do We Think of Health as a Human Right?: War, Immigration, and Universal Healthcare at the DuSable Museum of African American History
- Let's Talk About Sex and Health, Baby: Reproductive Health, Sexual Health, and Sexual Identity at the HotHouse
- How Do We Build Healthy Places?: Urban Planning, Food, and Health at Garfield Park Conservatory
- Publication of "Healthy Reminders," with introduction by Dr. Geraldine Gorman.
BORDERS AND BOUNDARIES -- Fall 2006
NWA participants explore the theme of borders and boundaries
Through "Borders and Boundaries," NWA participants examined issues related to the visible and invisible barriers they experience related to their families and neighborhoods, city and state bureaucracies, and national and international policies.
Related Events
- "Borders and Boundaries" -- Special workshop with Johanny Vazquez-Nieves
- "Borders and Boundaries" -- Chicago Humanities Festival Performance with artistic director Zahra Baker
- Publication of "An Invisible Line," with introduction by award-winning author Achy Obejas
GENERATIONS -- Fall 2005
NWA participants explore the theme of generations in partnership with participants from Young Chicago Authors
"Generations" explored and exchanged ideas about the theme of generations and schooling (how one is educated through the generations, neighborhood, society, culture, etc.), perspectives of youth violence, the disintegration of "community", and maintaining the family in a society that, quite often, fails to support such structures.
Related Events
- Special Workshop with Luis Rodriguez
- Witness -- a reading with Luis Rodriguez at Old Town School of Folk Music
Visit Old Town School
- Publication of "Footsteps," with introduction by award-winning author Luis Rodriguez
WRITING AFTER HOURS -- Winter/Spring 2005
NWA participants explore the themes of work and labor
NWA's "Writing After Hours" project examined labor history and the connections between work and literature, to expand the knowledge of the participants and to create spaces for indepth discussions about labor issues. Writers were exposed to new ways of thinking about the links between literature and the city, as well as a literary and historical context for the role culture has played in the history of labor.
Related Events
- Collection of oral histories by Eve Tulbert
- "Labor and Literature" -- Special workshop with Professor Kenneth Warren using The Jungle by Upton Sinclair and Working by Studs Terkel
- "The Social Meanings of Work" -- Special workshop with Professor Jamie Owen Daniel
- Public Forum "Representing Invisible Labor: How Art Speaks the Language of Labor" co-hosted with The Public Square at the Illinois Humanities Council at the Chicago Cultural Center
- Publication of "Twenty-Four Hours," with introduction by steelworker Joe E. Gutierrez
CRIMINAL JUSTICE -- Winter 2003
Neighborhood Writing Alliance participants explore issues related to the criminal justice system
"Criminal Justice" explored how we all come into contact with "the criminal justice system" at some time, and how the system may take on many different shapes: traffic tickets, pick-pockets, jury duty, family members who are officers, a sister accused of a crime, and the way in which these experiences change how we think about ourselves, how we interact with others, and how we define our own space within a community.
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