Food, tradition and culture are linked through such things as long-remembered meals; dishes prepared for ordinary meals as well as special occasions like family reunions or funerals; the handling and preparation of food; and regional specialties, including the best ribs, pizza, chicken, and greens.
Key Ingredients is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

• Belonging and Community — Chicago State University Associate Professor and Affrilachian Poet Kelly Norman Ellis will lead a workshop that will explore the idea of identity by drawing on “I am” poems to encourage reflection on themes such as sense of self and ability to make change. She will encourage approaches that consider the context of space, place, neighborhood, food, religion, and language. Workshop participants will read poetry as well as create their own.
• Edible Activism — Bart Schultz, University of Chicago Senior Lecturer in Humanities and Director of the Civic Knowledge Project will lead a two-part series designed to explore local and sustainable food systems, urban food access, affordability, and community gardens. Writing inspired by the first session will be performed during the second session, which will be open to the public.
• Community Gardening — NWA presents the opportunity to participate in a seminar and service project in a Chicago community garden.
• Food Audio — The Third Coast Audio Festival will present a compilation of audio recordings from their extensive archives on the theme of food. NWA writers will have an opportunity to hear stories and expressions from a wide variety of perspectives. A discussion will follow.
• Trick or Treat — NWA, as a part of “Mischief Night” at the Hyde Park Arts Center, will host a writing workshop entitled “Trick or Treat.” Writing created in that workshop will be performed that day as a part of the festivities.
• Writing Our Identities — Each and every one of us possess complex identities, which include such elements as race, age, ethnicity, gender, orientation, religion, class, nationality, political orientation, and much more. Dr. Mary Anne Mohanraj will encourage participants of this workshop to write their identities through the lens of poetry and prose. The workshop will aim to capture the power of our stories to build rich and compelling narratives.
• Call for submissions! — In fall, NWA writers will collaborate with Affrilachian Poet Parneshia Jones to weave together and perform their own stories at a city-wide reading on the theme of “Key Ingredients.” Submissions must be both consistent with the food theme and possess performance quality. Writers accepted to this production will take part in a three rehearsals in addition to the culminating performance in November. Specific parameters about the submission will be available the first week of September.

Please visit our events pages for for dates and locations for these special programs.

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