Programs

The D.C. Creative Writing Workshop, based at Charles Hart Middle School in Southeast D.C., has united parents, teachers and students to create a literary renaissance in this often ignored part of the city. Since 1995, when Hart became the first school in Washington to have an extra-curricular creative writing program, the Workshop’s writers-in-residence have introduced thousands of students to the joys of self-expression and the written word, opening for them a world of opportunity that exists outside of the historically neglected area in which they live. Hart students have attended readings, plays, and other literary events, won dozens of writing awards, and enjoyed a wealth of new experiences not otherwise available to young people in Ward 8.

In September 2004, the Workshop expanded its programs to Hart's nearby feeder schools Simon Elementary and Ballou Senior High. Now, working in a public-private partnership with the schools, the Workshop offers over 600 hours of programming annually, both in class and after school, to more than 600 students who attend Simon, Hart, and Ballou. With the schools providing office space, utilities, and management support, administrative costs are kept unusually low, allowing over 95% of the budget to be spent on the Workshop’s mission of transforming the lives of youth.

Select a link below to read more about one of our programs. You can scroll down to view all of them.

In-Class Instruction
After-School Programs
Teaching Tolerance Through Literature
Reading Resource Center
Young Writers-in-residence

In-Class Instruction

The D.C. Creative Writing Workshop’s writers-in-residence work with teachers in grades 4-12 to provide intensive literary instruction to students. Each student keeps a personal creative writing portfolio to document his or her progress throughout the year.

back to top

After-School Programs

After-school programs are based at Hart and are open to all students, ages 5-18, in the surrounding neighborhood. Participants in the Workshop’s extra-curricular activities have the option of attending up to three days a week of activities.

The Writing Club
Students work on a variety of projects throughout the year, writing poems, short stories, essays and journals about art, photography, history, society, and their identities.

Since the Writing Club’s inception, Hart Middle School has developed a city-wide reputation for artistic excellence, consistently fielding winners in the Parkmont Poetry Contest, the Larry Neal Awards, the District Lines Poetry on Metro Competition, and the Junior League Teen Poetry Contest.

Many Writing Club graduates have continued on to the prestigious Literary Media program at Duke Ellington High School for the Arts.

Drama Program
Each year, students read and discuss a work of Greek drama, selecting from among such classics as Euripides’ “Medea” and Sophocles’ “Antigone.” The students then interpret the play in their own words, updating it to create an original adaptation. The D.C. Creative Writing Workshop hires a professional director to assist the students in their production, and after months of writing, memorizing lines, and rehearsals, the students perform their work for their friends, their parents, and the surrounding community.

Students see up to eight plays each year at the Arena Stage and as many as three productions by the Shakespeare Theatre. Participants have also seen plays at the Studio Theater, the Source Theater, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and they receive regular visits from theater professionals and educators.

Literary Magazine Program
Hart students publish hArtworks, the nation’s only inner-city public middle school literary magazine. hArtworks is featured in the 2006 Poet’s Market as “an outstanding example of what a literary journal can be (for anyone of any age).” Each year, students produce three issues of hArtworks, distributing over three hundred copies of each to classmates, teachers, parents, and other members of the community. To celebrate the publication of each issue, students give a reading at a local bookstore, offering signed copies of their work for sale to audience members. Further, students interview a published author for each issue of the magazine. Featured writers have included Cornelius Eady, Alan Cheuse, Arnost Lustig, Toi Derricotte, and Nikki Giovanni.

May 2005 marked the debut of two new offerings from our Literary Magazine Program, Simon Says, a literary magazine featuring the works of students at Simon Elementary, and Voice of the Knight, a literary magazine devoted to the writings from Ballou Senior High.

back to top

Teaching Tolerance Through Literature

Taking advantage of a range of opportunities offered by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the D.C. Creative Writing Workshop has developed a six-week unit of Holocaust studies that involves 100 students from Hart and Ballou each year. Throughout this period of study, the students work on their own creative responses to the moral and ethical issues raised, which they then compile into a special issue of hArtworks, “Reflections on the Holocaust.”

back to top

Reading Resource Center

With thousands of books to choose, students are learning that reading doesn’t have to be a chore. D.C. Creative Writing Workshop members have found that reading can actually be fun! Students can choose any selection from the Workshop’s library, including a variety of popular children’s books, as well as biographies, sports books, and young adult novels. There is no time limit for borrowed books. Each child keeps a book for as long as necessary to enjoy it fully. Then, after finishing a book, the student can return it in trade for a new one. At the end of the school year, each participant in our after-school programs may choose one book to keep permanently.

back to top

Young Writers-in-residence Program

Through our Young Writer-in-residence Program, which we launched in October 2005, our target population is involved in implementing our work. We hire motivated Ballou students, who are graduates of Hart and the Workshop’s programs, to work three days per week at our Hart after-school Writing Club, teaching and mentoring students. The Ballou students also receive mentoring from Workshop staff, build their writing portfolio, and develop career aspirations.