Est. 2001
Aaron Zimmerman, Founder and Executive Director
NYWC is one of the largest community writing organizations in the country, creating opportunities for formerly voiceless members of society to be heard through the art of writing. NYWC provides free, unique and powerful creative writing workshops throughout New York City for people from groups that have been historically deprived of voice in our society, including at-risk and disconnected youth, the homeless and formerly homeless, the incarcerated and formerly incarcerated, war veterans, people with disabilities, cancer and major illness, immigrants, seniors and others. Since emerging in 2002, NYWC has won awards from the Union Square Awards and Petra Foundation, and received program grants from local and national funders including Amazon.com, Time Warner, the Pinkerton Foundation, Independence Community Foundation, Hot Topic Foundation, the Kalliopeia Foundation, the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, the NY State Council on the Arts and others. NYWC workshop participants have been featured on The New York Times Blog, WNYC’s Brian Lehrer Show, The Huffington Post, and NY1 Noticias in stories about NYWC.
The New York Writers Coalition believes:
- Everyone is a writer, regardless of prior writing experience and formal education;
- Through encouragement and support, people grow as writers and artists;
- In the value of the uniqueness of every individual’s voice;
- Each person’s experiences are a source of strength and power as a writer and an artist;
- In creating and maintaining a non-judgmental, open and respectful community where everyone is encouraged to support and listen to each other and to take risks and grow as writers;
- Each person, through writing, can shape and influence the lives of others; and
- We can achieve social change by providing access and opportunity for all writers, regardless of race, ethnicity, class, age, gender, sexual orientation and physical ability.