Hi. I'm New Here. - Neighborhood Writing Alliance

I?m Gabe Kalmuss-Katz, the summer communications intern at the Neighborhood Writing Alliance. You may have noticed my name popping up on a few of the blog posts recently. I am really excited to be working at NWA for the summer. While I?m here, I?ll be working on the blog, as well as helping to update some of the content on the website and promotional materials.

Gabe "Loves Community Writing and Cute Dogs" Kalmuss-Katz

When I moved to Chicago about a year ago, I immediately sought out organizations that combined creative writing and community engagement, two of my greatest passions. There are many such organizations in Chicago, all of which are doing excellent work, but the Neighborhood Writing Alliance?s goals and methods really impressed me. I liked that NWA workshops took place in locations in the communities they serve, and didn?t make people travel to its offices or another location for its weekly workshops. I also valued how seriously the organization took the writing of its workshop participants, publishing their pieces in the beautifully designed and incredibly diverse Journal of Ordinary Thought. I wanted to work with the Neighborhood Writing Alliance in whatever way I could.

In the past, I?ve led writing workshops in a variety of community settings, including prisons and courts as well as middle school classrooms. I believe that writing can be an extremely empowering act, and I especially respect the thoughtfulness of the workshop model used by the Neighborhood Writing Alliance. After I get my graduate degree, I hope to work at a not for profit where I can lead and organize writing workshops like those run by NWA.

What degree, you may ask? Well, I am a poet and will be starting up the MFA program at UC?San Diego in the fall. I?m terribly sad to be leaving Chicago, a place as complicated, exciting, and welcoming as any I?ve ever lived. And there?s so much I haven?t done yet! I will leave Chicago without blocking a parking spot off with a chair during a blizzard, without Rahm Emanuel helping me with a job interview on the Brown Line, without screaming my guts out over the singing of the National Anthem at a Blackhawks game, without wrestling with Billy Corgan! I hope my life will lead me back to Chicago after this brief sojourn on the west coast.

In addition to writing poetry, I also co-run Na Zdravi, Na Shledanou Press and write the music blog Songs Save Lives. If you?re curious, you can browse two of the chapbooks I?ve co-authored here.

This summer I hope to learn as much as I can about how an organization with somewhat limited resources like the Neighborhood Writing Alliance manages to have as large of an impact as it does. The not-for-profit sector survives on making do with very little, but NWA accomplishes so much ??its eight weekly workshops, innovative free programming and events, the Journal of Ordinary Thought ??that I was shocked to learn there were only three full-time staff members. Whatever information I learn and thoughts I have, I will surely share with you, blog readers. Stay tuned!

Source: http://www.jot.org/blog/2012/07/02/hi-im-new-here/

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