Who We Are

The Neighborhood Writing Alliance (NWA) runs writing workshops for adults in low-income neighborhoods throughout Chicago, and publishes selected pieces from those workshops in its quarterly award-winning publication, the Journal of Ordinary Thought (JOT). NWA presents the writers and their work in more than 30 events or readings each year. Our workshops are free and open to adults of all levels of writing experience. We are committed to providing creative programming in neighborhoods that offer few educational opportunities for adults beyond GED and ESL classes, in order to build a sense of community and generate discussion on issues important to Chicago residents. Participants in our workshops write primarily from their own experience, and, through both writing and discussion, often make connections between their personal experiences and broader social issues.

NWA was founded in 1996 by Hal Adams, Deborah Epstein, and Sunny Fischer, and grew out of JOT, founded by Hal Adams in 1991. From 1991 to 1995, JOT was sponsored by the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Hundreds of Chicago adults have participated in our writing groups in a range of settings, from public libraries and public schools (where parents participate), to social service agencies and public housing projects.

We have distributed more than 163,000 copies of 83 issues of the journal. NWA writers are regularly featured on Chicago Public Radio and excerpted in city and neighborhood newspapers. JOT writers and JOT itself have twice won Illinois Arts Council Literary Awards. The Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune listed a play adapted by the Chicago Theater Company from work published in JOT among the top 10 plays of 1999.

NWA hosts 8 to 12 weekly workshops at any given time. Our previous workshop partners have included:

• Austin Grassroots Think Tank
• Chicago Commons Employment Training Center
• Chicago Public Library Branches
• Deborah's Place
• The Inspiration Cafe
• The Jane Addams Resource Corporation
• Parental Involvement Project
• Project Chance
• Southwest Youth Collaborative
• Streetwise
• WISA Grandparent Group, UIC Extension Coop Services
• For more information about our current workshops. See Writing Workshops.
  

• AREA Chicago
• The Chicago Humanities Festival
• Chicago Park District
• Chicago Department of Tourism
• Chicago Public Radio
• The Civic Knowledge Project at the University of Chicago
• Egan Urban Center at DePaul University
• Englewood Community Cultural Planning Council
• The Guild Complex
• Hyde Park Arts Center
• Illinois PIRC, at Columbia College Chicago in partnership with the Center for Community Arts Partnerships
• The Independent Press Association Chicago
• Jobs with Justice
• Latinos United
• U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky's Favorite Poem Project
• Printers Row Book Fair
• The Public Square at the Illinois Humanities Council
• Young Chicago Authors

Professional artists are often attracted to our program and support us in a variety of ways, from supplying us with interesting photography and artwork for our magazine to hosting special writing workshops with JOT writers.