Writer's Forum
The Writers’ Forum brings a diverse array of professional writers to our school. These writers not only share their work with students, but speak intimately about how they arrived at their calling. Students interview guests for the school paper, read their work and prepare questions, and present their own writing at the assembly’s open-mic portion. Most recently we had Rabbi Darkside perform for our students.
The Writers’ Forum, in one single assembly, stands to have a lasting impact on every student in the school. Past guests have included: Richard Price, novelist; Bill Bradley, author, former senator, and NBA Hall-of-Famer; Adrian Nicole LeBlanc, journalist; Bob Holman, poet; Willie Perdomo,poet; Adrienne Miller, novelist and editor; Hal Sirowitz, poet; Colin Channer, novelist; Lisa Schwarzbaum, film critic; Scratch DJ Academy; Dax-Devlon Ross, novelist and journalist; Felicia Luna Lemus, novelist; Rich Villar, poet; Bassey Ikpi, poet; Clay Chapman, novelist and playwright; Robert Lipsyte, novelist and journalist; Chinaka Hodge, poet; Jenny McPhee, novelist; Regie Cabico, poet; Adam Mansbach, novelist and poet; Tracy K. Smith, poet; Patricia Smilth, poet, and many more.
Creative Writing Intensive-Poetry
This course provides students the opportunity to improve their writing in a focused, small group setting. In this workshop, students explore personal voice, literary devices and poetic forms in an uncensored, safe, student-centered environment by reading the poems of others, learning the skills and tools of poetry, and creating our own poems. Goals for this workshop include: developing a personal writing practice, improving ability to give and receive critical feedback, and creating a series of polished poems connected to topics we care deeply about each semester.
One Pen
One Pen is the student-run literary magazine of the Bronx Academy of Letters. One Pen provides a voice to our school’s youth, in a culture where young voices are often marginalized, if not silenced. One Pen provides a creative outlet for our students to express themselves artistically about the issues that impact their lives using poetry, fiction, and memoir as a vehicle.
The production of a student-run high school literary magazine benefits students by providing an audience for their work, as well as giving the magazine staff hands-on experience in soliciting submissions, editing, and producing a finished product. It is used as a teaching tool by faculty members, and presents Bronx Letters, its students, and its theme to the public in a favorable light, as an institution that values not just literary works, but also creativity and the arts.