Bronx Memoir Project: Vol. 1
 | |
| Genre | Memoir |
|---|---|
| Published | 2014 |
| Publisher | The Bronx Council on the Arts |
| Publication place | United States |
The Bronx Memoir Project: Vol. 1 is a published anthology by The Bronx Council on the Arts and brought forth through a series of workshops meant to empower Bronx residents and shed the stigma on the Bronx's burning past.[1]
History
The Bronx Memoir Project was created as an ongoing collaboration between The Bronx Council on the Arts and other cultural institutions including: The Bronx Documentary Center, The Bronx Library Center, Edgar Allan Poe Park Visitor Center, Mindbuilders as well as other institutions and funded through a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts,[2][3] secured by Bronx Writing Center Director Ms. Mario Romano in August 2013.[4] The goal was to develop and refine memoir fragments written by people of all walks of life that share a common bond residing within the Bronx.[2]
In March 2014, The Bronx Council on the Arts held writing workshops throughout the borough with the goal of capturing the great diversity of the Bronx.[5] The workshops brought Bronx residents together from all walk of life but was focused on: youth, seniors and families; and had them participate in a series of workshops. The workshops facilitated by the Bronx Council of the Art director, Charlie Vazquez[1][2] cultivated one's craft in memoir writing, and allowed them to use it as a tool to capture the Bronx through their prospective and away from the Bronx's burning past.[1]
The participants in the workshops had some of their memoir pieces published in an anthology "Bronx Memoir Project Vol-1".[1]
Bronx Memoir Project Volume 1
Published in November 2014 by BCA Media and edited by Bronx Writer Center Director, Charlie Vazquez.[6] This is published anthology of memoir pieces written by participants in the workshop.[2][7][8] A first of its kind anthology that bring readers into the Bronx through the eyes of its residents.
Participating Writers
| Authors Name | Memoir Title | Award |
|---|---|---|
| Nahshon Dion Anderson | Ratcliff | Bronx Recognizes Its own |
| Barbara Nahmias | Mediitation | |
| George Colon | On a Bronx Rooftop Long Ago | |
| Ed Friedman | Chevrolet | |
| Ersilia Crawford | Polio, Mothers and World War Two | |
| Hayley Camacho | Just a Quiet Saturday Night | |
| Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa | The Shooting | |
| Miguel Mateo | The Next and Last Stop | |
| Siri Edna Nelson | Italian, Irish, French Canadian and German | |
| Andrea Purchas | Back In the Day | |
| Gerault Rotondo | Bronx Redux | |
| Phyllis Bowdwin | New Miracles on 34th Street | |
| Jean Harripersaud | A Library as Beautiful as the Bronx | |
| Cynthia Timms | Happiness in the House on 161st Street | |
| Jose Cenac | Education Journey | |
| Deborah William-Camps | I remember When I Lost You! | |
| Christina Marie Castro | The Day I Play Hookie from Kindergarten | |
| Ann Sealy | A Conversation with My Son | |
| Kenny Williams | How I Got Started in Show Business | |
| Awilda Aponte | Adventures in Motherhood-1977 | |
| Alice Myerson | As It Was | |
| Judio Edyson | Hunts Point Behind a Glass | |
| Jhon Sanchez | Writing 'Major Ascension Luna' | |
| Laurie Humpel | Morning and Evening | |
| Maria Meli | Swamp Guineas | |
| Olga Kitt | The Products of a Social Experiment | |
| Joseph Carrion | July 1977 | |
| David Duenias | Untitled | |
| Steven L. Leslie | Cowpath Lane | |
| Bernice Cox | Best Friend Lost | |
| Orlando Ferrand | 2000 | Bronx Recognizes Its own |
| Mandy Lopez | After Thirteen Years! | |
| Erykah Solano | Untitled | |
| Brian Rodriquez | Untitled | |
| Dolores Scarpato | Bronx Story | |
| Mindy Matijasevic | Are You Lonesome Tonight? | |
| B. Lawrence | Untitled | |
| Judy Bratnick | Mathland | |
| Paul Torres | The Accident | |
| Edgar E. Cabrera | The Fall Classic and the South Bronx | |
| Sarah Smith | Feel the Beat | |
| Hayley Camacho | First Christmas | |
| Colleen Boris | My Dad was a Teamster Man, Not a Social Worker ... and Yet | |
| Sidra Lackey | I am a Tattooed Woman | |
| Ranjit K. Sahu | Little Things | |
| Jose Quiles | Webster Avenue and Nearby | |
| Peggy Robles-Alvarado | Undocumented | |
| Dale Benjamin Drakeford | Uncle Brondus | |
| Susan Rotgard | Bronx Memories | |
| Michael Cruz | Theresa | |
| Lucy Aponte | When the Bronx Was Burning | |
| Louie Santiago | I saw Fordham Road | |
| Yadhira Gonzalez-Taylor, Esq | Eighties Bronx as Seen Through the Eyes of an Eight-Year-Old | |
| Marte-Bautista | El Misinformed | |
| Sonia Fuentes Resto | The Kelly Street I Knew | |
| Toby Z Liederman | Bill's in Calvary | |
| Shavonne Bell | Wake me Up at 6:30 | |
| Olga Kitt | Joe and Jose | |
| B. Lynn Carter | Snow and Fog | |
| Barbara Gurkin Fasciani | School Days | |
| Lydia Clark | Irene Gertrude Felix, 1921 | |
| Jose Cenac | Trayectoria Academica | |
| Jhon Sanchez | El Casi-casi esta vez en mayo |
Bronx Memoir Project Volume 2
After great success in using memoir allowing readers experience the Bronx through the eyes of the people who call it home instead of the media depiction a second volume was created. The memoir was published in the Fall of 2017 and has returning voices but feature a lot of new writers who seek to showcase the Bronx as their home, instead of the media depiction of: The Bronx is Burning.
References
- ^ a b c d "A trio of Bronx tomes tell the tales of the borough". NY Daily News. Retrieved 2016-01-24.
- ^ a b c d "Writing to Heal in the Bronx". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2016-01-24.
- ^ "Bronx Council on the Arts Receives National Endowment for the Arts Grant for The Bronx Memoir Project - Bronx, NY". www.americantowns.com. Retrieved 2016-01-24.
- ^ "Bronx Council on the Arts Receives National Endowment for the Arts grant for the Bronx Memoir Project" (PDF). Bronx Free Press. p. 20.
- ^ Williams, Jaime. "Writing Center wants Bronxites Memoirs". Bronx Times. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
- ^ "Collection of Bronx stories to be released". NY Daily News. Retrieved 2016-01-24.
- ^ "A Memoir of the Bronx – Written by Locals". voicesofny.org. Retrieved 2016-01-24.
- ^ "Bronx Memoir Project features aspiring authors". News 12 Bronx. Retrieved 2016-01-24.