Welcome to VOICES:
A Creative Community
Welcome to VOICES!
VOICES is a nonprofit organization founded in 1992 to offer creative writing classes,
primarily to at-risk children and adults. VOICES also offers writer residencies in
public schools, and provides staff development workshops for teachers and other
professionals who wish to learn how to use our materials to teach writing.
VOICES was founded by Richard Krawiec. Mr. Krawiec has published
two novels, Time Sharing and Faith in What? (which was
nominated for a National Book Award), a collection of short stories, And Fools of
God, and dozens of essays and poems. His feature articles have won regional and
national awards. A recipient of a Master's Degree from the University of New
Hampshire, Mr. Krawiec has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts,
the North Carolina Arts Council, and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.
NEW,
NOVEMBER 2003! Find
out about plans for Voysez Cafe, a new project
in downtown Raleigh, NC
.
Coffee, books, artists, performers, and more!
NEW,
JUNE 2002! "Steps",
an online literary magazine from VOICES, featuring writing by adult learners. Read the
latest issue by clicking here.
To learn about VOICES'
online writing workshop for educators seeking Teacher Renewal Credits, click here.
VOICES holds workshops for parents,
educators and others interested in teaching writing, or using the writing process to
develop better parenting, literacy, teamwork, or critical thinking skills. If you'd
like to find out more, or have a workshop designed to meet your needs, please email VOICES.
We will soon be offering
expanded classes, including writing, computers, Spanish, parenting, and more, at
the education center at the new Family Life Center on Hargett Street in Raleigh, NC.
To find out more about our on-site workshops and classes, please email VOICES.
You may also call for information; the local number in Raleigh, NC is 919-836-9500.
To learn more about or to
order VOICES books and workbooks click here.
To learn more about some of
our recent special projects, click
here.
About
VOICES
In addition to focusing on all
aspects of the Writing Process,
VOICES teaches critical and creative thinking skills, emergent oral
and written literacy, teamwork, and community building through its unique
writing classes. VOICES teaches adults and children in housing projects,
homeless shelters, prisons, mental health facilities, literacy and ESL
classes, daycare centers, public schools, and elsewhere. VOICES
also trains teachers, social service professionals and volunteers,
community groups, and nonprofits how to facilitate personal and
community change through writing.
VOICES publishes books written by its learners, and textbooks,
in English and Spanish, that show parents, educators and social service agencies
how to teach writing using a learning-centered, participatory approach.
Our recent Raleigh adult classes have
included "Writing and Recovery", "Spanish
For Lunch" "Poetry from Africa to Japan", "Play Writing",
"Telling Your Story", and "Creative Writing and Computers".
Please contact
us for a current list of classes and workshops. (Back to
top)
Recent
Projects
"A de
Altar"
"A de Altar" is a book created by ESL students using a bilingual language
experience approach and photography. A joint project of VOICES and
Casa Multicultural, you can find out more about the book and see it
at the Project Focus website.
Bookmaking with the Children of Migrants
VOICES' Director Richard Krawiec was recently hired by the Duke Center
for Documentary Studies and Student Action for Farmworkers to teach
writing workshops to middle school children whose parents are migrant
workers. The children produced a series of handmade poetry books,
in English and Spanish, that were recently exhibited at the Center.
Working with ACCESS, an agency helping homeless and other
disadvantaged people, VOICES worked with clients to write
about important chairs in their lives, photograph chairs
around Raleigh, and decorate discarded chairs. VOICES produced
a documentary video of the process. The chairs, writing and photos
were displayed in downtown Raleigh, at a national conference in
Washington, DC, and at the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Social Work.
Women on Death Row
VOICES worked with women on Death Row to write, produce, and perform
an original one-act play. A professional production of this play was recently
staged in Raleigh, in tandem with a play written and performed, under
VOICES' guidance, by homeless citizens.
This Spanish translation of our "Writing FunShop" workbook has
been used to give Spanish-speaking parents a tool for helping their
children improve their literacy skills in both their native and second languages.
(Back to top)
This page last updated
November 4, 2003. (c) VOICES, PO Box 2444, Raleigh, NC 27602, 1999-2000.