Bronx Memoir Project: Vol. 1

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,{{Cite web|title = Writing to Heal in the Bronx|url = http://www.huffingtonpost.com/charlie-vazquez/writing-to-heal-in-the-br_b_7485218.html|website = The Huffington Post|access-date = 2016-01-24}}{{Cite web|title = Bronx Council on the Arts Receives National Endowment for the Arts Grant for The Bronx Memoir Project - Bronx, NY|url = http://www.americantowns.com/ny/bronx/news/bronx-council-on-the-arts-receives-national-endowment-for-the-arts-grant-for-the-bronx-memoir-project-15548834|website = www.americantowns.com|access-date = 2016-01-24}} secured by Bronx Writing Center Director Ms. Mario Romano in August 2013.{{Cite news|url=http://thebronxfreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/BFP-08-14-13-PAGES-LRS.pdf|title=Bronx Council on the Arts Receives National Endowment for the Arts grant for the Bronx Memoir Project|work=Bronx Free Press|page=20}} 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.

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.{{cite news|last1=Williams|first1=Jaime|title=Writing Center wants Bronxites Memoirs|url=http://www.bxtimes.com/stories/2014/13/12-memoir-2014-03-20-bx_2014_13.html|accessdate=30 January 2016|publisher=Bronx Times}} 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 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.

The participants in the workshops had some of their memoir pieces published in an anthology "Bronx Memoir Project Vol-1".

Published in November 2014 by BCA Media and edited by Bronx Writer Center Director, Charlie Vazquez.{{Cite web|title = Collection of Bronx stories to be released|url = http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/bronx/collection-bronx-stories-released-article-1.2030843|website = NY Daily News|access-date = 2016-01-24}} This is published anthology of memoir pieces written by participants in the workshop.{{Cite web|title = A Memoir of the Bronx – Written by Locals|url = http://voicesofny.org/2014/12/memoir-bronx-written-locals/|website = voicesofny.org|access-date = 2016-01-24}}{{Cite web|title = Bronx Memoir Project features aspiring authors|url = http://bronx.news12.com/news/bronx-council-on-the-arts-publishes-aspiring-authors-in-bronx-memoir-project-1.9680318|website = News 12 Bronx|access-date = 2016-01-24}} A first of its kind anthology that bring readers into the Bronx through the eyes of its residents.

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.

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Category:American non-fiction books

Category:2014 non-fiction books

Category:History of the Bronx

Category:The Bronx in fiction