Word Works

{{Short description|American literary organization and publisher}}

The Word Works is a literary organization based in Washington, DC. Founded in 1974, it has published works by Frannie Lindsay, Fred Marchant, Jay Rogoff,[https://www.pw.org/small_presses/the_word_works Poets & Writers The Word Works] Grace Cavalieri, Donna Denizé, Christopher Bursk, and Enid Shomer[https://www.spdbooks.org/AdvancedSearch/DefaultWfilter.aspx?SearchTerm=PubName&PublisherName=The%20Word%20Works Small Press Distribution | The Word Works]

and is a member of the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses.[https://www.clmp.org/readers/publisher/the-word-works/ CLMP Directory of Publishers] The Word Works features contemporary poetry and literature, often written by emerging poets.[http://library.gwu.edu/ead/ms2047.xml Preliminary Guide to the Word Works, Inc. Records, 1971-2013], Special Collections Research Center, Estelle and Melvin Gelman Library, The George Washington University The Word Works titles have been reviewed by Publishers Weekly,[https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-915380-30-5 Publishers Weekly | Book Review | Tipping Point by Fred Marchant | 01/31/1994] The Rumpus,[https://therumpus.net/2020/10/the-high-shelf-by-nadia-colburn/ The Rumpus | Any Moment Is a Door: Nadia Colburn’s The High Shelf | Reviewed by Kasey Jueds | October 23rd, 2020] The Common,[https://www.thecommononline.org/review-nerve-chorus/ The Common | Review: Nerve Chorus | Book by WILLA CARROLL | Reviewed by Andrea Jurjević | August 11, 20218] Lambda Literary,[https://lambdaliterary.org/2018/05/seed-by-david-eye/ Lambda Literary | The Seed by David Eye | reviewed by Walter Holland | May 3, 2018] Kirkus, and other venues; and distributed by Small Press Distribution, Ingram Content Group, Baker & Taylor.[https://www.clmp.org/readers/publisher/the-word-works/ CLMP Directory of Publishers][https://www.spdbooks.org/AdvancedSearch/DefaultWfilter.aspx?SearchTerm=PubName&PublisherName=The%20Word%20Works Small Press Distribution | The Word Works]

Founded as a non-profit organization staffed by volunteers, The Word Works was originally funded through frequent grants received from the National Endowment for the Arts. These grants were supplemented through private donations and revenue from book sales. Word Works has also received grants from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, the Witter Bynner Foundation, the Maryland Council on the Arts, the Virginia Commission on the Arts, the Batir Foundation, Bell Atlantic, the David G Taft Foundation, and Poets & Writers (NY).[http://www.wordworksdc.com./org_profile.html#grants The Word Works Vitals]

Since 1981, the press has overseen a yearly literary competition awarding the $1,500 Washington Prize for a winning poetry manuscript. The organization has also hosted the longest running literary series in the Washington area through their Joaquin Miller Cabin series at the Joaquin Miller Cabin in Rock Creek Park. The Joaquin Miller Poetry Series ceased programming as of June 2022. The Word Works has several book imprints, including the Washington Prize, the Hilary Tham Capital Collection, the Tenth Gate Prize, and International Editions. It also accepts poetry manuscripts during an annual open reading period.{{cn|date= January 2025}}

In addition to publishing books of poetry, the organization has launched other projects on a regular basis. In the early 1980s, the Word Works sponsored an oral history project, which recorded the development of the African-American intellectual and professional community in Washington, D.C., between the 1922 dedication of the Lincoln Memorial and the 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. The program, conceived and led by Betty Parry, culminated in a symposium at the Folger Shakespeare Library, “In the Shadow of the Capitol,” presenting the principals of that era (e.g., Sterling Brown and May Miller) to a new generation of Washingtonians. Those sessions can still be heard at D.C. Digital Museum. From 1996 to 2003, the organization held arts retreats in Tuscany, Italy.Collaborating in 2005 with Grace Episcopal Church of Georgetown, D.C., The Word Works sponsored Poetry on Stage, presenting a taste of the oral tradition from medieval bards to modern blues, jazz, and rap, through the poetry of Allen Ginsberg, Sterling Brown, Langston Hughes, and others. The eight-week course included writing new work and practicing effective delivery on stage.{{cn|date= January 2025}}

Collaborations have also been part of its history, such as Kim Roberts’ The Spoken Word and the “Splendid Wake” Reading Series.

The organization's archives are housed at the Special Collections Research Center in the Estelle and Melvin Gelman Library at The George Washington University.