Summer Weekend Workshops
Starting in mid-July, 826DC will host Saturday afternoon workshops for kids who like pens, pencils, and air-conditioned spaces. To sign up, please click the link below the workshop description of your choice or stop by 826DC in person!
Read More »
The Weight of the Day Surrounds My Body
826DC to release fifth student-authored anthology
On May 22nd, 826DC will release The Weight of the Day Surrounds My Body, our fifth student-authored anthology. The book features essays, fiction, and poetry by students from Duke Ellington School for the Arts, Woodrow Wilson High School, and Ballou High School. Award-winning author DInaw Mengestu (The Beatuiful Things that Heaven Bears (2007) and How To Read the Air (2010) penned the forward to the book.
Read More »
Dispatches from National Poetry Month
An Interview with Jen Benka, Executive Director of The Academy of American Poets
National Poetry Month is a month-long, national celebration of poetry established by the Academy of American Poets. In celebration of National Poetry Month, I had an opportunity to interview Jennifer Benka, the Executive Director of the Academy of American Poets. Jen has spent more than two decades in nonprofit management, particularly serving national organizations dedicated to writing and poetry. Prior to joining the Academy of American Poets, she worked with 826 National as the National Director of Development and Marketing, the Vice President of Development for the Bay Citizen, and as Managing Director of Poets and Writers in New York City. She is also an accomplished writer in her own right. She holds a BA in Journalism from Marquette University, an MFA in Creative Writing-Poetry from The New School, and is the author of two books of poetry, Pinko (Hanging Loose Press) and A Box of Longing With Fifty Drawers (Soft Skull Press).
