Teachers & Writers Collaborative is a New York City-based organization that sends writers and other artists into schools. It was founded in 1967 by a group of writers and educators, including Herbert Kohl (the group's founding director), June Jordan, Muriel Rukeyser, Grace Paley, and Anne Sexton, who believed that writers could make a unique contribution to the teaching of writing. Teachers & Writers was initially funded by a grant from the United States Office of Education.

T&W's first project was at Manhattan's P.S. 75, with workshops coordinated by Phillip Lopate. The project model led to similar Artists-in-the-Schools programs in all 50 states. to 5 Union Square West, and in 1985 the organization opened the "Center for Imaginative Writing", a resource library and meeting space for teachers, students, writers, and the general public. Poet Ron Padgett was editor of Teachers & Writers Magazine from 1980 to 2000; Padgett was the organization's director of publications from around 1982 to 1999.

In 2004, T&W began administering the annual Bechtel Prize, endowed by the Cerimon Fund in honor of Louise Seaman Bechtel. The winning essay appears in Teachers & Writers Magazine (now in online form), and the author receives a $1,000 honorarium. Possible topics for Bechtel Prize submissions include contemporary issues in classroom teaching, innovative approaches to teaching literary forms and genres, and the intersection between literature and imaginative writing.

In 2005, T&W hired Amy Swauger as executive director, taking over from Nancy Larson Shapiro, who had served in the position for 26 years. That same year, T&W was among 406 New York City arts and social service institutions to receive part of a $20 million grant from the Carnegie Corporation, which was made possible through a donation by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg.

T&W moved to Manhattan's Garment District in 2006, opening a new Center for Imaginative Writing which hosted readings, book parties, and workshops. T&W moved to Brooklyn in 2019.

Other writers who have been a part of T&W over the years include Lennox Raphael, Jesús Papoleto Meléndez, Sam Swope, Matthew Sharpe, Susan Mernit, Meredith Sue Willis, and Bill Zavatsky.

Asari Beale became the organization's executive director in 2019.

Board of directors

As of 2020, T&W's board of directors included Patricia Hampl, Steven Schrader, and Tiphanie Yanique. Past board members have included Herbert Kohl, Phillip Lopate, Walter Dean Myers, Ron Padgett, Emily Raboteau, and Robert B. Silvers.

Notes

  • Teachers & Writers magazine website