The Bronx Memoir Project: Vol. 1 is a published anthology by The Bronx Council on the Arts and brought forth through a series of workshops meant to empower Bronx residents and shed the stigma on the Bronx's burning past.
History 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, secured by Bronx Writing Center Director Ms. Mario Romano in August 2013. 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. 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".
Bronx Memoir Project Volume 1 Published in November 2014 by BCA Media and edited by Bronx Writer Center Director, Charlie Vazquez. This is published anthology of memoir pieces written by participants in the workshop. A first of its kind anthology that bring readers into the Bronx through the eyes of its residents.
Participating Writers Authors NameMemoir TitleAwardNahshon Dion AndersonRatcliffBronx Recognizes Its ownBarbara NahmiasMediitationGeorge ColonOn a Bronx Rooftop Long AgoEd FriedmanChevroletErsilia CrawfordPolio, Mothers and World War TwoHayley CamachoJust a Quiet Saturday NightDahlma Llanos-FigueroaThe ShootingMiguel MateoThe Next and Last StopSiri Edna NelsonItalian, Irish, French Canadian and GermanAndrea PurchasBack In the DayGerault RotondoBronx ReduxPhyllis BowdwinNew Miracles on 34th StreetJean HarripersaudA Library as Beautiful as the BronxCynthia TimmsHappiness in the House on 161st StreetJose CenacEducation JourneyDeborah William-CampsI remember When I Lost You!Christina Marie CastroThe Day I Play Hookie from KindergartenAnn SealyA Conversation with My SonKenny WilliamsHow I Got Started in Show BusinessAwilda AponteAdventures in Motherhood-1977Alice MyersonAs It WasJudio EdysonHunts Point Behind a GlassJhon SanchezWriting 'Major Ascension Luna'Laurie HumpelMorning and EveningMaria MeliSwamp GuineasOlga KittThe Products of a Social ExperimentJoseph CarrionJuly 1977David DueniasUntitledSteven L. LeslieCowpath LaneBernice CoxBest Friend LostOrlando Ferrand2000Bronx Recognizes Its ownMandy LopezAfter Thirteen Years!Erykah SolanoUntitledBrian RodriquezUntitledDolores ScarpatoBronx StoryMindy MatijasevicAre You Lonesome Tonight?B. LawrenceUntitledJudy BratnickMathlandPaul TorresThe AccidentEdgar E. CabreraThe Fall Classic and the South BronxSarah SmithFeel the BeatHayley CamachoFirst ChristmasColleen BorisMy Dad was a Teamster Man, Not a Social Worker ... and YetSidra LackeyI am a Tattooed WomanRanjit K. SahuLittle ThingsJose QuilesWebster Avenue and NearbyPeggy Robles-AlvaradoUndocumentedDale Benjamin DrakefordUncle BrondusSusan RotgardBronx MemoriesMichael CruzTheresaLucy AponteWhen the Bronx Was BurningLouie SantiagoI saw Fordham RoadYadhira Gonzalez-Taylor, EsqEighties Bronx as Seen Through the Eyes of an Eight-Year-OldMarte-BautistaEl MisinformedSonia Fuentes RestoThe Kelly Street I KnewToby Z LiedermanBill's in CalvaryShavonne BellWake me Up at 6:30Olga KittJoe and JoseB. Lynn CarterSnow and FogBarbara Gurkin FascianiSchool DaysLydia ClarkIrene Gertrude Felix, 1921Jose CenacTrayectoria AcademicaJhon SanchezEl Casi-casi esta vez en mayo
Bronx Memoir Project Volume 2 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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