This long-running program inspires New York City public high school students to connect with contemporary and classic literature by attending Poetry Center readings and meeting with featured authors.
Founded in 1987, the Project engages approximately 1,500 students each year from 15 high schools and is free-of-charge for students and their schools.
Press & Testimonials
New York Times journalist Amanda M. Fairbanks wrote about the Schools Project. Read the full article.
“The Christopher Lightfoot Walker Literature Project has enabled me, on a number of occasions, to meet groups of New York City high school students to discuss my work. These meetings have invariably been lively, direct, and extraordinarily interesting to me, and, I hope, also to the students concerned. I feel that I gained at least as much from the young people as I was able to give them, and I can't stress enough how important and valuable I believe these encounters to be.”
Salman Rushdie
“One of my most memorable appearances involved meeting students from the Christopher Lightfoot Walker Literature Project at the 92nd Street Y. The students were fantastic listeners and participants. To see these young writers and artists at the beginning of their creative life was inspiring. It was truly a gift to me to be able to interact with such delightful young people.”
Claudia Rankine
The Poetry Center/Union Settlement Adult Literacy Outreach Project
The Poetry Center/Union Settlement Adult Literacy Outreach Project is designed to encourage students participating in the Adult Literacy Program at the Union Settlement Association in East Harlem to undertake the challenges of learning English through reading contemporary literature in a carefully structured program.
Selected authors appearing in the Poetry Center’s Reading Series visit the Union Settlement Association to lead a discussion/workshop with students, who are also invited to attend the authors’ 92Y readings.
For more information, please contact the Poetry Center at 212.415.5760 / email.