Writers in Schools Intern (Summer 2019)
Writers in Schools (WinS) is PEN/Faulkner’s K-12 literary arts education and community outreach programming. WinS brings contemporary literature and living writers into under-resourced DC public schools, public charter schools, community organizations, and the DC Jail; donates books to low-income readers; administers an annual Youth Essay Contest; hosts in-class personal essay writing workshop residencies with professional writers; provides bilingual Spanish/English books and programming; and offers summer youth programming. We believe that through literature and writing students develop self-confidence and imagination; come to see reading as both an act and an identity; view writing as self-expression and self-narrative; experience the personalization of literary expression; and develop a sense of global citizenship and community.
Tasks include:
- Helping coordinate author visits; attending visits as an Author Ambassador.
- Supporting the PEN/Faulkner Summer Youth Writers Camp June 24-July 3.
- Researching contemporary authors and books to add to our roster.
- Writing and editing book synopses and author bios for outreach purposes.
- Researching multi-media texts (essays, poetry, videos, songs, visual art) to support student learning of our core texts.
- Crafting content for print and web.
- Generating content for multiple social media platforms.
- Supporting information management of book lists, author database, website, and volunteers.
- Researching DC public and charter school partners, publishers, and community organizations.
- Assisting with program evaluation.
- Supporting, where possible, PEN/Faulkner’s Literary Conversations events (author readings).
- General administrative tasks.
The ideal candidate has:
- Excellent time management skills.
- Superb attention to detail.
- An interest in arts-based education outreach programs.
- The ability and drive to work independently and as part of a team.
- High level of proficiency with the GSuite platform (Gmail, GDocs, etc.).
- A willingness to pitch in on all assignments.
- A willingness to take risks, accept feedback, and grow.
- A good sense of humor.
We are also interested in candidates who have:
- Experience with social media and writing for the web.
- Experience with basic graphic design.
- Written and oral fluency in Spanish at a native-speaker level.