The Claude Brown Writers & Readers Series is an annual program for adult learners sponsored by the University of the District of Columbia, State Education Agency. Since 2000, the series has brought together adult learners and published authors of color—novelists, journalists, and poets—to increase the literacy skills of adult learners by stimulating their interest in reading and writing.

As an outgrowth of this popular program, the State Education Agency supports a fiction and nonfiction writing workshop each year for adult learners. We have been graced with two outstanding instructors—Marita Golden, novelist and President of the Hurston/Wright Foundation and Patricia Elam, author of Breathing Room—who have encouraged adult learners to express themselves through writing, and helped them develop the techniques to do so.

INTERNATIONAL LITERACY WEEK PUBLICATIONS
Beginning in 2003, the Claude Brown Writers & Readers Series focused on the participants as emerging writers. At every session, participants were asked to do a writing exercise, excerpts of which are published in the books below. Adult learners wrote from their hearts about various themes. These passages are spontaneous expressions, showing the insights of adult learners and the wealth of experience they bring to the learning process. The prose is enhanced by photographs of the Series. Click on a cover below to download a PDF of the entire book.

2003 International Literacy week book (2.8 MB)

2004 International Literacy week book (3.1 MB)



Related writings:
A Life to Tell, by Marie Morris
Thank you, Claude Brown


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Writers & Readers Photo Essay
Since 2000, the Claude Brown Writers & Readers series has brought together adult learners and published authors of color—novelists, journalists, and poets—to increase the literacy skills of adult learners by stimulating their interest in reading and writing.

Click here for the photo essay.

November 3, 2004
STANICE ANDERSON, I Say a Prayer For Me: One Woman’s Life of Faith and Triumph
Stanice Anderson’s books have been featured, reviewed and ranked Weekly, Sister2Sister magazine and BET.com to Black Expressions, Gospel Today and Essence magazine. Booklist referred to her work as, “Profoundly Inspiring.”

December 1, 2004
PATRICK SANCHEZ, Girlfriends
Patrick Sanchez grew up in the Maryland suburbs of DC. He was doing technical writing when he decided to attempt a novel. The result, Girlfriends, introduces a memorable trio of urban twenty-ish females living in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of D.C. who are searching for the perfect job, the perfect apartment, the perfect

January 12, 2005
LEON WYNTER, American Skin: Pop Culture, Big Business, and the End of White America
Leon Wynter created and wrote the “Business and Race” column for the Wall Street Journal for ten years and is a regular contributor to National Public Radio. His essays on race, business, and American culture have been published in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and New York Times.mate.

February 2, 2005
WIL HAYGOOD, In Black and White: The Life of
Sammy Davis Jr.
Washington Post writer Wil Haygood recently won the Hurston/Wright Foundation Legacy award for his biography of Sammy Davis Jr; Denzel Washington bought the movie rights. Haygood is also author of a biography of Adam Clayton Powell and a family memoir.

March 2, 2005
KEVIN P. CHAVOUS, Serving Our Children: Charter Schools and the Reform of American Public Education
Kevin P. Chavous is the Ward 7 Representative on the DC Council and Chair of the Committee on Education, Libraries & Recreation. He is a national advocate for school choice, partner in a law firm, and adjunct professor at American University.

April 6, 2005
David Anthony Durham, Pride of Carthage
David Anthony Durham was born in New York City and spent his formative years in Trinidad, his parents’ homeland. He received a B.A. and M.F.A. from the University of Maryland and won the Hurston/Wright Fiction Award in 1992.

May 4, 2005
CAROLIVIA HERRON, Nappy Hair
Dr. Carolivia Herron, author of Nappy Hair, currently lives in Washington, DC where she is writing fiction, pursuing scholarship, developing multimedia educational products, establishing writing clubs, and teaching periodic specialty courses in universities.

June 1, 2005
CRYSTAL WILKINSON, Blackberries, Blackberries
Crystal Wilkinson, who describes herself as a black, country girl grew up in rural Kentucky and teaches creative writing. Until recently, she served as the asst. director of the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning. She is a charter member of Affrilachian Poets.

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30% of DC residents age 16 and older have no high school diploma.

"Inspiration is everywhere."
–Ethel Gray, Adult Learner

"Writing stories is another way of living successfully in the world."
–Marita Golden, novelist

"As a writer, my job is to be a lens so you can see the world better."
–Hamil Harris, Journalist, The Washington Post