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Launched in the spring of 1991 in collaboration
with United Neighborhood Houses (UNH), the National
Book Foundation has successfully implemented the New
York City Settlement House program, featuring author
residencies with distinguished National Book Award Finalists
Dorothy Allison, Cristina Garcia, Jessica Hagedorn,
Michael Harper, and more, in culturally less advantaged
neighborhoods throughout the Bronx, East Harlem, and
Manhattan's Lower East Side. Meeting with single mothers,
high school dropouts, English as a Second Language students,
and adult readers studying for their High School Graduate
Equivalency Degree, author visits focused upon encouraging
students to pursue a love of literature through readings
that dealt with themes relevant to the participants'
lives, and through writing exercises about their personal
experiences.
It is important to note that the Foundation works in
settlement houses with century-old traditions of serving
their neighborhoods. Many of the students and settlement
house staff, have never experienced the presence of
an author. Moreover, most of the individuals whom we
serve through this program have never read a book in
its entirety; and in some cases, the books we donate
represent the first book they have ever owned.
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