We were honored to host Angie Thomas, author of The Hate U Give and seminal voice of the Black Lives Matter movement, for a virtual event this summer. Thousands of students, educators, and more tuned in live from across the country –– to join them, click below and experience the groundbreaking conversation for yourself.
Our current theme is struggle. At home and abroad, we see near universal struggling –– for justice, for freedom, and for safety and well-being during a pandemic. But we struggle with hope, because we know that out of struggle comes progress. We ask our participants to write on this broad theme, to direct it any way they please, and to continue thinking about how we’re all struggling, and what we’re struggling for, in the present moment.
I love that The Decameron Project brings so many kinds of history together – literary, cultural, political – and makes them live in the present. Individual stories in a collective reality. I’m wildly curious to know what all of you are seeing, thinking and feeling, and what words you choose to express that.
Student writers are the core of our Project. Jackie Cole, a junior in high school, was our first winner in our untamed writing category –– click here to hear her thoughts on the project, and her reaction to her story being read aloud by Advisory Board member Judith Thurman.
While a student organization, The Decameron Project partners with a broad range of prominent literary figures – including prize-winning authors, journalists, and teachers – who compose our advisory board. They recognize the value of our mission, and help in any way they can to make it a reality.
The Center for Fiction supports and celebrates the creation of fiction in all its forms. It brings communities together as readers and writers of all ages to share and develop a passion for storytelling. Over its long history, it has featured Mark Twain, Frederick Douglass, and Harriet Beecher Stowe as speakers; and Edgar Allan Poe as a resident writer. We’re proud to partner with The Center for Fiction, and their KidsRead program, in making The Decameron Project a reality.
The New York Public Library has been an essential provider of free books, information, ideas, and education for all New Yorkers for more than 100 years. Founded in 1895, the NYPL is the largest public library system in the United States –– featuring a unique combination of 88 neighborhood branches and four scholarly research centers and bringing together an extraordinary richness of resources and opportunities available to all. We are delighted to partner with the NYPL in their mission to inspire lifelong learning, advance knowledge, and strengthen our communities.
NYC Youth Leadership Councils (YLCs) are a network of youth groups focused on policy, practice and advocacy to make local change happen. YLC NYC is part of NYC Service, a division of the Office of the Mayor focused on volunteerism and service in NYC, launched in April 2009 in response to President Barack Obama’s national call for volunteerism. NYC Service’s mission is simple: to deepen and expand civic engagement through volunteer and service programs, creating sustainable change for New York’s greatest needs. It is our great privilege to partner with NYC Service to expand The Decameron Project’s reach throughout New York City and beyond.
Find out more about who we are, what we aim to do, and how you can join our vision.
