Our Workshops

Next PAGE has launched its first trauma-informed creative writing workshop in partnership with Getting Out and Staying Out (GOSO) in East Harlem and is now expanding to juvenile detention centers in the South Bronx and Brownsville.

The literacy gap among system-involved youth is stark: many enter juvenile detention functionally illiterate, making it difficult to finish school, apply for jobs, or navigate life after release. Yet literacy education has been shown to reduce recidivism by nearly half.

Now, Next PAGE students ages 17 to 24 reading at a third grade level and above explore storytelling as a pathway to healing, identity-building, and community connection. Each week, participants gather in a restorative, arts-based space to reflect, write, and share. Instructors and guest artists meet students where they are, using oral storytelling, journaling, spoken word, cartooning, and hip-hop as tools for authentic expression.

Our pilot programming marks a foundational step toward our mission: using creative writing to strengthen literacy, foster reentry, and help youth reclaim their voices.

Support our workshops.