826nyc
Encyclopedia
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
) dedicated to supporting students ages 6 to 18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write. Services are structured around the belief that great leaps in learning can happen with one-on-one attention, and that strong writing skills are fundamental to future success. With this in mind 826NYC provides free drop-in tutoring, after-school workshops, in-schools tutoring, help for English language learners, and assistance with student publications. Drawing from a volunteer base of over 1,000, which includes many teachers, writers and journalism professionals, 826NYC unites eager students with eager helpers. There are also 826 National
826 National
826 National is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping students, ages 6–18, with expository and creative writing at eight locations across the USA...
chapters in San Francisco (826 Valencia
826 Valencia
826 Valencia is a non-profit organisation dedicated to helping children and young adults develop writing skills and to helping teachers inspire their students to write.-Overview:...
), LA (826LA
826LA
826LA is a Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6 to 18 with their creative and expository writing skills and helping teachers inspire their students to write. Programs are structured around the beliefs that great leaps in learning can happen with...
), Seattle (826 Seattle
826 Seattle
826 Seattle is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6 to 18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write. It is a regional chapter of the 826 National organization, founded by authors Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida...
), Chicago (826CHI), Ann Arbor (826 Michigan
826 Michigan
826michigan is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6 to 18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write.-History:...
), and Boston (826 Boston
826 Boston
826 Boston is a nonprofit writing and tutoring center located in Egleston Square, a community situated between the Jamaica Plain and Roxbury neighborhoods of Boston...
),
Brooklyn Superhero Supply
826 Valencia
826 Valencia is a non-profit organisation dedicated to helping children and young adults develop writing skills and to helping teachers inspire their students to write.-Overview:...
’s storefront pirate shop, and which sells capes, grappling hooks, utility belts (new and vintage), masks, tights, deflector bracelets, bottles of chaos and anti-gravity, secret identity kits, and more. Visitors to the store can try out capes for free in a cape-testing wind tunnel (essentially a series of fans on a pedestal). The store sells new and back issues of Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern
Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern
Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern is a literary journal, first published in 1998, edited by Dave Eggers. The first issue featured only works rejected by other magazines, but thereafter the journal began to include pieces written with McSweeney's in mind. McSweeney’s has since published works by...
, The Believer
The Believer (magazine)
The Believer is a United States literary magazine that also covers other arts and general culture. Founded and designed in 2003 by the writer and publisher Dave Eggers, it is edited by Vendela Vida, Heidi Julavits and Ed Park...
,Wholphin
Wholphin (DVD)
Wholphin is a quarterly DVD magazine containing a selection of short films which have had little or no exposure elsewhere. It was created by Dave Eggers and Brent Hoff of McSweeney's publishing house...
, and other McSweeney's publications. The Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co. also carries a complete stock of publications written and edited by students at 826NYC including Trapped: The Encyclopedia of Escape, Sonny Paine, and issues 1 and 2 of The 826NYC Review. The store front is literally a front for the charitable organization, with all sales going to the organization. The store employs volunteers.
The design of the store features many tongue-in-cheek signs and features, and the staff treat their products as real super-hero supplies, and visitors as real super-heroes. The secret lair to the student learning and activity center lies behind a swinging bookcase.
Events
826NYC is known for hosting culturally innovative fundraising events. In August 2006, 826NYC was the starting point for the Revenge Of The Book Eaters Tour, which stopped in each of the six cities home to an 826 National center. The NYC stop, at The Beacon Theater, featured performances by Jon StewartJon Stewart
Jon Stewart is an American political satirist, writer, television host, actor, media critic and stand-up comedian...
, David Byrne
David Byrne
David Byrne may refer to:*David Byrne , musician and former Talking Heads frontman**David Byrne , his eponymous album*David Byrne , Irish footballer*David Byrne , English footballer...
, Sufjan Stevens
Sufjan Stevens
Sufjan Stevens is an American singer-songwriter and musician born in Detroit, Michigan. Stevens first began releasing his music on Asthmatic Kitty, a label co-founded with his stepfather, beginning with the 1999 release, A Sun Came...
, Dave Eggers
Dave Eggers
Dave Eggers is an American writer, editor, and publisher. He is known for the best-selling memoir A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and for his more recent work as a screenwriter. He is also the co-founder of the literacy project 826 Valencia.-Life:Eggers was born in Boston, Massachusetts,...
, Sarah Vowell
Sarah Vowell
Sarah Jane Vowell is an American author, journalist, essayist and social commentator. Often referred to as a "social observer," Vowell has written five nonfiction books on American history and culture, and was a contributing editor for the radio program This American Life on Public Radio...
, John Hodgman
John Hodgman
John Kellogg Hodgman is an American author, actor, and humorist. In addition to his published written works, such as The Areas of My Expertise, More Information Than You Require, and That Is All, he is known for his personification of a PC in contrast to Justin Long's personification of a Mac in...
, Eric Bogosian
Eric Bogosian
Eric Bogosian is an American actor, playwright, monologist, and novelist of Armenian descent.-Personal life:Bogosian, an Armenian-American, was born in Woburn, Massachusetts, the son of Edwina, a hairdresser and instructor, and Henry Bogosian, an accountant. After graduating from Oberlin College,...
, Jonathan Coulton
Jonathan Coulton
Jonathan Coulton is an American singer-songwriter, known for his songs about geek culture and his use of the Internet to draw fans...
, and John Roderick
John Roderick
John Roderick is an American musician and writer. Born in Seattle, Washington, he grew up in Anchorage, Alaska. He is currently the lead singer and guitarist in the band The Long Winters and was formerly a touring member of the band Harvey Danger...
in an evening that promised once and for all to settle the debate: words or music–which is better?
Other 826NYC fundraising events have included 826NYC Art Show (curated by Marcel Dzama
Marcel Dzama
Marcel Dzama is a contemporary artist who lives and works in New York. His work has been exhibited internationally, in particular his ink and watercolor drawings.-Range of practice:...
, Shelley Dick, and David Zwirner Gallery
David Zwirner Gallery
David Zwirner Gallery is a contemporary art gallery in New York City owned by David Zwirner that is active in both the primary and secondary markets....
), 826NYC Fashion Show/Spring 2006 Collection (featuring crimefighting-wear designed by Marc Jacobs
Marc Jacobs
Marc Jacobs is an American fashion designer. He is the head designer for Marc Jacobs, as well as Marc by Marc Jacobs, a diffusion line, with more than 200 retail stores in 60 countries. He has been the creative director of the French design house Louis Vuitton since 1997...
, Zac Posen
Zac Posen
- Early life :Posen was raised in the SoHo neighborhood of lower Manhattan, the son of artist Stephen Posen and corporate lawyer Susan Posen. His interest in fashion design started early, and as a child he would steal yarmulkes from his grandparents' synagogue to make ball dresses for dolls...
, Jack Spade, Behnaz Sarafpour
Behnaz Sarafpour
Behnaz Sarafpour is a New York City-based designer who introduced a line of women's apparel bearing her name in 2001.She attended Parsons School of Design, where she was honored with the Golden Thimble Award, and has held design positions at Isaac Mizrahi, Narciso Rodriguez, Richard Tyler, Anne...
, Rebecca Taylor, Kenneth Cole
Kenneth Cole (designer)
Kenneth Cole is an American clothing designer. Born in Brooklyn, New York, his father, Charles Cole, owned the El Greco shoe manufacturing company. Before learning the family business and starting his own company in 1982, Cole studied law at Emory University.- Birth of a shoe company :Kenneth Cole...
, Benjamin Cho, modeled by Daily Show correspondents, Kathleen Hanna
Kathleen Hanna
Kathleen Hanna is an American musician, feminist activist, and punk zine writer. In the early- to mid-1990s she was the lead singer and songwriter of Bikini Kill, before fronting Le Tigre in the late 1990s and early 2000s...
, and Amy Sedaris
Amy Sedaris
Amy Louise Sedaris is an American actress, author, and comedian. She is known for playing the character Jerri Blank in the Comedy Central television series Strangers with Candy. Sedaris regularly collaborates with her older brother, humorist and author David Sedaris...
), McSweeney's vs. They Might Be Giants (based on Issue #6 of McSweeneys, held at Lincoln Center), How I Learned To Read (Eric Bogosian, Bob Balaban, Cynthia Nixon
Cynthia Nixon
Cynthia Ellen Nixon is an American actress, known for her portrayal of Miranda Hobbes in the HBO series Sex and the City . She has received two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, and a Grammy Award....
, Justin Theroux, Sam Rockwell
Sam Rockwell
Sam Rockwell is an American actor known for his leading roles in Lawn Dogs, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Choke and Moon, as well as for his supporting roles in The Green Mile, Iron Man 2, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Frost/Nixon, Galaxy Quest, Matchstick Men, The Assassination of...
, Philip Seymour Hoffman
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Philip Seymour Hoffman is an American actor and director. Hoffman began acting in television in 1991, and the following year started to appear in films...
, Martha Plimpton
Martha Plimpton
Martha Campbell Plimpton is an American actress and singer and former model. Plimpton is a screen, stage and television actress. She first appeared as Jonsy in the feature film River Rats before rising to prominence in the Richard Donner film The Goonies portraying the character Stef...
, and Kristen Johnston
Kristen Johnston
Kristen Johnston is an American stage, film, and television actress. She may be most famous for her role as Sally Solomon in the television series 3rd Rock from the Sun...
read their favorite classic children's stories).
Future 826NYC benefit events include The World, Explained http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/41821-lsfwolf-paradeislands-supergroup-delays-debut, which will be presented with 826LA
826LA
826LA is a Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6 to 18 with their creative and expository writing skills and helping teachers inspire their students to write. Programs are structured around the beliefs that great leaps in learning can happen with...
and McSweeney's
McSweeney's
McSweeney's is an American publishing house founded by editor Dave Eggers.Apart from its book list, McSweeney's is responsible for four regular publications: the quarterly literary journal,...
at Symphony Space, on April 10, 2007. This show will feature performances by David Rakoff
David Rakoff
David Rakoff is a Canadian-born writer based in New York City who is noted for his humorous, sometimes autobiographical non-fiction essays. Rakoff is an essayist, journalist, and actor and is a regular contributor to Public Radio International's This American Life...
, John Oliver
John Oliver (comedian)
John Oliver is a British stand-up comedian, actor, and writer. He is best known for his work on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, for which he won an Emmy in 2009. He also plays a recurring character, Professor Ian Duncan, on the television series Community...
, and Eugene Mirman
Eugene Mirman
Eugene Boris Mirman is a Russian-born American comedian, writer, and filmmaker. Mirman currently plays Yvgeny Mirminsky on Delocated, and voices Gene Belcher for the animated comedy Bob's Burgers.-Early life:Mirman was born in Russia to Jewish parents...
. The event will also feature the premiere performance by Final Fantasy: Online a.k.a. Internet, an indie-rock supergroup made up of Dante DeCaro and Hadji Bakara (of Wolf Parade
Wolf Parade
Wolf Parade is an indie rock band formed in 2003 from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The band is currently on an indefinite hiatus as of May 31, 2011.-History:...
), Nick Diamonds and Jamie Thompson (of Islands), Amber Weber (of Black Mountain
Black Mountain (band)
Black Mountain is a Canadian rock band from Vancouver, British Columbia. The band is composed of Stephen McBean, Amber Webber, Matt Camirand, Jeremy Schmidt and Joshua Wells.-Overview:...
) and Syd Butler (of Les Savy Fav
Les Savy Fav
Les Savy Fav is a New York City indie rock band. Their style is influenced by art rock and post-hardcore. The group is known for the stage presence of lead singer Tim Harrington...
).