A collaborative project bringing together Houston writers, folklorists, historians and the like to share the special places that make the city unique is set to present its first series of public programs. Writing & C/Siting Houston asked ten Houstonians to craft a written portrait of a distinctive urban setting of personal significance to them. The ten contributors explored particular neighborhoods, parks, street corners, restaurants and other community-based locales to get at the ways and especially “the wheres” through which Houston is known to and cherished by its residents. These pieces of literary “placemaking” offer diverse insights into how Houstonians construct and connect with their home at a grassroots level. In the process, they take us along for some of the ride.

Schedule for a series of programs beginning this Fall is as follows. 

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From Hip Hop to SugarHill,  A Reading Series at 7pm on Thursday, September 22 at Bohemeo's, 708 Telephone Road

Featuring:
Marco Cervantes, "Transforming Jail Route"
Bao-Long Chu, "2600 Travis"
David Theis, "The Ruins of Houston"
Roger Wood, "Gold Star/SugarHill Recording Studios: The Story of a House"

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Old Neighborhoods, New Neighbors, A Reading Series at 7pm on Thursday, October 20 at Robertson Auditorium, UHD

Featuring:
Nimmi Jayathurai, “Banana Leaves and Migrant Passages"
Raj Mankad, “America Varshe, America Kande: Hinduism, Ornament, and the Suburban Box”
Thomas Meloncon, “My Fifth Ward”
Gwendolyn Zepeda, “The Old Sixth Ward District (or, as we used to call it, Del Sesto)”

Please click here for specific parking information

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Houston Inside Out, A Symposium at 1pm on Saturday, November 12 at Houston Public Library, 500 McKinney St

Keynote Speakers: Rosellen Brown and Robb Walsh
Presenters: Bao-Long Chu, Roger Wood, Gwendolyn Zepeda

Please click here for short bios of each of the contributors.

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Writing & C/Siting Houston is a collaborative project done together with the Cultural Enrichment Center of the University of Houston- Downtown and the Houston Folklore Archive of the University of Houston. Writing & C/SitingHouston is funded in part with support from the City of Houston Mayor's Special Initiative Program of the Houston Arts Alliance, Humanities Texas--the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Houston Endowment.