The poems and short stories collected in this volume are the outcome of fifteen years of an amazingly successful experiment: asking accomplished writers to teach workshops in juvenile detention facilities, homeless shelters, inner-city schools, and schools for newly arrived immigrants. Follow these teacher-artists in the National Writers Corps on their journey into the halls and streets of America"s diverse neighborhoods as they enrich the lives and creativity of their students—and find their own voices changed in the process. As one writer-teacher puts it: "Writing in community gathers us around the proverbial campfire and reminds us why we do this: because hearing stories helps us make sense of the world, and because telling them helps us make sense of ourselves."