COVER STORY .

The .Doc Worker

Tim Whitaker and Mighty Writers


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Published: Sep 23, 2009

Mark Stehle

WRITE STUFF: Tim Whitaker and Rachel Loeper work with 11-year-old Saudia Islam.

Tim Whitaker spent his first few years out of college teaching in North Philly. The experience stuck with him, even as he moved on to Philadelphia Weekly, where he spent more than a decade in the editor's chair. A few years back, that gig stopped being fun and he felt the need to reinvent himself. Helping kids discover the joy of writing was a natural fit.

Thus the idea for Mighty Writers, a nonprofit after-school program modeled after Dave Eggers' 826 Valencia project, was born. Their first location opened July 5 of this year at the 1501 Christian St. storefront that once housed an Obama for President operation. There, executive director Whitaker (who left the Weekly in November 2008), program director Rachel Loeper and lots of volunteers guide 45 enrolled students through hands-on writing workshops. The program's so popular that there's already a 15-student waiting list — a situation Whitaker's looking to ameliorate with a bigger space right quick. He also hopes to open locations in North and West Philly in the next 18 months.

"The most stunning thing to me is how much the kids are into it. They come here and they're energized right away," he says "The way the space is — there's superhero art on the wall — it doesn't feel like a school. We don't have a lot of rules. It's self-policing. They really feel like it's their space."

Students are encouraged to write what they feel, and to finish what they start.

"We're not here to try to turn these kids into professional writers," says Whitaker. "We're teaching them that being a good writer gets you a lot."

Honorable Mention: Writing and Literature

Quirk Books
Made best-sellers out of high-concept slash fiction like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters.

Duane Swierczynski
Since leaving City Paper, he's exploded in the comic book world; Level 26, the novel he co-wrote with CSI creator Anthony E. Zuiker, is pushing the interactive envelope.

First Person Arts
Their myriad salons offer a frequently unseen look into the artistic process, including tantalizing programs like the Edible World Food Tours.

CA Conrad, Frank Sherlock and Ish Klein
Together they form a Philly poet block as beautiful as it is rude, putting the punk rock back into poetry.