A CREATIVE EXCHANGE FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN PERFORMING ARTS

MISSION: 

To produce and present in Northwest Ohio and the Toledo area new and existing art by, for, and relevant to artists of African descent that will enrich and educate the public and influence culture.

History

• New Works Writers Series (New Works) is a not-for-profit (501c 3) organization founded in December 1989 by Imelda Hunt to provide an arena for showcasing local writers, poets, musicians and actors. New Works produces and conducts workshops, ethnic plays and seminars.

•  New Works has produced over 50 plays, historical publications, open poetry forums, and musical performances since its inception. It has showcased numerous new talents, which have gone on to be prominent in their communities and successful in their careers. This concept has been well received, in that it produces a forum for many who would never get a chance to excel in their gifts. 

•  New Works also established the annual Northwest Ohio Poetry Slam in 1999 that has attracted more than fifty poets and audiences of over two hundred spectators to the slam. Nationally known published spoken word poets such as Sonia Sanchez, Jessica Care Moore, and Khari Kimani Turner have been guests and readers of events sponsored by New Works Writers Series. New Works have received funding in the past from the Ohio Humanities Council, Arts Commission of Greater Toledo, Toledo Museum of Art, and ECAP of BGSU, and Toledo Blade to name a few.

Artistic Director and Founder

Dr. Imelda Hunt is the artistic director and founder of New Works Writers Series

Imelda Hunt is a playwright, director, and poet and has been a member of Black Theatre Network and the National Conference on African American Theatre. She is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Humanities 2009 Fellowship.  Her dissertation for the completion of her doctoral program at Bowling Green State University was “The Oral History of Art Tatum in Toledo, Ohio: 1910-1932. She worked as a principal and teacher in the Toledo area for more than twenty-five years. She brings a wealth of creative and educational knowledge to the classroom experience. She is the recipient of several community awards, including a National Endowment for the Humanities 2009 Fellowship and the UT Upward Bound Summer Program Best Teacher 2010.