Teachers & Writers Collaborative

Alisa Malinovich

Alisa started writing poetry in empty blue books. Her parents were university professors and they left these empty blue books all over the house.

Name: Alisa

Subject: Poetry

Instructor: Nobody.

These books were fun to write.

As she grew, Alisa’s love of poetry was cultivated and encouraged by the New York City public school system. She won prizes in citywide poetry contests and was invited to participate in festivals with established writers such as Sharon Olds and Amiri Baraka. She also published her first short story in Sassy magazine at the age of 17.

In the 1990s, Alisa was active in the WILL (Women in Literature and Letters) Collective. As a member of WILL, Alisa participated in the Write On Sistas reading series at Housing Works Used Book Cafe, and organized another reading at Cornelia Street. During her time with WILL, Alisa met Alba Hernandez, then program director for Teachers & Writers Collaborative.

Along the way, Alisa studied poetry with several teachers, including Donna Masini, Jan Heller Levi, and Mark Doty. Her poetry has recently appeared in Oxford Magazine (England) and can be found online at the Red River Review. She is also the co-author of Generations: A Century of Women Speak about their Lives.

Alisa is a Zen Buddhist practitioner and is editing Generosity: A Chapbook to Benefit Brooklyn Zen Center. In addition to Teachers & Writers, Alisa has partnered with Voices UnBroken, LEAP, the Children’s Museum of Manhattan, and several other institutions, facilitating creative expression workshops with people of all ages.