Mission and Vision
By fostering the art of creative writing, Inprint's mission is to inspire readers and writers in Houston and beyond.
Inprint envisions Houston, Texas as a city where the literary arts are a defining resource. Thanks in large part to Inprint’s programs, Houston is a vibrant community of creative writers and readers, rich with workshops, readings, and other kinds of literary activity. Writers from all backgrounds delight in coming to Houston to read, teach, and study creative writing. Thousands of Houstonians, recognizing the value and impact of the written word, join in Inprint programs to write, read, and support the literary arts. The community is enriched by some of the nation’s top emerging writers, who study at the University of Houston Creative Writing Program and teach at Inprint and various local community centers, schools, and universities.
Programs
As Houston’s premier literary arts nonprofit organization, Inprint annually serves more than 15,000 readers and writers of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction.
Inprint Margarett Root Brown Reading Series
The Inprint Margerett Root Brown Reading Series has brought the world’s leading writers to Houston since 1980. The series has featured more than 400 writers from 38 countries, including winners of 12 Nobel Prizes, 70 Pulitzer Prizes, 65 National Book Awards, 54 National Book Critics Circle Awards, and 17 Booker Prizes, as well as 21 U.S. Poet Laureates. The authors read from their work, followed by an on-stage interview and book signing at which audience members can meet the writers. General admission is $5, with free tickets for students and senior citizens.
Inprint Cool Brains! Reading Series
The Inprint Cool Brains! Reading Series has presented the country’s most exciting children’s authors since 2004. The series has featured more than 40 middle-grade authors, including winners of the National Book Award, the Newbery Medal, the Caldecott Medal, and more. The authors give a lively presentation, followed by an audience Q&A and book signing at which kids can meet the writers. The first 100 families to arrive receive free books and free bus scholarships are available for student groups.
Escritores en la casa
Escritores en la casa is a new Spanish-language reading series that features internationally renowned authors from Latin America, Spain, and the United States. Hosted in collaboration with the University of Houston’s Spanish Creative Writing P.h.D. Program, these bilingual events include a reading and interview, followed by an audience Q&A and book signing at which audience members can meet the writers.
Inprint Poetry Buskers
The Inprint Poetry Buskers spread the joy of poetry at festivals and events throughout the city. Using typewriters and their quick wit, these talented poets write personalized poems for people based on the themes they request. The buskers write in both English and Spanish and are mostly graduate students from the prestigious University of Houston Creative Writing Program. The buskers recently appeared at the BIPOC Bookfest, Menil Neighborhood Community Day, Hermann Park Conservancy Kite Festival, and Sin Muros: A Borderless Teatro Festival.
Inprint Book Club
The Inprint Book Club, facilitated by a local writer, meets one Sunday afternoon each month to discuss new books by authors featured in the Inprint Margarett Root Brown Reading Series.
Ink Well: A Podcast by Tintero Projects and Inprint
In Ink Well: A Podcast, writers, educators, activists, and Tintero Projects co-founders Jasminne and Lupe Mendez chat with established and emerging writers of color, including Carolyn Forché, Joy Priest, Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton, and more.
Inprint Writers Workshops
Inprint Writers Workshops, considered Houston’s “Best Place for Aspiring Writers” (Houston Press), are conducted in various genres such as fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. Workshops are open to individuals of all backgrounds, including those who are exploring creative writing for the first time, as well as aspiring writers who want to prepare work for publication. These courses run for 6-10 weeks and are led by the region’s top writers, including graduate students, alumni, and faculty from the prestigious University of Houston Creative Writing Program.
Inprint Teachers-as-Writers Workshops
Inprint Teachers-as-Writers Workshops fill a gap in teacher training, providing fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction classes that sharpen the writing skills of K-12 teachers from Houston-area schools. These tuition-free workshops serve approximately 45 teachers per year, enhancing the instruction of thousands of local students.
Inprint Senior Memoir Workshops
Led by skilled local writers, Inprint Senior Memoir Workshops help revive family memories, preserve community histories, and give seniors a sense of accomplishment. Workshops are currently running at Harris County Precinct One’s Finnigan Park Community Center and the Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center. Each workshop ends with a public reading and the publication of an anthology.
Inprint Life Writing Workshops
Inprint Life Writing Workshops give healthcare providers the chance to process complex hospital experiences through reflective writing. These workshops are open to employees from all parts of the hospital and are currently running at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Pediatrics.
Inprint Incarcerated Workshops
Inprint Incarcerated Workshops give men and women at Harris County Jail a new creative outlet and a sense of well-being. Each workshop ends with a reading in the jail and the publication of an anthology.
Inprint Writing Workouts
Inprint Writing Workouts provide the opportunity for individuals to be introduced to creative writing in a variety of settings. Workouts have been conducted in flooded communities, senior centers, art museums, and more.
Support for Emerging Writers
Inprint awards annual fellowships and prizes to graduate students at the University of Houston Creative Writing Program, the University of Houston Spanish Creative Writing P.h.D. Program, and an undergraduate at Rice University. Inprint’s support of emerging writers has totaled more than $4.5 million since 1983 and has served 600+ students from all walks of life.
Inprint Writing Café
The Inprint Writing Café offers local writers a quiet space to work on Friday mornings.
Inprint Archive of Readings
The Inprint Archive of Readings makes hundreds of past readings from the Inprint Margarett Root Brown Reading Series and the Inprint Cool Brains! Reading Series accessible online.
Collaborations with many organizations
Inprint’s community collaborations with Houston-area arts organizations include readings, literary discussions, festivals, workshops, cross promotions, and more.
Contact us
Inprint
1520 West Main
Houston, Texas 77006
Phone: 713.521.2026
info@inprint.org
Inprint House is located in the heart of Houston’s Museum District, next to The Menil Collection and St. Thomas University.
- Rich Levy Executive Director ext. 12
- Krupa Parikh Associate Director ext. 14
- Justin Jannise Development Manager ext. 11
- Tayyba Kanwal Director of Workshops & Community Engagement ext. 10
- Josie Mitchell Communications Manager ext.15
- Will Lowder Inprint UH Creative Writing Program Fellow ext. 16
Volunteer Leadership
Board of Directors 2024/2025
Mary S Dawson, Chair
Chinhui Juhn, President
Ron Restrepo, Vice President
Andy Lusk, Secretary/Treasurer
Robin Angly
Marrick Armstrong
Jeanie Arnold
Alan Bigman
Carolyn Russell Brock
Laura Calaway
Gracie Cavnar
Liz Crowell
Gwendolyn Dawson
Consuelo Duroc-Danner
Gulchin Ergun
Brooke Feather
Katharine Barthelme Frank
Debbie Gary
Catherine Blanchard Gillespie
Marc Grossberg
Matt Henneman
Pablo Hernández Schmidt-Tophoff
Michael Hohertz
Madeleine Callery Hussey
Robbi Jones
Christopher King
Kevin Kushner
Harriet Latimer
Leah Lax
Kevin Lewis
Eamonn Quigley
Noelle Reed
Docia Rudley
Sarah Beth Seifert
Michael Sklar
Doreen Stoller
Liara Tamani
Michelle Lopez Varma
Sannam Warrender
Marcia West
Advisory Board 2024/2025
Dina Al-Sowayel
Mary Barone
Kathryn Boehme Bielinski
Heather Brown
Robert Bruce
Chris Cander
Bettie Cartwright
Paige Cawthon
Sarah Choi
Nicole Chulick
Nicole Clark
Jess Elle
Vicky Estrera
Randi Faust
Kristianna Foye
Lynn Goode
Holly Haire
Terri Hamm
Rodrigo Hasbún
Olive Hershey
Elaine Howard
David Isaak
Kathryn Kase
Caroline Leech
Valarae O. Lewis
Nikita Malani Shukla
Eduardo Marquez Certucha
Marie Matter
Ed Nawotka
Ricardo Nuila
Mosby Perrow
Katie Sammons
Bobbi Samuels
Brittany Smith
Emily Wolf Schaffer
Melinda Spaulding Chevalier
Mimi Swartz
Bobby Tudor
Coert Voorhees
Vera Walker-Hawkins
Aline Wilson
Michael Zilkha
Past Presidents
Charlotte Banham
Christina Bryan
Bettie Carrell
Mary S Dawson
Consuelo Duroc-Danner
Cece Fowler
Eleanor Gilbane
Marc Grossberg
Matt Henneman
Sis Johnson
Kevin Lewis
Franci Neely
Chris Seger
Hinda Simon
Craig Smyser
Mark Wawro
Marcia West
National Advisory Council
Sandra Cisneros
Richard Ford
Edward Hirsch
Mary Karr
Naomi Shihab Nye
Salman Rushdie
George Saunders
Bapsi Sidhwa
Jacqueline Woodson
History
Today, Inprint is at the center of Houston’s vibrant literary community, presenting and championing diverse programming for thousands of readers and writers. For forty years, Inprint has enriched the city’s intellectual capital and made the literary world accessible to all Houstonians.
Inprint was founded in 1983 by a group of community leaders who sought to address a need in Houston for greater support and appreciation of the literary arts. The founders—C. Glenn Cambor, Karl Kilian, and Gay Block—soon recruited others to the cause. They envisioned Houston as a city of letters, a place where writers come to study, work, and make a life for themselves, thereby enhancing the city and making the power of the written word vital to its citizens.
The founders knew that supporting the nascent and already distinguished University of Houston Creative Writing Program (UH CWP) was crucial to realizing this vision, and the support of the UH CWP became the raison d’être for Inprint, resulting in a powerful synergy connecting a literary arts nonprofit organization, a university-based creative writing program, and a major American city. Since its inception, Inprint has provided fellowships, prizes, employment, and other support to UH CWP students of more than $4.5 million, enabling the university to recruit some of the country’s most talented emerging writers to live and work in Houston.
This history of support has been defined by several major events. In 1991, Inprint was given a $1 million anonymous gift to establish and maintain an endowment fund for UH CWP student fellowships in honor of founding Inprint President C. Glenn Cambor. In that same year, further fundraising provided the underwriting for an Inprint office and professional staff. Until that time, Inprint had been run entirely by volunteers.
The first juried prizes to be established by Inprint for UH CWP students were the Donald Barthelme Fellowships, commemorating the great fiction writer and native Houstonian who served on the UH CWP faculty from 1980 until his death in 1989. In 1999, Inprint embarked on a major fundraising effort, the Inprint Literary Capital Campaign, which raised more than $3 million from foundations, corporations, and individuals to establish the $1.5 million Cullen Foundation Chair in Creative Writing (held jointly by fiction writers Antonya Nelson and Robert Boswell) and nine named endowed graduate student fellowships at the UH CWP. The campaign also provided funding for three Inprint community programs for five years.
A few years later, Inprint established additional juried prizes for mid-career graduate students at the UH CWP, including the Lucille Joy Prize in Poetry, the Diana P. Hobby Prize, the Paul Verlaine Prize in Poetry, the Joan and Stanford Alexander Fiction Prize in honor of Andrea White, and the Robert J. Sussman Fiction Prize in honor of Bob Sussman. In 2013, three additional prizes—the Inprint Marion Barthelme Prizes—were established to honor the memory of long-time Inprint Board member Marion Barthelme. These prizes are awarded each year to two UH CWP graduate students and to one graduating senior from Rice University. In 2016, the Edgar M. Larsen Fellowship was established to pay tribute to long-time Inprint Board member and Inprint’s pro-bono investment manager Ed Larsen. Thanks to Inprint’s support, the UH CWP continues to be one of the nation’s most renowned creative writing programs, with a growing international reputation.
As Inprint has blossomed, it has nurtured a vibrant literary life in Houston among diverse social, racial, and economic groups by launching and developing several essential literary performance and educational programs. Inprint’s flagship performance program is the prestigious Inprint Margarett Root Brown Reading Series, founded by the UH CWP in 1980. Now in its 42nd season, the Series is a nationally renowned literary showcase that has presented the world’s leading writers—close to 400 since 1980, including winners of 12 Nobel Prizes, 70 Pulitzer Prizes, 65 National Book Awards, 54 National Book Critics Circle Awards, and 17 Booker Prizes, as well as 21 U. S. Poet Laureates.
The Inprint Cool Brains! Reading Series, which presents the nation’s top middle-grade writers in Houston free of charge, was officially added to Inprint programs in 2007. Working closely with school districts and libraries throughout the Houston area, Cool Brains! provides a way for young readers and their families to meet their favorite authors and build a lifelong love of reading and writing. To date, Cool Brains! has presented more than 40 of the most acclaimed and beloved children’s writers, focusing on readers ages 8-12.
Throughout the 1990s, other Inprint literary performance programs enriched Houston’s cultural life. From 1993 – 2000, Inprint’s Literary Conversations presented major writers and other artists speaking on poetry, fiction, playwriting, the personal essay, biography and memoir, science writing, and music and literature, in collaboration with many other local arts organizations. From 1995 to 2003, Inprint collaborated with Brazos Bookstore and other cultural groups on a number of marathon readings featuring dozens of community members reading aloud and celebrating such great works as Dante’s Inferno, Joyce’s Ulysses, Beowulf, Ernest Gaines’s A Lesson Before Dying, Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, the poetry of Walt Whitman, and Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey.
In 2006, Inprint launched a Studio Series featuring emerging writers from across the country in public readings and community outreach events. Each of these writers also held craft talks with graduate students at the UH Creative Writing Program, providing valuable mentoring at a time when the faculty was short-handed. Eight writers took part in the Studio Series over two years. The program was discontinued due to the success of faculty hiring at UH.
Inprint’s literary educational programs play a key role in developing a community of writers in Houston, today offering more than 40 writing workshops per year that serve the general public, senior citizens, K-12 teachers, healthcare workers, and others with intensive writing instruction. Inprint’s Writers Workshops, named Houston’s “Best Place for Aspiring Writers” by the Houston Press, have since 1991 provided local writers with 6-10 week workshops that help them to hone their skills and prepare work for publication, in workshops led by published writers including many students and alumni from the UH CWP. Limited to 12 people per class, Inprint Writers Workshops provide an invaluable and in-depth workshop experience. One and two-day intensive workshops have also been offered to increase our reach. In conjunction with the workshops, Inprint also offered The Business of Writing from 1996 to 2002, a one-day conference presenting several of the nation’s leading editors, agents, and writers that was designed to provide aspiring writers with an understanding of how to get their work published.
From 1995 through 2014, Inprint’s after-school Youth Writing Program was offered at Project Row Houses, SHAPE Community Center, and Finnigan Park Community Center, providing an invaluable after-school activity free of charge for at-risk community school children. Since 1996, Inprint Senior Memoir Workshops have provided senior citizens from across Houston with an activity that revives family memories, preserves community histories, and gives seniors a vital sense of accomplishment and self-worth. Offered over the years at senior centers in different parts of the city, from the north side and Fifth Ward to the East End, these nine-month workshops, led by community writers and UH CWP alumni and students, culminate each year with the publication of an anthology of the participants’ work and a community celebration. In 2014, a new senior workshop was begun at Amazing Place, a day center for adults with mild to moderate dementia.
Inprint’s Teachers-as-Writers Workshops were founded in 1997 to fill a gap in teacher training, providing poetry, fiction, and nonfiction workshops that sharpen the skills of K-12 teachers. These tuition-free 8-10 week workshops, which serve 75 teachers per year from throughout the Houston area, are based on the idea that better writers make better writing teachers. Teachers learn new techniques for the classroom, and the workshops also are personally enriching, which aids in retention and helps teachers to keep their creative juices flowing.
After exploring possible collaborations with the medical community in Houston, Inprint established Life Writing Workshops at Houston Methodist in spring 2007. These workshops, led by UH Creative Writing Program graduate students and alumni, serve employees at the Texas Medical Center at all levels, from doctors to orderlies to the lobby pianist. This program is a model of exceptional, meaningful, and innovative workforce development. The interdisciplinary approach embraced in the workshops, combining healthcare and creative writing, provides uncommon opportunities for professional and personal enrichment.
In 2008, Inprint established the Inprint Poetry Buskers Program, which sends poets with typewriters to various festivals and events throughout the Houston area. The poetry buskers write free poems on demand about topics chosen by the recipient, taking poetry out to the streets and inspiring the public with spontaneous whimsy, creativity, and skill. Buskers write in both English and Spanish and are primarily students and alumni of the UH CWP.
In 2018, Inprint launched Ink Well, a podcast that focuses primarily on Latinx and other writers of color, in collaboration with Tintero Projects. Other collaborative efforts with Tintero Projects have included bilingual workshops and readings.
In 2019, Inprint started a Spanish reading series Escritores en la casa, in collaboration with the UH Spanish Creative Writing PhD Program. The series is free and open to the public, and features a writer reading from their work, followed by Q&A and a book signing.
Inprint’s programs, events, and educational activities have achieved recognition in Houston and beyond. According to the late Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist John Updike, “The good folks of Houston should be grateful to have such an institution operating in their midst.” Edward Hirsch, president of the Guggenheim Foundation, speaks to Inprint’s value and uniqueness: “Inprint gives a kind of center to literary life in Houston, with its tentacles going out in different directions…. I don’t think there is anything like Inprint in the country, and I’ve been to a lot of cities. Believe me, I’d like to find it.” Inprint was twice ranked #1 in the Texas Commission on the Arts competition for literary grants and received a TCA Star Award for excellence in marketing. For more than a decade, Inprint has received national endorsement in the form of a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. The Inprint Margarett Root Brown Reading Series, the Inprint Cool Brains! Reading Series, and Inprint Writers Workshops have been voted “Best of Houston” by the Houston Press on several occasions; H-Texas magazine chose Inprint Writers Workshops as the city’s “Best Adult Education Program”; and the Houston Chronicle singled out Cool Brains! for bringing the “superstars of children’s and young-adult literature to town, making it a truly cool addition to the literary scene.” Houston, thanks to Inprint’s efforts, is now nationally recognized as a literary center.
Employment Opportunities
Inprint is not currently hiring.
Inprint is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and an equal opportunity employer that values workplace diversity, and we encourage applications for our jobs, internships, and volunteer positions from all qualified individuals without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or age.