Bringing together scientists and writers
NeuWrite is an international network of scientists, writers, radio producers, filmmakers, and artists. Our mission is to develop novel strategies for communicating science to general audiences.
What we do
NeuWrite functions as a workshop for work-in-progress and as a forum for people who are otherwise rarely in the same room (scientists, writers, filmmakers...). Each group meets regularly to discuss and critique member projects at all stages—from pitching to editors to final revisions. We also invite nonmember guests to learn about and discuss the strategies they have designed for communicating complex information to nonspecialist audiences.
NeuWrite groups also produce original writing and podcasts, and organize public events to further the understanding of science. Here is some of our members' recent work (more in the "Work" section of our website).
The Cognition, Learning, and Plasticity Lab at Oxford University
For Children Who Have Suffered Strokes, a New Therapy Emerges
Hannah Furfaro, The Wall street journal
Adam Kirton, a pediatric neurologist in Calgary, Alberta, has seen first-hand the devastating effects that strokes can have on a child’s brain. Lifelong paralysis and a form of cerebral palsy can result, and treatment options are few...
fotoquique/iStock
With Genetic Testing, Everyone May Have a Pre-Existing Condition
maryam zaringhalam, slate
The American Health Care Act allows states to opt out of the popular Obamacare provision that bans insurers from discriminating against people with pre-existing conditions...What their calculations don’t yet consider are the could-be conditions embedded in our DNA...
Illustration by Louis Zergaeng Pomeroy
The Living Dead: Bacteria and the Mysteries of the Departed
Peter andrey smith, New york times magazine
The bright aseptic room smelled of Pine-Sol and bleach and overripe Camembert. A white-bearded man lay on a stainless-steel examination table, his face angled toward the skylight and the cold, cloudless morning...
Everybody Lies: What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Are
Seth stephens-Davidowitz (Del street books)
Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, a Harvard-trained economist, former Google data scientist, and New York Times writer, argues that much of what we thought about people has been dead wrong. The reason? People lie, to friends, lovers, doctors, surveys—and themselves...
Who we are
NeuWrite was founded in 2009 at Columbia University by students and postdoctoral fellows in the Department of Neuroscience in collaboration with students in the non-fiction and poetry MFA programs. NeuWrite quickly became a noted forum for interdisciplinary work, attracting academics from institutions across New York City (including Rockefeller, Mt. Sinai, CUNY, SUNY and NYU), as well as professionals from media platforms such as The New Yorker, The New York Times, NPR, Scientific American Mind, and The Story Collider.
NeuWrite has since expanded to include other universities and cities, including NYU, Stanford, Boston, San Diego, Philadelphia, London, and Portland, Oregon. If you're interested in joining or forming a group in your area, please contact us.
