Send Melissa May-Dunn to WOWPS
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Hey-o! My name is Melissa May-Dunn and I am a performance poet, slam-poetry competitor, youth and child-in-crisis worker, body love/fat-body-justice advocate and salty feminist sassmouth hailing from Norman, OK.
Recently, I was selected from a rather large pool of eager women to compete in the Women of the World Poetry Slam being held (this year) in Austin, Texas. If you don't know much about the competition, this particular tournament was developed specifically to give women in poetry slam and spoken word a venue to share their art on a national stage from a pool of competitors that is not largely male-dominated. I've competed in this tournament 3 times, and each time I have been pushed, grown, and overcome by both the extraordinary level of talent and sisterhood this particular competition fosters. It is truly one of the most significant experiences in my life, and I am teeming with excitement for what awesome and beautiful experiences are in store for me this year.
So, I bet you're wondering why I'm asking for money so I can go and have a good time, eh? Well, I want to be transparent with you in this. I struggled with doing a crowdfunding site, simply because the competition is fairly close, and I could exhaust my savings and do it alone. But after some ruminating, I realized - I don't do this for myself, or not just for myself. I write a sizable amount of my work about justice for bodies, for my body, for fat bodies, (WOMEN'S bodies), mentally ill bodies, and how they exist in the world. I do this because I believe I have a message and a story that needs to be told, needs to be heard, and needs to be shared. A large selection of these poems will be traveling with me to be gifted to large audiences full of women (and men) who I believe need to hear these messages.
I also make very little above minimum wage working at a 24-hour youth shelter for neglected and abused children in the OKC area. I am incredibly lucky to have a job I love (even if I don't make much at it), and work hard to save as much as I can. In the past, when I've been the area venue representative, I've held shows or sold merchandise to help fund me at the local level, but at this time I didn't slam for the venue slot and want all the local-area funds to go to a newer slammer who also deserves to compete. I would be exhausting a large portion of my savings to fund this alone, and so I am turning to the gorgeous support network of my interwebamily to garner support in return for some really important, life-saving (at least for me) work and the chance to spread a message of hope.
So, if you believe in fairies, fat body politics, poems about vaginas eating cities struck with the plague of patriarchy, your mama's brewpot, and all the witches, I hope you'll consider donating a few bucks to this campaign. If I go over the limit I set above, I will donate the remaining money to another woman poet to help fund her trip as well (to help pay for gas, hotel, etc etc etc).
I've included some reward levels - but I will send each contributor a lengthy, cussword riddled email about all the gorgeous lifechanging everything that happens in Austin. (Please include email and physical address if you want some mail from me!)
It's been over a year since I last competed, but I was a top 8 finalist at the 2012 Women of the World Poetry Slam, as well as placing 3rd overall at the Individual World Poetry Slam (co-ed) the same year. I have new, shiny poems that are eager eager to snuggle down into some ears and sparkle some hearts. I really hope you'll join me in this.
Love to you,
Melissa May-Dunn
(Please Enjoy These Youtube Videos as Small Snippets of the Message I Carry in my Heart and will be Taking with me, with us, cause I carry you with me, too.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuzFYx0s-QM">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuzFYx0s-QM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBPqWUpdSDE
Recently, I was selected from a rather large pool of eager women to compete in the Women of the World Poetry Slam being held (this year) in Austin, Texas. If you don't know much about the competition, this particular tournament was developed specifically to give women in poetry slam and spoken word a venue to share their art on a national stage from a pool of competitors that is not largely male-dominated. I've competed in this tournament 3 times, and each time I have been pushed, grown, and overcome by both the extraordinary level of talent and sisterhood this particular competition fosters. It is truly one of the most significant experiences in my life, and I am teeming with excitement for what awesome and beautiful experiences are in store for me this year.
So, I bet you're wondering why I'm asking for money so I can go and have a good time, eh? Well, I want to be transparent with you in this. I struggled with doing a crowdfunding site, simply because the competition is fairly close, and I could exhaust my savings and do it alone. But after some ruminating, I realized - I don't do this for myself, or not just for myself. I write a sizable amount of my work about justice for bodies, for my body, for fat bodies, (WOMEN'S bodies), mentally ill bodies, and how they exist in the world. I do this because I believe I have a message and a story that needs to be told, needs to be heard, and needs to be shared. A large selection of these poems will be traveling with me to be gifted to large audiences full of women (and men) who I believe need to hear these messages.
I also make very little above minimum wage working at a 24-hour youth shelter for neglected and abused children in the OKC area. I am incredibly lucky to have a job I love (even if I don't make much at it), and work hard to save as much as I can. In the past, when I've been the area venue representative, I've held shows or sold merchandise to help fund me at the local level, but at this time I didn't slam for the venue slot and want all the local-area funds to go to a newer slammer who also deserves to compete. I would be exhausting a large portion of my savings to fund this alone, and so I am turning to the gorgeous support network of my interwebamily to garner support in return for some really important, life-saving (at least for me) work and the chance to spread a message of hope.
So, if you believe in fairies, fat body politics, poems about vaginas eating cities struck with the plague of patriarchy, your mama's brewpot, and all the witches, I hope you'll consider donating a few bucks to this campaign. If I go over the limit I set above, I will donate the remaining money to another woman poet to help fund her trip as well (to help pay for gas, hotel, etc etc etc).
I've included some reward levels - but I will send each contributor a lengthy, cussword riddled email about all the gorgeous lifechanging everything that happens in Austin. (Please include email and physical address if you want some mail from me!)
It's been over a year since I last competed, but I was a top 8 finalist at the 2012 Women of the World Poetry Slam, as well as placing 3rd overall at the Individual World Poetry Slam (co-ed) the same year. I have new, shiny poems that are eager eager to snuggle down into some ears and sparkle some hearts. I really hope you'll join me in this.
Love to you,
Melissa May-Dunn
(Please Enjoy These Youtube Videos as Small Snippets of the Message I Carry in my Heart and will be Taking with me, with us, cause I carry you with me, too.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuzFYx0s-QM">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuzFYx0s-QM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBPqWUpdSDE
Organizer
Melissa May-Dunn
Organizer
Norman, OK
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