Kỳ-Phong Paul Trần is fundraising
Tran Memorial Scholarship for Writers of Color
Dear friends,
Today is my birthday and September is my birthday month. I’ve gotten a bit long in the tooth to want gifts anymore and instead would like to host a special fundraiser for an effort I really believe in. (Besides, I really do have everything I need and I am so blessed in that regard).
In honor of my mom, dad, and brother, I am trying to create a small Tran Family Memorial Scholarship in the amount of $2200 to send 5 writers to the Dorland Arts Colony in Temecula for one week per person.
I spent a life-changing week there this past August and on my last day it just came to me that I wanted to help other writers have the same experience I had up there on that Temecula mountain. As I brainstormed a bit, I thought to myself “Who should it be for?”
Initially, I thought writers of color, because we face so many obstacles in our path to write and publish. But then that night, I came upon a facebook thread from a friend who was also at a writing residency back east. And right away, I noticed that so many of the comments were from parents who said going to a residency was “impossible” for a myriad number of reasons from funding, childcare, timing, and logistics.
As a parent of two sons, I immediately related. I was already so appreciative of my wife for taking care of our boys all week and became even more so upon reading those comments. I knew I could not help with those other challenges but I knew I could at least help with the funding part.
AND I knew my friends and family members could and would help. $2000 can fund 5 writers to visit the Dorland Arts Colony for a whole week!!! There are five lovely cabins on the side of a mountain where the only obligation is to yourself and your craft. There are also a number of hiking trails, a small pond, and a great dog to keep you company. At night, the big dipper scoops stars up right outside your cabin and coyotes perform concerts.
To read more about my experience, please see below. For my birthday, could you please help me raise $2200 in honor of my parents and brother who were all instrumental in my journey in becoming a writer. My mom read to me. My dad who wrote excellent poetry I was told. And my brother who turned me on to the good stuff like Watchmen and Dune.
Thank you for helping me help other writers.
Yours,
Ky-Phong Paul Tran
PS: The funds will go directly to the Dorland Arts Colony. The scholar application and award process will be conducted by myself and a small group of Los Angeles writers. All awards will be made publicly and all donors will be notified of who the recipients are.
MY TIME AT DORLAND
My time at Dorland was magical.
I had the two most important things a writer needs: time and space. I wrote 8 hours a day on a porch that overlooked sunbaked Temecula. When I needed time to think or process, I took walks to the pond, lake, or the sunrise point. I listened to the different songs of many birds. Rabbits flashed their white tails in morse code. I learned dragonflies came in many colors, even orange!
I wrote 7,000 words in seven days. Many will be cut but that’s the process and I am okay with that. I think I will keep about 4,000 of those words and I know that I needed to write that much so I could keep that much.
In terms of craft, I learned to control the layers of my writing. I identified the tone of a piece I had been struggling with. I thought about how much explaining and exposition a writer of color should or needs to have. I think I figured out how to write humor better. I wrote these long sentences I had never written before and I nailed some imagery that impressed myself, too often my own worst critic.
Most of all, I grew as a writer because I had a place where writing, my writing was a priority. It was not the awkwardness of grad school and my MFA program or the posturing of writing conferences. It was just me, my artistic ambitions, and the keyboard. For eight days, I didn’t have to drive the kids anywhere or do household chores or reply to emails or run an errand. All I had to do was write. And having a place like Dorland select me and grace me with a lovely cabin (with AC and wi-fi) gave me the most thing of all: confidence.
And what is more important to an emerging writer?
Today is my birthday and September is my birthday month. I’ve gotten a bit long in the tooth to want gifts anymore and instead would like to host a special fundraiser for an effort I really believe in. (Besides, I really do have everything I need and I am so blessed in that regard).
In honor of my mom, dad, and brother, I am trying to create a small Tran Family Memorial Scholarship in the amount of $2200 to send 5 writers to the Dorland Arts Colony in Temecula for one week per person.
I spent a life-changing week there this past August and on my last day it just came to me that I wanted to help other writers have the same experience I had up there on that Temecula mountain. As I brainstormed a bit, I thought to myself “Who should it be for?”
Initially, I thought writers of color, because we face so many obstacles in our path to write and publish. But then that night, I came upon a facebook thread from a friend who was also at a writing residency back east. And right away, I noticed that so many of the comments were from parents who said going to a residency was “impossible” for a myriad number of reasons from funding, childcare, timing, and logistics.
As a parent of two sons, I immediately related. I was already so appreciative of my wife for taking care of our boys all week and became even more so upon reading those comments. I knew I could not help with those other challenges but I knew I could at least help with the funding part.
AND I knew my friends and family members could and would help. $2000 can fund 5 writers to visit the Dorland Arts Colony for a whole week!!! There are five lovely cabins on the side of a mountain where the only obligation is to yourself and your craft. There are also a number of hiking trails, a small pond, and a great dog to keep you company. At night, the big dipper scoops stars up right outside your cabin and coyotes perform concerts.
To read more about my experience, please see below. For my birthday, could you please help me raise $2200 in honor of my parents and brother who were all instrumental in my journey in becoming a writer. My mom read to me. My dad who wrote excellent poetry I was told. And my brother who turned me on to the good stuff like Watchmen and Dune.
Thank you for helping me help other writers.
Yours,
Ky-Phong Paul Tran
PS: The funds will go directly to the Dorland Arts Colony. The scholar application and award process will be conducted by myself and a small group of Los Angeles writers. All awards will be made publicly and all donors will be notified of who the recipients are.
MY TIME AT DORLAND
My time at Dorland was magical.
I had the two most important things a writer needs: time and space. I wrote 8 hours a day on a porch that overlooked sunbaked Temecula. When I needed time to think or process, I took walks to the pond, lake, or the sunrise point. I listened to the different songs of many birds. Rabbits flashed their white tails in morse code. I learned dragonflies came in many colors, even orange!
I wrote 7,000 words in seven days. Many will be cut but that’s the process and I am okay with that. I think I will keep about 4,000 of those words and I know that I needed to write that much so I could keep that much.
In terms of craft, I learned to control the layers of my writing. I identified the tone of a piece I had been struggling with. I thought about how much explaining and exposition a writer of color should or needs to have. I think I figured out how to write humor better. I wrote these long sentences I had never written before and I nailed some imagery that impressed myself, too often my own worst critic.
Most of all, I grew as a writer because I had a place where writing, my writing was a priority. It was not the awkwardness of grad school and my MFA program or the posturing of writing conferences. It was just me, my artistic ambitions, and the keyboard. For eight days, I didn’t have to drive the kids anywhere or do household chores or reply to emails or run an errand. All I had to do was write. And having a place like Dorland select me and grace me with a lovely cabin (with AC and wi-fi) gave me the most thing of all: confidence.
And what is more important to an emerging writer?
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