- T
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Why write?
Because our words, the ones we write and leave are our memory; they carry our spirit and live on after our body has been buried. Our words, our stories and our sentiments of what is means to live, are salve for our communities and they are our maps; our medicine for our future.
I have been writing my whole life, and in truth, it has been my medicine, the thing that has held me during the hardest periods of my living, and the thing that I offer to others during their heavy times. It has also been perhaps my most useful practice. My writing has been my release, my critical questioning, my manifestation. My writing has also been eulogies of the closet people in my life, obitituaries of folks I loved who have passed, sensual love notes, words of sincere gratitude, and messages of solidarity.
For the first time, I decided to submit my writing to a contest, to Disquiet International Literary Program in Lisbon, Portgal. I was awarded one of their Luso-American Scholarships! (http://disquietinternational.org/the-program/contests-scholarships/contest-scholarship-winners/)
This is a huge opportunity for me to be in a prestigious program, with published and well regarded writers, to learn, craft my writing and network in the literary world. And, this is my opportunity to explore and exist in the place that my ancestors are from; the place my blood can be traced to; to learn that culture, the language, the land; to come home, to a place I am from, of and stranger to. This is about me living, breathing and creating from my roots. It is a dream come true; I am going to the land my blood is tied to, where my mother's family is from, to do what I have always done: write.
And this dream comes after a hard last bit of living, after traumatic losses and deep, bone aching grief. There is a quote, I have kept close in the last year, by the amazing writer and radical visionary Octavia Butler;
"There is nothing new under the sun, but there are new suns."
And I see the new suns in my horizons, and this program is part of that radiant shine. Though Disquiet has offered me a generous package, ( for which I am grateful for) of $1000 to cover travel, and my acoomodations and tuition paid for in full; I am still unable to afford the remaining to purchase my ticket and be able to travel, eat, and experience life when I get there (plus pay for my life back in Detroit). The truth is that loss, and grief hurts and takes its toll on a person in all the ways; including financially, and this is true for me, I am financially in a tight place.
The Breakdown: $2,900
***$700: Remaining amount (give or take) to purchase the ticket to Lisbon to attend Disquiet International.***
(need most immeadiately)
$1500: I will be gone for about three weeks, and will need to still pay my bills back at home in Detroit (this would cover me for a month).
$80: Covers public transit costs once I arrive in Lisbon, for me to get to and from where I will stay, and the location of the program.
$320: Covers food, and other basic expenses like water, and Vihno (I am in the land of Vinho Verde) while I am there.
$300: Covers a trip to the Azores (where my family is from) and back, including a day or two of living and eating on the islands.
Perks:
$5: A heartfelt public thank you on the Facebook.
$20: An emailed piece of writing from yours truly.
$50: A snail mailed postcard from Portugal.
$100+: A mailed handwritten and framed writing for you to keep (mailed to the USA, after my return)
Other ways to support:
If you aren't able to support financially, please consider these other ways of supporting me...
-Send me a love note, with advice, good quotes, words of wisdom: I am stepping into a new world.
-Light a candle, Say a prayer! It works!! I have faith!
-Send and share this with you networks!
-Reach out to write with me!
With deep and humble gratitude,
(asking isn't easy for me)
Corina
For more on Disquiet,
http://disquietinternational.org
Because our words, the ones we write and leave are our memory; they carry our spirit and live on after our body has been buried. Our words, our stories and our sentiments of what is means to live, are salve for our communities and they are our maps; our medicine for our future.
I have been writing my whole life, and in truth, it has been my medicine, the thing that has held me during the hardest periods of my living, and the thing that I offer to others during their heavy times. It has also been perhaps my most useful practice. My writing has been my release, my critical questioning, my manifestation. My writing has also been eulogies of the closet people in my life, obitituaries of folks I loved who have passed, sensual love notes, words of sincere gratitude, and messages of solidarity.
For the first time, I decided to submit my writing to a contest, to Disquiet International Literary Program in Lisbon, Portgal. I was awarded one of their Luso-American Scholarships! (http://disquietinternational.org/the-program/contests-scholarships/contest-scholarship-winners/)
This is a huge opportunity for me to be in a prestigious program, with published and well regarded writers, to learn, craft my writing and network in the literary world. And, this is my opportunity to explore and exist in the place that my ancestors are from; the place my blood can be traced to; to learn that culture, the language, the land; to come home, to a place I am from, of and stranger to. This is about me living, breathing and creating from my roots. It is a dream come true; I am going to the land my blood is tied to, where my mother's family is from, to do what I have always done: write.
And this dream comes after a hard last bit of living, after traumatic losses and deep, bone aching grief. There is a quote, I have kept close in the last year, by the amazing writer and radical visionary Octavia Butler;
"There is nothing new under the sun, but there are new suns."
And I see the new suns in my horizons, and this program is part of that radiant shine. Though Disquiet has offered me a generous package, ( for which I am grateful for) of $1000 to cover travel, and my acoomodations and tuition paid for in full; I am still unable to afford the remaining to purchase my ticket and be able to travel, eat, and experience life when I get there (plus pay for my life back in Detroit). The truth is that loss, and grief hurts and takes its toll on a person in all the ways; including financially, and this is true for me, I am financially in a tight place.
The Breakdown: $2,900
***$700: Remaining amount (give or take) to purchase the ticket to Lisbon to attend Disquiet International.***
(need most immeadiately)
$1500: I will be gone for about three weeks, and will need to still pay my bills back at home in Detroit (this would cover me for a month).
$80: Covers public transit costs once I arrive in Lisbon, for me to get to and from where I will stay, and the location of the program.
$320: Covers food, and other basic expenses like water, and Vihno (I am in the land of Vinho Verde) while I am there.
$300: Covers a trip to the Azores (where my family is from) and back, including a day or two of living and eating on the islands.
Perks:
$5: A heartfelt public thank you on the Facebook.
$20: An emailed piece of writing from yours truly.
$50: A snail mailed postcard from Portugal.
$100+: A mailed handwritten and framed writing for you to keep (mailed to the USA, after my return)
Other ways to support:
If you aren't able to support financially, please consider these other ways of supporting me...
-Send me a love note, with advice, good quotes, words of wisdom: I am stepping into a new world.
-Light a candle, Say a prayer! It works!! I have faith!
-Send and share this with you networks!
-Reach out to write with me!
With deep and humble gratitude,
(asking isn't easy for me)
Corina
For more on Disquiet,
http://disquietinternational.org