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In 1948, with just $40 in his pocket, 24-year-old James Baldwin bought a one-way ticket to Paris to forge a life of creative freedom beyond the dehumanization he felt in the U.S.
Following in his furious footsteps, I’m raising $8,000 to launch my own nomadic era, starting with a 3 month self-curated writing fellowship in South Africa.
Your support will fuel the expansion of my creative projects & sustain my livelihood as a Black trans artist working across poetry, dance, theater, TV, & film for the past decade.
HERE'S THE TEA:
I made it to the FINAL round of a competitive writing fellowship in Johannesburg, South Africa. It offered round-trip airfare, 3 months of housing, weekday meals, & a living stipend. But I ultimately wasn’t selected for the program.
After 10 years of surviving as a full-time creative–including serving as a Staff Writer on Season 3 of The L Word: Generation Q, rejection ain’t nothing new to me. I’ve learned to receive we regret to inform you as redirection.
Ancestral & astrological affirmations have been guiding me to the most LGBTQ+ friendly nation in Africa for years. Instead of waiting on another institution to validate my path, I’m leaning into the abundance of my communities to continue the legacy of Black American artists who sought new possibilities abroad. Basically I'm creating my own damn fellowship!
With my housing in Atlanta, GA ending on April 30th, I intend to be in South Africa from May - July 2025.
MY MISSION:
- Expand my short experimental documentary, (dey/dem): a choreo-doc, a recent selection in Comfrey Film's 2025 Black Trans Short Film Festival
- Finish writing my feature-length screenplay, WEAVING WHISPERS, a narrative companion to (dey/dem): a choreo-doc
- Collaborate in-person with South African-based visual artist Mercy Thozane Minah on our comic book project
- Reclaim hope, rest, & joy as a disabled Black trans non-binary creative deeply impacted by the U.S.’s active terrorism
HOW FUNDS WILL BE USED:
- Travel: Required vaccines & local transportation expenses
- Housing: Safe & affirming lodging
- Food
- Research & Art: Materials & experiences
- Future Mobility: Support next steps after South Africa
WAYS TO SUPPORT
Share this widely on & off socials & donate! (anything helps)
- Cashapp: $novacypressblack
- Venmo: @novacypressblack
- You can also make a monetary pledge to my Substack, where I'll document my travels!
If 400 people sent $20 NOVA would meet deir goal!
Your support isn’t just a donation — it’s a lifeline. I’ve lived with clinical depression in the U.S. for over a decade, & the toll of navigating this country as a Black trans person has been relentless. I'm very clear that spending another year here would be detrimental to my mental health.
While the current presidential administration has intensified legislative & social hostility toward folks who look & love like me, I also know that anti-Blackness & anti-transness are global & inescapable. As I step into this nomadic chapter, I intend to be a mindful, decolonial migrant — aware of my American privilege & committed to reciprocal exchange, learning, & solidarity. Thankq for helping me write my next chapter, on my own terms.
With deep gratitude,
NOVA CYPRESS BLACK (dey/dem/NOVA)
Website & Bio:
NOVA CYPRESS BLACK (dey/dem/NOVA) writes deir name in all caps as a reminder to take up space as a disabled Black gender-expansive lighthouse. This genre-defying writer, choreographer, documentarian & educator pledges allegiance to liberation & pleasure. NOVA was a Staff Writer on season 3 of Showtime’s The L Word: Generation Q. Dey were also a 2024 Sony Pictures Entertainment Fellowship recipient; a Writing Fellow in Film Independent’s 2024 Project Involve; & a TV Writing Fellow in Lambda Literary's 2024 Writers Retreat, Outfest's 2021 Screenwriting Lab, & Lena Waithe's 2021 Hillman Grad Mentorship Lab. NOVA was also 1 of 7 trans writers who made the 2022 GLAAD List. NOVA's first produced short film, SWEET TOOTH, premiered on RevoltTV’s Short & Fresh series–in a Damn Write Originals compilation. The short/proof-of-concept for NOVA's solo directorial debut, (dey/dem): a choreo-doc, has been included in curriculum at Spelman College & University of California, Riverside. The experimental documentary has been a recipient of grants from Southern Documentary Fund; National Black Arts; Arts & Entertainment Atlanta; & Idea Capital & won Cycle 2, Season 2 of ATLFilmParty during deir time as Sequoia Ascension’s 2023 Artist-in-Residence. NOVA’s poetry has graced the pages of Fifth Wheel Press; 580 Split; Zone 3 Press; etc. Dey penned, choreographed, & produced the ensemble choreoplays: “another goddamn lesbian movie / a choreopoem.” (NYC, 2017) & “somewheres: a world-in-progress,” (NYC, 2020). Deir first solo, (POST-OP): a-well-in-progress, came out of NOVA’s 2023 Summer Artist-in-Residence with Fly On A Wall. This nomadic Libra is an inaugural participant in the 2024-5 Black Trans Ethical World(un)making Lab & a Memory Workers Fellow for The Autistic Voices Oral History Project (tAVOHP).
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