Help Athena Attend Prestigious Iowa's Writers' Workshop

My beautiful daughter Athena has been accepted into the highly competitive Iowa Summer Writers' Workshop based on her original novella. This is a huge honor—the program's alumni include literary giants like Flannery O’Connor, Sandra Cisneros, John Irving, Yaa Gyasi, Wallace Stegner, Jane Smiley, Andre Dubus, T.C. Boyle, and De'Shawn Charles Winslow, to name a very few). Iowa has an acceptance rate of just 2.7%.

We’re hoping to raise $5,000 to partially cover Athena’s tuition, room and board, and travel expenses. Our deadline is May 1st, so time is short.

As many of you know, I’ve been raising my wonderful children on my own for a long time, and asking for help doesn’t come easily. While Athena is using her own savings for this workshop (and attended undergrad on a 75% merit scholarship, graduating shortly with honors), this program is a little bit beyond our reach. This is a truly special opportunity, so we’re swallowing our pride and reaching out to our community for support.

If you’re able to contribute—no matter the amount—we would be deeply grateful. Your generosity will help Athena take a huge step forward, learning from, workshopping with, and putting her work in front of some of the country's leading writers and editors. We’ll be sharing updates along the way so you can follow her experience at this incredible program.

Thank you for believing in her and helping us make this dream a reality.