Help send Veasna to Tin House!

Hello friends! I'm Veasna, a nonfiction writer based in Queens, NY and I was recently accepted into the Tin House Summer Workshop for 2024! The program is a week-long writing intensive in Portland, OR where writers participate in a curated writing workshop, meet with faculty and agents, and attend craft lectures, author conversations, and more. This year, over 1400 applications were submitted with an acceptance rate of less than 10%, so I'm still quite shocked to have made the cut. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to secure a scholarship to cover program fees so I'm turning to my community to see if you can help me make this happen.

I've been steadily writing creative nonfiction since 2018, working on personal essays/memoir exploring cultural identity and my Cambodian American upbringing. I've been fortunate to have received institutional support for my writing in recent years and have loved finding and engaging in a literary community, so Tin House--where I'd be working with Samra Habib--would be an incredible next step to keep moving my writing dreams forward. You can read some examples of my past work here and here.

Some of you may also know that I lost my job in the fall, and have been looking for work since. While this has freed up more of my time to pursue my writing, it also means my funds are pretty limited so I would truly appreciate any help you can offer to cover program costs.

The $2400 program fee includes $1600 for tuition and $800 for room/board for the week. I'm hoping to cover travel costs myself.

Thank you so much in advance for anything you're able to contribute, and for your support! While writing is often a solitary endeavor, I've quickly learned that community is incredibly necessary to this creative pursuit. I'm endlessly grateful for the encouragement and friendship of my peers and mentors, for those who've read my work and told me I should keep doing it, for those who've given the time and care to share thoughtful feedback, and for anyone taking the time to read this.

Thank YOU!

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