Help Get Me To VONA 2016!
Donation protected
Dear people,
After failing miserably not just once, but 3 times. I decided, I really really really want to go to VONA. So I applied yet again, bleary-eyed and delusional.
The gods are good. I finally got in!!! This is amazing news, I had almost given up. And then I said. Never.
Please help me get there. What else is there to say? Except, this is my dream. To write. To be a writer. To be loved.
If I go I will write until my fingers bleed. Until my heart turns into lead (number 2 pencil lead) and my head is a giant cloud of brilliant drops of purple rain. And this will be good.
I am asking you as fellow writers, readers, literary kittens and donation fanatics. In the name of social justice and all that is holy, please send me to VONA.
Here’s some info on VONA and what they do:
“Voices of Our Nation Arts Foundation aims to develop emerging writers of color through their programs and workshops taught by established writers of color.”
“VONA/Voices, the only multi-genre workshop for writers of color in the nation, brings writers of color from the margins to a community where their work is centralized and honored.”
“VONA was founded by Junot Diaz, Elmaz Abinader, Victor Diaz & Diem Jones out of a vision for an arts organization that could change the landscape of literature through their mentorship and platform.”
Given the highly competitive and selective nature of this program, this feels like an especially big deal to me. I feel grateful for having been accepted and to have a community of writers and word lovers to ask for support from. It feels vulnerable and difficult to ask, but this also feels incredibly important to me. And I would be over the moon with gratitude if you could help me get there.
Please donate what you can/if you can. Please send me any words of encouragement and please share this on your social media and with anyone who would be interested in supporting a woman of color starburst onto the literary landscape.
I will post excerpts of a few works in progress in the comments for your literary delight…
My Expenses:
Partial Tuition: $400 (I received a scholarship)
Room & Board: $650 (includes meals)
Travel: $650 (average flight roundtrip to Miami)
Total: $1,700
with so much love,
Zhayra Palma
After failing miserably not just once, but 3 times. I decided, I really really really want to go to VONA. So I applied yet again, bleary-eyed and delusional.
The gods are good. I finally got in!!! This is amazing news, I had almost given up. And then I said. Never.
Please help me get there. What else is there to say? Except, this is my dream. To write. To be a writer. To be loved.
If I go I will write until my fingers bleed. Until my heart turns into lead (number 2 pencil lead) and my head is a giant cloud of brilliant drops of purple rain. And this will be good.
I am asking you as fellow writers, readers, literary kittens and donation fanatics. In the name of social justice and all that is holy, please send me to VONA.
Here’s some info on VONA and what they do:
“Voices of Our Nation Arts Foundation aims to develop emerging writers of color through their programs and workshops taught by established writers of color.”
“VONA/Voices, the only multi-genre workshop for writers of color in the nation, brings writers of color from the margins to a community where their work is centralized and honored.”
“VONA was founded by Junot Diaz, Elmaz Abinader, Victor Diaz & Diem Jones out of a vision for an arts organization that could change the landscape of literature through their mentorship and platform.”
Given the highly competitive and selective nature of this program, this feels like an especially big deal to me. I feel grateful for having been accepted and to have a community of writers and word lovers to ask for support from. It feels vulnerable and difficult to ask, but this also feels incredibly important to me. And I would be over the moon with gratitude if you could help me get there.
Please donate what you can/if you can. Please send me any words of encouragement and please share this on your social media and with anyone who would be interested in supporting a woman of color starburst onto the literary landscape.
I will post excerpts of a few works in progress in the comments for your literary delight…
My Expenses:
Partial Tuition: $400 (I received a scholarship)
Room & Board: $650 (includes meals)
Travel: $650 (average flight roundtrip to Miami)
Total: $1,700
with so much love,
Zhayra Palma
Organizer
Zhayra Palma
Organizer
El Cerrito, CA