Help Me Feed My Writing Dreams
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On a dare from the gods I applied to 3 writing workshops this year hoping and praying that I would at least get into one. And then I got in all 3!!!
I can't even begin to express how life-affirming this is for me. I applied as a last attempt to get me out of this painful writing paralysis I’ve been in. Having to deal with recent grief and serious health issues, my writing suffered.
pero llegaron las lluvias, para limpiar las heridas...
Congratulations Zhayra, you have been accepted to all three!!! Had you applied to a fourth, you would have gotten into that one too!!! You are a beautiful soul and DESTINED to be a brilliant writer!!! So much so, that you already are!! -signed infinite creation
Signed, sealed, delivered! I'm going to Hedgebrook, Lambda AND VONA!!!!!!!
I’m a Latina writer trynna make it in this literary world… Let me in already!!! lol. I fell in love with decimas when I was 7 years old and never looked back. I grew up in Wash Heights, New York and across many borders, in a monolingual home where no one spoke english and my 2 brothers and I read the same 5 books to each other for almost our entire childhood. My family could not afford to send us to any kind of extra curricular activities so at a very early age I chose to write. I wrote on used printer paper with blue ballpoint pens that mi mami took from one of her jobs cleaning offices in New York. I don’t have an MFA or University research backing but I do have a very clear and determined desire to write. My love of writing is the thing that has gotten me through so much in life.
Which is why the past however long, has been so painful as I was taken down with so much heartbreak and I shut down. To feel so disconnected from my writing and my ability to write has been one of the most painful things I’ve experienced.
But I have been SO blessed with such beautiful friendships and amazing opportunities to get past this and heal through my writing.
And I really need help getting there.
In case you have never heard of any of these, they are (highly) competitive writing retreats that open up so many doors for emerging writers from marginalized groups (people of color, LGBTQ, and women), who would otherwise not have access to this level of mentorship or opportunities.
I have been offered a combination of full funding and partial scholarships, but still need to come up with quite a chunk of change. Please help me get there. Se los pido de rodillas.
Please throw something in the basket if you can. Anything and everything helps. No amount is too small or too large. My future established-author-self thanks you, my past child in Washington Heights writing by ghetto-rigged lights when the power went out thanks you, and I Thank You, from the bottom of my word-loving heart.
I am already SO grateful for the way my fam has thrown down and continues to throw down to help me get through all the recent difficult phases of life and on to my dreams and a fully vibrant me.
Altogether, I am trying to raise $2550 And I know this is an ambitious goal, but I just simply can’t pass up these incredible writing opportunities.
$2550 breaks down to roughly 100 donations of $25 or 25 donations of $102 or 170 donations of $15. Or 1 anonymous donation from a generous private donor!!! Please help me get there.
A break down of my expenses:
•Balance for VONA after my funding: $750
•Airfare to Philly for VONA: $500
•Balance for Lambda after funding: $650
•Airfare to LA for Lambda: $160
•Airfare to Whidbey Island for Hedgebrook: $240
•Accommodations during Hedgebrook: $250
Love to you all,
Amor y magia,
Aché,
Zhayra
I can't even begin to express how life-affirming this is for me. I applied as a last attempt to get me out of this painful writing paralysis I’ve been in. Having to deal with recent grief and serious health issues, my writing suffered.
pero llegaron las lluvias, para limpiar las heridas...
Congratulations Zhayra, you have been accepted to all three!!! Had you applied to a fourth, you would have gotten into that one too!!! You are a beautiful soul and DESTINED to be a brilliant writer!!! So much so, that you already are!! -signed infinite creation
Signed, sealed, delivered! I'm going to Hedgebrook, Lambda AND VONA!!!!!!!
I’m a Latina writer trynna make it in this literary world… Let me in already!!! lol. I fell in love with decimas when I was 7 years old and never looked back. I grew up in Wash Heights, New York and across many borders, in a monolingual home where no one spoke english and my 2 brothers and I read the same 5 books to each other for almost our entire childhood. My family could not afford to send us to any kind of extra curricular activities so at a very early age I chose to write. I wrote on used printer paper with blue ballpoint pens that mi mami took from one of her jobs cleaning offices in New York. I don’t have an MFA or University research backing but I do have a very clear and determined desire to write. My love of writing is the thing that has gotten me through so much in life.
Which is why the past however long, has been so painful as I was taken down with so much heartbreak and I shut down. To feel so disconnected from my writing and my ability to write has been one of the most painful things I’ve experienced.
But I have been SO blessed with such beautiful friendships and amazing opportunities to get past this and heal through my writing.
And I really need help getting there.
In case you have never heard of any of these, they are (highly) competitive writing retreats that open up so many doors for emerging writers from marginalized groups (people of color, LGBTQ, and women), who would otherwise not have access to this level of mentorship or opportunities.
I have been offered a combination of full funding and partial scholarships, but still need to come up with quite a chunk of change. Please help me get there. Se los pido de rodillas.
Please throw something in the basket if you can. Anything and everything helps. No amount is too small or too large. My future established-author-self thanks you, my past child in Washington Heights writing by ghetto-rigged lights when the power went out thanks you, and I Thank You, from the bottom of my word-loving heart.
I am already SO grateful for the way my fam has thrown down and continues to throw down to help me get through all the recent difficult phases of life and on to my dreams and a fully vibrant me.
Altogether, I am trying to raise $2550 And I know this is an ambitious goal, but I just simply can’t pass up these incredible writing opportunities.
$2550 breaks down to roughly 100 donations of $25 or 25 donations of $102 or 170 donations of $15. Or 1 anonymous donation from a generous private donor!!! Please help me get there.
A break down of my expenses:
•Balance for VONA after my funding: $750
•Airfare to Philly for VONA: $500
•Balance for Lambda after funding: $650
•Airfare to LA for Lambda: $160
•Airfare to Whidbey Island for Hedgebrook: $240
•Accommodations during Hedgebrook: $250
Love to you all,
Amor y magia,
Aché,
Zhayra
Organizer
Zhayra Palma
Organizer
El Cerrito, CA
