Greetings and
salutations! May is half way through her course and I am half way
through my writing marathon over at Tupelo Press. I'm raising money
for the non-profit small press publisher by writing a new poem every
day for the month of May. I have the pleasure of raising money so
the independent publisher can continue to operate a Teen Writing
Center near Charlottesville, and gather resources for teen outreach
across the US, as well as publish a new translation of Pablo Neruda's
Cantos, among other publishing projects. I have no ties to
Tupelo Press, my little books and reviews make their homes elsewhere,
so this is simply a way to try to give back to the community that I
have participated in for the last twenty years.
Most small presses
struggle to make ends meet, which equates to jobs. Paying writers,
paying poets, paying editors and paying graphic artists. Paying
people. Your donations, no matter how small, will pay artists for
equitable work, as well as help generate resources so young people
have a creative outlet for expression. Tupelo Press' out-of-the-box
thinking in terms of generating capital for their needs speaks to a
grass-roots, Democratic way of participating in the dialogue that is
American poetry. I am happy to say that most of the writers that have
contributed this year are women, whose collective voice is often
forgotten by publishers. If you are one of my publishing friends,
check out the way TP crowd-sources their projects.
May is half-way done.
Come and see what the other writers and I have been cooking up. We
write a new poem, in draft form, every day. You can donate by paypal,
CC, or purchase a book to help me cross the finish line. I'll even
write something just for you. Drop me a line and let me know. So far
I have whipped Common Core Standards into a dystopian poem, praised
my gut bacteria, composed a fugue, a l=a=n=g=u=a=g=e poem about
spring trees, among others. Later today I will probably write about
the spring peepers making so much noise in the aftermath of all the
rain we had on the Eastern Shore last night. But come on by and see
for yourself.
The 30/30 project page
with links to donate http://tupelopress.wordpress.com/3030-project/
The donation page
https://www.tupelopress.org/donate.php
Thank you so much for
your time and support.
Scott Whitaker
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