Zoeglossia End-of-the-Year Letter
Dear Friend,
Thank you for your involvement and support of Zoeglossia. If you are reading this letter, it is because you have been a member of our community, and we are so grateful. We also know you receive many end-of-year solicitations, and are grateful you are taking the time to consider ours.
Every gift to Zoeglossia helps us support a diverse community of disabled poets.
Since we opened our doors in 2019, Zoeglossia has grown to serve 38 fellows and we plan to admit 10-12 more before our Annual Retreat in May 2023. As the COVID pandemic continues to disproportionately impact the disabled community, the Annual Retreat will be hosted online to ensure all our fellows from across the globe can participate safely. Fellows will again have the opportunity to study with noted disability poets in intimate group settings. Past faculty include award-winning poets such as Raymond Antrobus, Meg Day, and Ilya Kaminsky. In 2023, we will welcome JJJJJerome Ellis and Kay Ulanday Barrett, among others, as Faculty. With a keynote by L. Lamar Wilson, the four-day event offers a variety of generative workshops, craft talks, professional panels, (live-streamed) evening readings, and meaningful mentoring opportunities. Just take these brief excerpts from 2022 participants:
If you were describing your workshop to another poet, what is ONE sentence you'd share?
A wonderful mix of engaging with close reading of poems and history and writing exercises
It was generative and nourishing
Emancipating.
A means of joining the conscious and unconscious brilliantly
I felt so nervous and edgy at the start. Faculty did a beautiful job of helping me feel safe. Plus the content was superb.
Transformative session.
Yet Zoeglossia’s work extends beyond our Annual Retreat. We provide quarterly generative workshops and professional development opportunities, financial support for submission fees, travel assistance for conferences, and, most of all, a space for ongoing fellowship.
Our Poem of the Week archive of disability poems and poetics continues to flourish and we are excited for upcoming rebranding, accessibility improvements, and search capabilities. We are committed to strengthening this vital online resource for casual readers, content researchers, teachers, and students. The writing, curation, and publishing process requires time and emotional labor, and paying contributors is vital to our mission of supporting disabled poets and creating new audiences for their poetry. To highlight this, 2023 curations will feature video profiles with curators to learn about their process. We continue to host and cosponsor virtual readings, conference presentations, and collaborative panels. In an often requested expansion, we will pilot Zoeglossia public programming in several local communities of our Fellows.
We understand the pandemic has affected giving levels nationwide, which is why we are so very grateful for any support you can give to Zoeglossia’s End of Year fundraising campaign. Whether it’s a one-time $500 donation or a $25 recurring/monthly donation, your contribution will go directly to supporting disabled poets and creating ways for new audiences to engage with poetry.
Your gift of $1,000 supports the Zoeglossia Submission Fund for Fellows and other Disabled Poets
Establish a fund to alleviate the fees ($5 - $30 per submission) that prevent disabled poets from pursuing journal and manuscript submissions.
Your gift of $400 - $800 supports the Poem of the Week Series
Pay one curator ($400) and four contributing poets ($100). *Poem of the Week donors receive a sponsorship acknowledgment of their choosing.
Your gift of $250 funds ASL Interpretation at Zoeglossia events, helping us model and build awareness of what accessible cultural spaces look like.
Provide ASL and/or Live Captioning for one Second Sunday Salon.
Your gift of $200 funds Adaptive Technology/Video Platforms
Invest in cutting-edge adaptive technology, audio/video platforms, and live streaming services for 2023 Retreat and public programming.
Your gift of $100 funds a Zoeglossia Annual Anthology
Publish and distribute 250-500 of the annual Zoeglossia Anthology, featuring Fellows’ poems generated through the annual retreat.
Your gift of $50 funds a Zoeglossia Fellows Travel Fund
Transportation to/during large events where Zoeglossia is a featured presenter, such as the 2022 Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) Conference.
Your gift of $35 funds a Magazine Subscription Fund
Increase Fellows’ literary exposure with a one-year subscription to a literary magazine of their choice.
Your gift of $25 supports a Bookshop Wishlist Fund
Sponsor a title on Zoeglossia’s (forthcoming) Bookshop.org profile to be distributed to young authors, in partnership with local disability organizations.
People with disabilities have historically been silenced and erased. We are encouraged that organizations increasingly look to Zoeglossia for accessibility and inclusion resources, training, and consultation. The voices and commitment of our fellows testify to the urgency of this work. There is so much yet to accomplish and we will, with your support. On behalf of the Board of Directors, Leadership Team, and Program Staff, we wish you Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!
Sheila Black, Executive Director
P.S. We’ve just launched a new sustaining donor program so you can support Zoeglossia all year round for as little as $10 a month, through our PayPal button at zoeglossia.org.
P.P.S: All donors of $250 or more will receive a copy of the limited-run Zoomglossia anthology from Alabrava Press. *To receive an anthology, donations must be received by January 31, 2023.
P.P.P.S: Thank you for your support - it means the world to us!