Jump to navigation Skip to content
City Lights Booksellers & Publishers meets fund-raising goal; Maureen Corrigan recommends social distancing reading; Casandra López weighs how to represent trauma on the page; and other stories.
Alexandra Chang praises the intimacy of Lucia Berlin’s prose; Kundiman remembers the words and life of Kimarlee Nguyen; Ann Patchett writes a dispatch from Parnassus Books; and other stories.
The pandemic has forced teaching writers and their students to move classes online, but that’s far from the only challenge for adjunct professors at colleges and universities across the country.
To help writers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, we will be highlighting emergency funds available to writers. For more sources of support, read our running list of resources for writers in the time of coronavirus.
On April 2, the American Booksellers Association (ABA) and the Book Industry Charitable Foundation (Binc) announced the Save Indie Bookstores campaign, a fundraising effort that will provide financial relief to independent bookstores impacted by the current public health crisis.
The campaign launched with an initial donation of $500,000 from writer James Patterson and continues to collect donations through the campaign’s website. Funds raised will be granted to independent bookstores to cover operating expenses. The amount of funding awarded per store will be determined by the final amount of money raised and by the number of eligible bookstores that apply for relief.
Independent bookstores with a physical address in the United States or its territories are eligible to apply for funding. Eligible bookstores will also estimate a business loss of at least fifty percent of sales and/or net income during any thirty day period from March 15, 2020, to May 15, 2020, due to the impact of COVID-19. Additionally, they must not have “any other immediate financial resources to draw from,” such as crowd funding in excess of $20,000 or significant cash reserves. To apply, bookstore staff may submit an online application through the campaign’s website by April 27. Visit the website for more information.
Since its inception, Save Indie Bookstores has raised more than $64,000 in addition to the initial $500,000 it received from author Patterson. “In these uncertain times, it’s up to all of us to do our part and to help those in need however we can,” Patterson said of the effort. “The White House is concerned about saving the airline industry and big businesses—I get that. But I’m concerned about the survival of independent bookstores, which are at the heart of main streets across the country.”
Peter Coviello on intimacy in the pandemic; a video dispatch from Joy Harjo; Carolyn Forché discusses poetry of witness; and other stories.
A writer in Sofia, Bulgaria, tracks the coronavirus pandemic through a global network of family and friends.
Don Mee Choi reflects on translating the writings of Yi Sang; Penguin Random House U.K. furloughs some employees; Patty Wong wins 2021–2022 ALA presidency; and other stories.
To help writers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, we will be highlighting emergency funds available to writers. For more sources of support, read our running list of resources for writers in the time of coronavirus.
Today a coalition of arts funders announced they will administer $10 million to artists and writers “facing dire financial emergencies due to the impact of COVID-19.” Eligible individuals can apply for an unrestricted grant of $5,000.
The fund is part of the larger Artist Relief initiative, organized by the Academy of American Poets, Artadia, Creative Capital, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, MAP Fund, National YoungArts Foundation, and United States Artists. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation contributed $5 million to the fund, the other half of which was matched by various U.S. foundations.
Practicing artists who are twenty-one or older, able to receive taxable income in the United States regardless of their citizenship status, and have lived and worked primarily in the United States over the last two years are eligible. The fund is open to artists who work in the disciplines of craft, dance, design, film, media, music, theater and performance, traditional arts, visual art, and writing.
Using Submittable, submit a brief bio and description of your artistic practice and financial situation. Visit the website for complete guidelines and eligibility requirements.
The funds will be administered over the course of five application cycles during the next six months. Artist Relief coalition partners and representatives from collaborating cultural organizations across the country will review applications every week; once accepted, grantees will receive funds within two weeks. The fund organizers plan to administer at least a hundred grants every week.
In addition to the emergency relief fund, the Artist Relief initiative will serve as an informational resource, and will collaborate with Americans for the Arts to launch the “COVID-19 Impact Survey for Artists and Creative Workers” to assess and address the needs of artists.
“In hard times like these, we turn to the arts to illuminate and help us make meaning and find connection. Without immediate intervention, individual artists and the arts ecosystem of which they are the foundation could sustain irreparable damage,” says Elizabeth Alexander, the president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. “As artists confront these new fiscal realities, we are proud to support this vital effort to address artists’ urgent needs. We call on others to join us in supporting artists so they may continue to be our lights, chroniclers, and connectors throughout this crisis and beyond.”
Poetry open mics, readings, and classes move online; the Pulitzer board delays award announcements by two weeks; Orwell Foundation releases longlists for prizes for political writing and political fiction; and other stories.
As we celebrate National Poetry Month, I wanted to pause for a moment in the blog to talk about how writers in New Orleans are adjusting to the COVID-19 restrictions.
Like in many cities, writers in New Orleans are adapting to stay-at-home orders by hosting readings and other literary events virtually. Whether you were ready to leap into the virtual world and take on technology or not, we have suddenly become each other’s online audience.
Although I miss browsing my local bookstores and bumping into writers while attending events, this online surge of literary events has offered me the opportunity to hear and see more local writers without having to pick and choose what I can attend due to a busy schedule. Quarantine means I am able to experience hearing more from local and national writers from the comfort of my couch.
I have already joined a newly formed New Orleans poetry series Facebook Group, watched a fiction reading, and peeked in on a Zoom workshop of local writers. And I’m sure there’s more I’m forgetting to mention.
If you are organizing virtual literary events in New Orleans, reach out me at NOLA@pw.org. The Readings & Workshops program has recently updated its mini-grants to accommodate virtual literary programming and applications are open now. You can also view and list online events on the Literary Events Calendar. Enjoy online and stay safe.
Kelly Harris is the literary outreach coordinator for Poets & Writers in New Orleans. Contact her at NOLA@pw.org or on Twitter, @NOLApworg.
