My Story
Hi. My name's
Zachariah Wells; I'm a writer based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I'm the author of two poetry collections,
Unsettled (2004) and
Track & Trace (2009), and I've been invited to read from my work at the Linares International Literary Festival this March in Mexico. The festival is covering my room and board while I'm in Linares, but I have to come up with airfare to and from. I have bought my ticket and I applied to the Canada Council for the Arts for a grant to cover the cost, but they have rejected my application on the grounds that the Linares festival is not a "large" one. And I suppose it isn't, compared with other festivals, but it represents a very rare opportunity for me to get exposure for my work outside of Canada, which is huge to me, personally.
In addition, the festival has requested that I come with ten of my poems translated into Spanish; to that end, I have hired a professional literary translator. I will also be losing income as a result of being out of the country for a week.
So: your help would be enormously appreciated.
The Impact
If I can't raise funds to pay for my travel and translation costs, then the money will have to come out of my family's general revenue. I work seasonally and on a freelance basis and my wife, who is also a writer, is a substitute teacher in a very crowded work market, so we are not wealthy at the best of times, but especially not at the moment. Technically, we are living below the poverty line, but we live simply and we are luckier than many people in that we don't have a lot of debt. So this isn't a charity or pity case; I'm just trying to come up with a creative way to fund my work that benefits myself, my family AND my supporters. Win, win, win.
What I Need & What You Get
I have set a goal of $1500 to pay for my transportation and translation expenses.
This won't cover 100% of my costs, but I don't want to ask for too much. Any funds raised in excess of my goal will go towards covering lost income and/or will be put towards my future literary endeavours--and will help pay for the AWESOME PERKS you can claim in exchange for your generous support of my campaign.
Other Ways You Can Help
If you support my campaign, or would like to but can't spare the cash (believe me, I understand!), please help me spread the word by means of email, blog and social media. Every bit helps.
IMPORTANT UPDATE: ON THE EVENING OF FEB. 11, I RECEIVED THE VERY BAD NEWS THAT LOCAL GOVERNMENT FUNDING FOR THE LINARES FESTIVAL WAS PULLED WITHOUT WARNING.
PARTICIPATING WRITERS HAVE RALLIED IN SOLIDARITY, AND I WILL STILL BE GOING. BECAUSE OF THIS CHANGE, I WILL NOW BE DONATING ANY FUNDS IN EXCESS OF MY GOAL TO COLIN CARBERRY, THE FESTIVAL ORGANIZER, TO HELP COVER SHORTFALLS CAUSED BY THE LINARES GOVERNMENT'S ILL-TIMED AND ARBITRARY ACT. --ZW
