20.35 Africa launches GoFundMe campaign to support mentorship programme

24 May 2021 - 12:11 By 20.35 Africa
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20.35 Africa has launched a GoFundMe campaign as means to support the future of African poetry.
20.35 Africa has launched a GoFundMe campaign as means to support the future of African poetry.
Image: Supplied

As 20.35 Africa moves into its fourth year, it is calling on readers and the literary community to donate to its GoFundMe Campaign, as it prepares to launch a mentorship programme for emerging African poets living in Africa.

Run by a small, dedicated team of editors and assistants, 20.35 Africa believes that there is no singular African aesthetic. Its ever-growing Anthology, Conversations, and New Poets series continuously imagines and reimagines what voices from the diaspora and the continent have to contribute to the literary conversation.

Now, in the next phase of its growth, 20.35 Africa will launch a mentorship programme featuring a series of workshops, wherein emerging poets will receive writing lessons and career coaching from experienced poets in the field. The programme will focus on craft development and open a space for African poets of different ages and career levels to network.

Within just one week of the campaign launch, and with the rallying of an online community of poets, 20.35 Africa has already earned more than $1,000 (R14,000) of support. 20.35 Africa’s entry into the paying market will also allow the collective to financially compensate its community of contributors for the Anthology and Conversations series.

“As poets we know how tricky it can be to navigate the economy,” Nigerian poet and essayist Logan February says, “when the culture tells us that our work does not have economic value.” By creating a space to both nurture emerging voices and provide them with a tangible payment structure, 20.35 Africa can continue to stand as a home for robust literary support. 

A breakdown of donations:

• Your $50 donation pays for the annual maintenance of 20.35 Africa’s website
• Your $75 donation pays a contributor for their poems
• Your $100 donation pays one contributor in the Conversations series
.• Your $150 donation pays one guest editor in the Anthology series
• Your $200 donation pays for one unit in 20.35 Africa’s overall administrative cost
• Your $300 donation pays a facilitator in the prospective mentorship programme

Article provided by 20.35 Africa


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