VONA: 27 years of persistence
How are you?
You are here. We are here.
We love you. You are loved.
In this post, we’re addressing a few things:
AWP 2025
Summer 2025 Workshops
We need you
Join us at AWP 2025
We will be at AWP in Los Angeles. We will be at Booth #857 in the bookfair. Our booth is in the middle section, near the stage. If you’d like to sign up for a shift, email programming@vonavoices.org.
We have one VONA-sponsored panel on Saturday, March 29, 2025 at 9am:
Peeling the Layers of Race and Identity Through Narrative Craft (Diana Diaz, Vincent Toro, Edward Gunawan, and Dr. Grisel Acosta): When writing characters outside our own race, writers have to pay particular attention to ensure characters are three-dimensional and go beyond stereotypes. How can writers push past imago (the first impression) and reveal the nuanced complexity of race and identity as it serves the narrative arc?
Are you on any panels? We’d love to help promote your panel. Email vonaboard@gmail.com.
Our Summer 2025 workshop applications are live
Our June 22-28, 2025 summer workshop applications are open! The deadline is March 14, 2025. Our workshop offerings cover poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. We will offer a prose and poetry residency. Our faculty list is Bridgett M. Davis, Emily Bernard, Jennine Capó Crucet, Fabienne Josaphat, Anastacia Rénee, Oliver de la Paz, Tim Seibles, and Jamie Figueroa. Click here for the complete list of faculty and workshop descriptions.
There are scholarships available. Alumni can also apply for the Elmaz Abinader Founder’s Scholarship, which provides a full tuition scholarship.
Help us get the word out. Let’s keep building community.
Mutual aid / VONA fundraising
It has been a devastating time. Many of us are licking wounds. Many of us are out there organizing. Those of us at VONA continue our mission to change the landscape of literature and center BIPOC voices. We want to continue to be a light and sanctuary. VONA is our act of resistance.
One of our funding sources since our founding has been the NEA. Very recently (as of February 7, 2025), the NEA announced specific requirements for NEA applicants:
The applicant will not operate any programs promoting “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) that violate any applicable Federal anti-discrimination laws, in accordance with Executive Order No. 14173.
The applicant understands that federal funds shall not be used to promote gender ideology, pursuant to Executive Order No. 14168, Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government (Assurance of Compliance, NEA, 2025).*
*UPDATE: The NEA recently rescinded the gender ideology requirement
This is not surprising news, but it doesn’t lessen the devastation, either.
We have been diligent in raising funds for a rainy day. We’ve ensured our organization can weather a storm. But if you’ve thought about donating to VONA—whether in the form of scholarships or to operating costs—now is the time to do so. Public monies are no longer being funneled to “DEI programs,” and we have at least four more years of headwinds.
VONA has always sided with the oppressed. It has been the organization’s mantra since day one. We will continue to fight to change the landscape of literature and to support marginalized voices.
Will you help us? Help can be in the form of coming by our booth at AWP to say hello, to volunteer in that booth, and participating in our community through workshops and donations, as well as spreading the word about our workshops!
We’ll see you at AWP. We’ll see you on social media (VONA is on Bluesky @vonavoices.bsky). We’ll see you this Summer.
In solidarity,
VONA