Following Fernando Pessoa to Lisbon

SALUTATIONS

Hello lovelies! I've been accepted into the Disquiet Literary Program this July which is a two-week program that brings writers from North America and from around the world together with Portuguese writers in the heart of Lisbon for intensive workshops in the art and craft of writing. 

The program is premised on several beliefs: That the conversations and exchange of ideas that result from meeting writers from around the world pushes one's own work beyond the boundaries of the self. That all writers need a community to support and sustain them. That stepping out of the routine of one's daily life and into a vibrant, rich, and new cultural space unsettles the imagination, loosens a writer's reflexes�AND I NEED ALL OF IT!

After finishing the MA at the IIML I didn't write for a year. My acceptance to this program in Portugal has given me the confidence to get back into the work, which is a book of essays exploring my identity through an untranslatable Portuguese word, Saudade. It's a word that has 176 meanings/characteristics, and it sums up my life. Absence, loss, longing, nostalgia all tied into the loss of my father, and then mother at a young age. Here's the thing though - my dad who I haven't seen in 20 years is just outside of Lisbon, with my half sister, and I'm hoping this trip will help me connect to both of them...

DA BACKGROUND

I'm a Portuguese New Zealand (with a smidgen of Canadian and Indian in there for good measure) writer-in-progress who is rather obsessed with this dude, Fernando Pessoa, Portugal's greatest poet/writer/translator ever. I started a project during my year in nonfiction at VUW's IIML Master's Program, but working two jobs, and raising 2 kids and 1 pug makes it really hard to concentrate on the writing that I need to do. This is where you come in...

YOUS GUYS AND GALS AND CASH MONIES

I've won 2 scholarships, which is AMAZING!, however, they only cover 1/2 of the cost of tuition so ima need to hustle another 5K. Ouch. Flights from NZ to Portugal are insane in July, which is lame, but a reality. And then there's the accommodation, and the eating - please help me eat all the portuguese custard tarts in Lisbon!

OH! BUT THERE ARE DELICIOUS PERKS FOR SUPPORTING ME

Some of you may know that I was a chocolatier for 14 years before I became a writer! Last year I started making some chocolate bars that came with essays on the wrappers - as a thank you to all of you who contribute to my fund, you'll all be getting a bar! No matter what your donation is - for reals. And then you'll get warm fuzzies for helping me get published too. I love yous guys/gals!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU FOR HELPING ME GET BACK TO THE MOTHERLAND/FATHERLAND!