Autumn Konopka fundraising for National Poetry Month 2019

Autumn Konopka

Fundraising for:
National Poetry Month 2019

From Autumn Konopka

I'm writing poems -- and raising money -- to give back to the Philadelphia Writers' Conference, a community that has nurtured and supported me for many years.

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Recent Updates

Update #3

almost 5 years ago

We did it!!!

Thanks to your amazing support, I've EXCEEDED my fundraising goal. I am so so so so so so grateful!

While I will honestly admit that I have not written a poem every day, I have put in a huge poetic effort this month: hosted a reading, lead two workshops, wrote between 10-15 poems (so that's maybe 1 every other day), submitted a handful of those poems, got some rejections, wrote an essay about poetry & submitted it (hoping to not get that rejected... but we'll see), workshopped some poems, and did A LOT of work to give poets & writers a great Philadelphia Writers' Conference this year. April is always busy, and this one was no different.

I'm ending NaPoMo with a poetry reading tonight. I can't wait. Thanks so so so much.

About Me

I'm a poet, teacher & President of the Board for the Philadelphia Writers' Conference. 

During April, I'll be writing poems & helping others to write poems. All told, I hope to bring at least 50 new poems to life this month. Please consider supporting me -- and the PWC -- in this effort. 

$1/poem would be $50 -- and that would support contest prizes. 

$2/poem would be $100 -- and that would help us compensate instructors. 

I'm trying to raise $700, which would cover the cost of 2 full scholarships for writers. 

You can check back for updates on how many poems I (and my students) have written and how much money we've all raised.

I'll also post writing prompts to keep my supporters inspired!

Thanks for helping to nurture the creative community of the Philadelphia Writers' Conference!

More Info

For more than 70 years, the Philadelphia Writers' Conference has connected writers from various genres, styles, backgrounds, and experience levels for camaraderie, community, and craft. Since our founding in 1949, we have be proud to host speakers and workshop leaders like Sonia Sanchez, Jonathan Maberry, Larry Kane, Ed Rendell, Mark Bowden and many many more to share their knowledge and experience with our conferees. And we have kept our commitment to making this experience accessible, by keeping costs low, offering discounts and scholarships, and delivering free programs throughout the year.

Pledges for Poems

This April, during National Poetry Month (NaPoMo), a cadre of PWC-affliliated poets have agreed to use their NaPoMo writing goals to help support PWC and to, in turn, be motivated toward those goals by the generosity of the PWC community. 

How? We call it Pledges for Poems. 

Donors will commit a certain dollar amount for every poem written, submitted for publication, or fostered (say, in a classroom setting) by our fundraiser-poets. For instance, if a poet writes a poem each day in April, for a pledge of $1/poem, that poet will raise $30. Easy-peasy. Or, a donor may pledge a flat amount for a poet's entire April output. 

Are you ready to help?

If you want to be a poet-fundraiser, you can create your own pledge page by clicking the "Become a Fundraiser" button to the right. 

If you want to donate, you can make a support the campaign by donating here, or you can support one of the poets listed on the right.

Either way, your support will help us continue to deliver programs that nurture and support individual writers and the writing community.

We appreciate your help!

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Autumn Konopka posted a new update:
almost 5 years ago

Update #3

We did it!!!

Thanks to your amazing support, I've EXCEEDED my fundraising goal. I am so so so so so so grateful!

While I will honestly admit that I have not written a poem every day, I have put in a huge poetic effort this month: hosted a reading, lead two workshops, wrote between 10-15 poems (so that's maybe 1 every other day), submitted a handful of those poems, got some rejections, wrote an essay about poetry & submitted it (hoping to not get that rejected... but we'll see), workshopped some poems, and did A LOT of work to give poets & writers a great Philadelphia Writers' Conference this year. April is always busy, and this one was no different.

I'm ending NaPoMo with a poetry reading tonight. I can't wait. Thanks so so so much.

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Autumn Konopka posted a new update:
almost 5 years ago

Update #2

I'm long over due for an update! Sorry friends!!!

Last week, I visited the classrooms of both of my kiddos -- Rosie's 1st grade class & Owen's 5th grade class. I read poems, talked about having a "job" as a poet, and helped them write poems. In Owen's class, some of the students shared their new poems and some others asked me to take their work home so I could give them extra feedback.

Over the past few weeks, I also wrote some new poems, got a rejection from one magazine, edited 4 poems with a trusted friend, wrote an essay about poets & poetry in movies that I'm preparing to send, hosted a semi-monthly poetry reading, and worked extensively on organizational stuff for the Philadelphia Writers' Conference (where all of your generous donations will be going).

I cannot thank you enough for your support & motivation!.

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Autumn Konopka posted a new update:
almost 5 years ago

Update #1

wowowowowowowow!!! I know some truly amazing humans!!!! Thank you all for supporting me & the Philadelphia Writers' Conf. I am truly awed!!!!

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