In late February 2012 I was happily informed that one of the many grants I have been seeking was given approval. The Seattle Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs has granted me $4000 to pursue another project with poetry and parents of kids with chronic illness. I will be interviewing parents whose children live with a chronic illnesses and then writing a series of poems based on our discussions. I will then publish a small book of those poems and blow up one or two of them into broadsides. (Broadsides are poems enlarged into picture size and then framed). Several copies of the book and broadsides will be left and hung, respectively, in the clinics where these families/children are treated. I will also do a series of free public readings and discussions of the work.
Look for further information on the readings etc.
If you, or anyone you know is interested in being interviewed, please contact me. I am looking for a range of families with socio-economic diversity and a range of illnesses too.
Wow, this is a beautiful way to touch the lives of families with chronically ill children. Thank you for sharing what you are doing. I appreciate the way you are making a difference with your gift of poetry.