We welcome Brew & Forge as a new MNF grantee.
“The funding from the Markham-Nathan Fund will support the participation of Western Massachusetts-based poets and/or organizers at the Witches & Warriors Retreat. Taking place July 21-24, 2022 at the Watershed Center in upstate New York, the Retreat will bring together BIPOC poets, grassroots organizers, and movement workers from across the Northeast for three days of workshops, skill-sharing, collective dreaming, and rest. Retreat participants will have the chance to learn from our two expert faculty, Cynthia Dewi Oka and Alexis Pauline Gumbs, who will each lead a workshop on some aspect of the intersection between creative writing and movement building. The MNF funding will help us both to offer this retreat at no cost to participants, and to ensure that this resource is used to support the leadership of BIPOC people in Western Massachusetts. The funding will be put toward covering three costs: 1) lodging, food and supplies for one participant based in Western Mass; 2) stipends for our two part-time coordinators; 3) honoraria for the two faculty mentors. By supporting the Witches & Warriors Retreat in these ways, the Markham-Nathan Fund is helping to create a space for BIPOC artists and organizers in our region to shift power, spark change, and dream better worlds into being.” Franny Choi, Brew & Forge
