Fuel Eliana's 30-30 Poetry Project

Hi! My name is Eliana Du. I'm raising funds to participate in the Tupelo 30/30 project, where I get the opportunity to be one of nine poets writing 1 poem per day for 30 days in a row, for a total of 30 poems in 30 days. I've applied and been accepted to be a poet for the month of June. My poetry will be published each day on the Tupelo website, and, if I raise beyond the minimum to participate, I may be able to fund a 5-day writing residency at Tupelo's Gentle House.

My funding benchmarks are as follows:

It's important to me that I practice my voice as a writer. Right now, I find myself relying on moments of inspiration to drive my writing, but every creative knows how unreliable inspiration is. Though the 30/30 project, I aim to instead make writing a habit. Eventually, I would like to write a novel, and I believe that the discipline gained from the 30/30 project will inform my pursuit of this goal.

I also want to use my participation in the 30/30 project as a chance to reflect on the mundane -- the first fireflies, the hotpot meals, the soft smiles of friends. It's my hope that the intense expectations of the 30/30 project will compel me to dig deeper for inspiration, to move beyond the obvious and dramatic into the smaller moments that mean just as much.

If you've read this far, thank you for your time! If you have the means and empathize with the motivation behind my fundraiser, I would truly appreciate it if you would take a moment to donation however much you can to support the dreams of an avid young writer.