Santa Cruz Writes Zooms Forward!

As many of you know, in 2012 Santa Cruz Writes (SCW) was launched to provide a home and voice for Santa Cruz County authors. In the eight years since, SCW has sponsored programs such as 1) Love Letters, 2) an epistolary project (cosponsored with UCSC's writing program) that paired undergraduates with local authors to exchange letters about their live, 3) the annual Morton Marcus Poetry Contest, and 4) the phren-z online literary magazine.

In March of this year, when the pandemic suddenly made in-person literary gatherings impossible, SCW’s newest venture was born: the Zoom Forward! online reading series. These free weekly readings are designed to provide three essential things in this challenging time: 1) a social and cultural venue to keep our literary minds afloat, 2) a way to support local and other authors, and 3) a way to support our local independent bookstore, Bookshop Santa Cruz.

As many of you also know, I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in October 2018. Earlier this year, my granddaughter Hannah Hutton joined the SCW team as my co-director to keep the momentum going, and she has been instrumental in the Zoom Forward! presentations and the publication of phren-Z.

I recently discovered that my chemo was no longer proving successful, and I was recommended to Hospice. Since then, I’ve been thinking through the next phases of my own writing, and working on ways to ensure that SCW programs continue to thrive. It's been my goal to find a new home for SCW, phren-Z, the Poetry Contest, and Zoom Forward! We've now located the perfect organization for us to merge with, and will formally announce that following this GoGetFunding campaign that ends on 11/30/20.

This is where you come in.

My wife Karen and I have committed to providing annual funding for all SCW progams beginning on January 1, 2022. Between now and then, we need $15,000 to successfully merge SCW with our new home organization and continue our programming without interruption during a gap year before distributions become available.

The donations you make here will provide us with the funding we need to support the gap between January 1, 2021 and December 31, 2021. If we are lucky enough to surpass our goal of $15,000, we will be able to put the surplus toward additional programs that serve the missions of both organizations.

With your help and generosity, SCW will continue yo provide a home and voice for the Santa Cruz literary community that we have all worked so hard to achieve!

Jory Post