Please visit the Tandem Reader Awards Fundraiser
Donating to their campaign has some really nice—and unique—perks! Including handwritten poems signed by the author from poets Kaveh Akbar, Heather Bell, Sarah Blake, Chen Chen, Siaara Freeman, and Megan Peak.
Tandem Reader Awards is a FEE-FREE post-publication award for chapbooks, where the award will be given to both the author and editor of the winning chapbook. TRA began as an idea in 2015 when we noticed a deficit of reader awards for chapbooks and a similar deficit of reader awards for editors. As we discussed these needs in our community, we realized an additional and more prevalent need in our community for more accessible awards.
TRA believes it is important to acknowledge the hurdles, including submission fees, impeding accessibility to many awards in our creative community, especially for minority and marginalized voices. We asked ourselves: What if we could award the special relationship between writer and editor, while pledging our commitment to being broadly accessible within the literary community by maintaining fee-free nominations? The answer was clear: We can. These ideas work beautifully in tandem and you can help make it happen.
Our goal is to raise a minimum of $2,000 to cover the initial start-up costs: A PO box for mail nominations, a checking account, promotional materials, and registering for our 501c3. Additionally your contribution will go towards the $150 prize awarded each to the editor and the author of the winning chapbook, and will guarantee the first two years of the awards. Any additional funds raised over $2,000 will sweeten the prize pot; we hope to surpass the $150 prize amount for our winners and demonstrate community support and commitment to a more inclusive writer community, where we can honor the work first and foremost.
