Poets at the End of the World raises $20K for housing fund for the unemployed

Poets at the End of the World (PEW), the social justice collective composed of poets Ama Codjoe, Donika Kelly, Nicole Sealey, Evie Shockley and Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon, has raised just over $20,000 for Ain’t Nothing Going On But the Rent!,  a fund to “help those who are behind on rent, in danger of eviction and/or housing insecure.” PEW met their goal in under a week—an inspiring example of poetic justice and service in action.

Grants of $500 will go to unemployed people of color “who identify as trans, gender non-conforming, non-binary or women.” Interested parties seeking assistance can complete this form. Trans women, undocumented people, and single heads-of-household are particularly encouraged to apply. Applications for the fund close August 28th. All applicants will be notified of results on August 31. Funds will be distributed by lottery through Costura Creative between September 1st and 3rd.

 

 

Poets at the End of the World was inspired by the examples of Lucille Clifton, June Jordan, Audre Lorde, and Gwendolyn Brooks who “modeled how caring deeply about craft could go hand in hand with caring deeply about the state and fate of one’s families and communities, particularly the people most vulnerable to abuses of power,” says Evie Shockley in an interview. The name of the collective comes from a line in a Lucille Clifton poem:

the poem at the end of the world

is the poem the little girl breathes

into her pillow   the one

she cannot tell   the one

there is no one to hear   this poem

is a political poem   is a war poem   is a

universal poem but is not about

these things   this poem

is about one human heart   this poem

is the poem at the end of the world

 

— from “shapeshifter poems” by Lucille Clifton

---

Find out more about Poets at the End of the World here.