Budget cuts, shortfalls, and shrinking, oh my!

California is in a precarious situation. We have a colossal budget gap, and in an attempt to fill it, the state has set its sights on one area that is in desperate need of support: education. Eliminating CAL Grants, firing teachers, and slashing schools’ operating budgets are just a few of the wounds that the education system must lick in this harsh economic time.

For the arts in schools, this is a kick to the stomach while you’re down. You see, many California classrooms already rarely-to-never see the arts. After the arts budget in California was slashed to nearly nothing several years ago, schools have been struggling to recover. Sometimes arts programs in schools are only made possible through the efforts of private organizations. These foundations and other such organizations provide much-needed support to our struggling system.

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ThesaurusxCore and the Art of Letter Writing

It’s my second week of planning our 15^th anniversary party and I’m getting more excited about it by the day! Have I mentioned that we have FOUR featured authors this year? Mark Doty, Carolyn See, Naseem Rakha, and Alicia Ostriker will all be taking the stage and rocking the mic at our November 1^st event. Both Carolyn and Naseem are West-Coast writers, Carolyn here in LA and Naseem in Oregon, while Alicia and Mark are both based in the great Garden State. If I am correct, Mark will actually be joining Alicia as English Department faculty at Rutgers University in the fall, I wonder if they will have a chance to meet before the event. Anyway, it’s exciting to research each author’s background and their different writing styles and subjects. I checked out Carolyn See’s “Golden Days” and “Making a Literary Life” from the Valencia Library the other day, so I’m excited to get started on those. We’ll see what writing advice Guggenheim and Getty Fellowship recipient Carolyn See has to offer me in her nonfiction book “Making a Literary Life.” When I’m not reading books by our authors, calling LA organizations to donate raffle tickets, and inviting hot celebs to our November 1^st bash, I’m getting the scoop on the development and publishing aspects of Red Hen. The other day Mark told me all about his latest writing projects and gave me the 411 on sending off writing into the wide world of publishing. First step: Always send a SASE! Second: Write a cover letter! Today Adam taught me a little about development, or, how to get corporate sponsorship, which we are aiming for with this year’s Nov. 1^st luncheon. Mainly I’ve been learning that it’s all in the language, that the right wording can go a long way, whether you’re applying for funding or sending off a manuscript to a publisher. Needless to say, the online thesaurus has become one of my most visited websites.

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