Your Piece of the Pie
Help their Words Travel.
Gomeroi poet Rob Waters is invited to the 2024 World Poetry Slam Championship in Togo, West Africa. Last year at the Championship in Rio de Janeiro, the 2022 Australian Poetry Slam champion Jo Yang placed eighth out of 40 countries.
Rob has also been invited to festivals in Ubud, Singapore, Mumbai and Malaysia. Some festivals offer travel with no artist fees, others pay a fee but no travel. Grants help us do this but don’t cover all the gaps. You do. Your donations are the filling in Rob’s tour pie.
Sixteen-year-old K.J. Hayward is invited to perform her poetry at Byron Writers Festival and literary events along the NSW coast. As a teenage artist, she needs at least one guardian to join her. We can only do this with your help.
We have offered these kinds of opportunities to our Australian Poetry Slam Champions every year since 2006.
2023 Australian Poetry Slam Champions Rob Waters and K.J. Hayward – photo credit: Jacquie Manning
More Than Grants
We’ve learned that it takes more than grants to keep our doors open.
With 90% per cent of our events offered for free and providing low ticket prices one of our guiding principles, we rely on government grants and private giving from people like you. This vital support pays artists, enables projects to thrive and our events to continue being accessible to the whole community.
We don’t want to exclude anyone. Imagine charging a young person in a small country town $80 for a workshop on how to write and perform their own stories. We can’t do it.
Yet, will we ask artists like Rob Waters to deliver their craft without being paid? Nope. We need you to be part of this equation.
This work needs your care.
You are part of the pie (chart)
We have some wins! We acknowledge terrific support for regional touring from Creative Australia and Create NSW. Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade funds have come through for the Mumbai tour.
However, our Create NSW annual funding is a third of what it was pre-Covid with no clear feedback. It’s often a case of wanting to support more organisations. Same size pie. Cut into smaller pieces. Like many arts organisations, we are left in a precarious position. Our future is not guaranteed.
Blueberry Pie – photo credit: Old World Garden Farms. Word and arrow additions: Word Travels.
You love what we do. You are a key part of Word Travels. You’ve come to our slams; participated in our workshops; seen our poets work in your neighbourhood. You’ve watched poetry slams and spoken word take off in Australia because Word Travels has been punching the literary gates open since 2006.
We need to embrace our charity status, fundraise and make philanthropy part of our survival plan. We need to work with you, our community, to pay our committed staff, produce the 2024 national Australian Poetry Slam, present Story Week, plus support our artists to accept festival invitations that can change their lives.
This year is more important than ever. Our Australian Poetry Slam Champions, Rob and K.J., represent two areas of performed writing we are dedicated to: young people and First Nations artists.
Lower funding means limiting their opportunities and reducing our impact in these areas.
Don’t forget the Staff
Sometimes we get funding for projects that don’t cover the cost of core staff. “Yes” to funding artist fees – Yeah! Excellent!
But when it is a “No” to paying the staff who manage the itinerary and process payments, this is a recipe for burn-out, overloaded part-time roles and resignations.
What does your cash do?
By donating to Word Travels, you can make a difference in these areas now:
Bolster young people’s creativity, confidence and professional development.
Support First Nations artists and communities.
Keep staff on the team.
Anything you give is an awesome seed in the garden.
Here’s a guide to how we grow with you:
- Support a workshop participant with $80.
- Support one artist fee with $400.
- Support a tour stop with $1000.
- Support a staff member by becoming a monthly donor.
You like numbers?
In 2023 we had:
3,714 participants in our programs
307,188 audience members
190 activities
9 arts workers employed
92 paid artists
We do a lot with our little piece of the pie but we can’t do it by ourselves.
2023 Australian Poetry Slam National Finalists – photo credit: Jacquie Manning
Please add your own special ingredient. Donate to support Word Travels artists and staff plus kids in workshops across Australia and abroad.
Make your donation by 30 June.
Because yeah – we’re tax deductible, if that helps you.
P.S. if you’re keen to fill your tummy over winter try my favourite pie recipe.
Thanks Old World Garden Farms for the photo.
Miles Merrill
Word Travels Founder and Creative Director