About this project
Who We Are
Austin Bat Cave is a non-profit writing & tutoring center for kids (ages 6 to 18) that is inspired by the highly successful organization 826 National (co-founded by Dave Eggers) and its respective chapters around the country. We offer a number of free creative writing programs to help students increase their writing and critical thinking skills, to build their confidences as writers, and to dismantle the idea that writing is some insurmountable and unfulfilling task.
We believe that through our workshops and by providing kids in the classroom with one-on-one attention we can help kids become not just better writers but better students.
What We Do
We make published authors out of elementary, middle, and high school kids. After taking the creative work produced by the kids in our programs and helping the students rewrite and edit and revise their work, we publish their stories and poems and personal essays in our HAND & WING anthology. Professionally designed and printed, the HAND & WING anthology becomes a tangible testament to the hard work and creative output of our students.
The anthology is something they can put on their bookshelves, can find sold in local bookstores, can show to family and friends. It is proof-positive that they have stories to tell -- through poetry or songwriting or the graphic novel -- and that their stories are compelling and important and well worth telling. Our Hand & Wing program and the anthology that comes out of it is transformative and inspiring. This year represents the fourth consecutive year of our Hand & Wing program; to date, it has impacted hundreds of public school students in the city of Austin.
How Your Support Will Be Used
Every dollar raised through our Kickstarter campaign will be used to continue funding our in-school Writer's Residency program, Hand & Wing. Every week for the entire school year, we send between three and five volunteers into the classroom to work with students to improve their writing skills and to support the hard-working teachers of Austin ISD. We do this by working with students in small groups and one-on-one with with those who are struggling the most to unravel the mysterious and often daunting writing process. We also bring our own creative writing workshops into the classroom so that once a month the students are given the opportunity to enjoy engaging non-academic writing awesomeness -- hip-hop poetry, comic book writing, screenwriting, and comedy and sketch writing to name just a few of the writing workshops we bring to the students in our program. We then take the best work produced by our budding writers and help them make it even better and then publish it. Given the recent budget cuts in public education, this work is more critical than ever before.
Your contribution -- no matter how much you give -- will enable us not only to continue our great, free program, but will allow us to expand, to work in more public schools and with more great, inventive students. Your support of us and what we do means more to us than you can imagine, and whatever you're able to give, we thank you wholeheartedly.
Thanks so much for your support!
(Disclaimer: Your contribution to Austin Bat Cave is tax-deductible. Austin Bat Cave will send a contribution letter for tax purposes to every donor who requests one. Please email your request to info@austinbatcave.org and please include Contribution Letter in the subject of your email.)
FAQ
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Any pie. If you can imagine it, ED Manuel Gonzales can bake it. But if you're asking for his specialties, they are:
Apple, Apple Custard Tart, Pecan, Chocolate Pecan, Pumpkin, Mexican Chocolate, Fresh Blueberry (seasonal), Strawberry Rhubarb (seasonal), Fresh Strawberry Rhubarb (seasonal), Banana Cream (graham cracker or butter crust), Key Lime (graham cracker crust), Individual Cherry (up to six individually sized Cherry Pies, also seasonal) , or if you're in the mood, he makes a mean Chicken Pot Pie, too!
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Every month, for over a year now, Austin Bat Cave has brought the city of Austin a specatularly entertaining evening of live storytelling, an evening full of magic and mystery and wonder, stories of heartache and hilarity. We like to call it The Story Department. As to why would you want it in your house, we think the better question is: why wouldn't you?
Picture it---your house, full of curious party-goers, or a table-full of dinner guests. They have high expectations. Ever since the Johnsons booked those Penn & Teller look-alikes, everyone you know has been trying to up the party ante. But you---you have an Ace in the Hole. You pledged and won The Story Department in your own home, whenever you wanted it. Up to four storytellers recruited from the best of the best here in Austin. You have picked the theme. We have provided the entertainment, but not just the storytellers---you get the MCs, as well. Your choice of our two brilliant MCs, Kris Kovach or Phil Korshak, both brilliant storytellers in their own right. Oh yes. Your party will be epic, will go down in the history books, will never be forgotten.
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Ah. We like how you think. You know what you want, and you want to give, but maybe you cannot give as much as you would like. While we cannot auction off the storytellers piecemeal, might we suggest you find a small group of like-minded individuals, pool your donations together, and win The Story Department for the lot of you? Do not underestimate the power of a few individuals focused on a common goal!
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Of course! ED Manuel Gonzales will bake that pie for you for any and all occasions. Maybe you want to have a pecan pie for Thanksgiving or you think that Mexican Chocolate pie sounds perfect for a Christmas party you want to throw. Just let us know and we'll make all the proper arrangements for baking & delivery of your pie.
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You can invite as many people as can fit in your kitchen. Just remember, you'll probably have to share the finished product with all those people, too.
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Unfortunately, no. BUT you can find likeminded individuals who might want to donate to Austin Bat Cave, who might also want a pie, but maybe not a whole pie, or maybe cannot afford a single donation of $200 or $350. Pool your resources together and, just like that, everyone gets what they want!
Have a question? If the info above doesn't help, you can ask the project creator directly.
222
Backers
$25,256
pledged of $25,000 goal
0
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Funding Successful
This project successfully raised its funding goal on November 14, 2011.
Pledge $1 or more Pledge $1 or more
The Shout Out :: For a dollar, we will shout your name from the rooftops! (Or, 'a' rooftop.)
Pledge $5 or more Pledge $5 or more
Buy a Word :: Pledge us a five-spot and we'll send you a word -- your choice of 'gawsey', 'jape', 'slipslop', 'mooncalf', or 'vermiculate' -- defined and mailed (while the mail is still running!) to your door with our thank you written in Haiku on the back.
Pledge $25 or more Pledge $25 or more
The Bat Book Club :: Receive copies of both our Citywide & Summer anthologies, full of great writing by kids all across Austin.
Pledge $25 or more Pledge $25 or more
The Cartographer :: Receive a fancy, beautifully designed fictional map of the fabled East Austin Caves, full of fun facts about the discovery of these fictional caves, the flora & fauna living in these caves, and the mysterious people who once inhabited them! (Request flat or folded.) Copy and paste to view: <front> http://tiny.cc/7ihv0 <back> http://tiny.cc/nbra6
Pledge $25 or more Pledge $25 or more
I Don't Have a Mane :: Download our full-length album with a $25 donation. Includes 9 songs with lyrics written by the students of Anderson High School, put to music by 9 local bands including Western Ghost House, TV Torso, Comanche Club, Crooks, Ringo Deathstarr, Aaron Behrens of Ghostland Observatory, and more!
Pledge $40 or more Pledge $40 or more
1,001 Nights :: Well, maybe not one thousand and one nights and more like six nights. With this, you receive six free passes to Austin Bat Cave's exciting night of storytelling, held at Home Slice Pizza, The Story Department. Based on the award-winning series, The Moth, ABC brings in storytellers from all around Austin to recount brilliant, funny, often poignant stories based on a new theme each month.
Pledge $50 or more Pledge $50 or more
The Guru :: A signed copy of THE SURF GURU, the fabulous new collection of short stories by Austin-based author (and Advisory Board Member), Doug Dorst.
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Dead or Alive :: A signed copy of ALIVE AT THE NECROPOLIS, the New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice first novel by Austin-based author (and Advisory Board Member), Doug Dorst.
Pledge $50 or more Pledge $50 or more
1,001 Nights Plus :: At this level, you get the six admissions to ABC's The Story Department AND a download of our freshly mastered Story Department album, "Stories in the Best Way, the Best of the Story Department."
Pledge $50 or more Pledge $50 or more
Hand & Wing Volume 4 :: Our most recent publication of student work, Hand & Wing includes written work, artwork, and a full-length CD, produced by the students enrolled in our creative writing program during the 2010-2011 school year.
Pledge $75 or more Pledge $75 or more
The Kit & Kaboodle :: A copy of our latest volume of Hand & Wing, the digital download of I DON'T HAVE A MANE CD, the East Austin Map and the I DON'T HAVE A MANE posters, all rolled into one.
Pledge $200 or more Pledge $200 or more
The Moody :: VIP Pass to a screening of The Ice Storm hosted by ABC in December and featuring Rick Moody and Evan Smith (founder and publisher of The Texas Tribune).
Pledge $200 or more Pledge $200 or more
Book & a Pie :: Executive Director, former owner of the Clarksville Pie Company, and author of the essay, "The Pie Guy" from the collection of essays, MAN WITH A PAN, Manuel Gonzales will hand deliver to you a signed copy of MAN WITH A PAN and will bake you a pie (of your choosing)! Disclaimer: For donors living outside the Austin, Texas metroplex, please add $50 to the amount to cover overnight shipment of freshly baked pie.
Pledge $350 or more Pledge $350 or more
Book & a Pie PLUS :: The Book & a Pie reward but instead of simply delivering a pie to your home, Executive Director Manuel Gonzales will come to your house, give you a signed copy of the collection of essays MAN WITH A PAN, and will give you a pie-baking lesson, the results of which (a freshly baked pie of your choosing) you will keep!
Pledge $500 or more Pledge $500 or more
1,001 Nights Super Plus :: A night of The Story Department for you and your guests in your own home. You choose the theme, we will provide a night of fantastic storytelling delivered by some of our favorite storytellers.
Pledge $500 or more Pledge $500 or more
The Bat Cruise :: A 2-hour Bat Boat Cruise on Ladybird Lake with a local author for 10 people. Boat holds 80 so you may purchase multiple packages if you want a bash of just your own friends. Beer & Wine provided. There's no better way to see the bats as they fly out from beneath Congress Avenue bridge than with your friends on a boat! Bats fly through October. Thereafter it's a boat cruise with an author, not a bat boat cruise.
Pledge $1,000 or more Pledge $1,000 or more
The Workshop :: A one-day fun and creative writing workshops for up to fifteen kids (grouped by age) run by the good folks at Austin Bat Cave. This is what we do best. Give your kids a fun and exciting writing party and watch them grow into miniature authors. Get this for your kid and his or her friends or give it as a gift or simply donate it to a classroom or school of your choosing!
Project By
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For the past four years, Austin Bat Cave has offered free creative writing workshops and after-school tutoring for kids ages 6 to 18 in and around Austin, Texas. Our workshops are fun and engaging and are free for schools, parents, and kids alike.
