Kickstarter

I am a writer, a researcher, a mother, a professor (adjunct) and a lover of endings: in life and in history there are sometimes not enough of them. My project is to write a novel of a collection of short stories about former slave mothers reuniting with their children after the emancipation.

After the Civil War was a time for reconstructing America; as importantly, after the Emancipation came the time for reconstructing families.

Former slave mothers had the daunting task of searching for children who quite possibly no longer fit the images fixed in the hearts and minds of their family. Racism, location, finances, lack of education, lack of resources, weather, distance: any number of obstacles made the task of finding children even less probable. Who could afford to give up?

While agencies such as the Freeman's Bureau; churches, word-of-mouth networks and other former slaves likely built a network that helped reunite some families, many more children were left unclaimed. What happened to them? Likely mothers searching for children connected with children looking for mothers; what difference did blood make?

I would like to tell their stories.

I have been accepted to Lancaster University's (UK) Creative Writing PHD program where I will research primary sources and craft an historical fiction that is more balanced and more representative of the characters of history. This research will allow me to craft characters and settings that are multi dimensional and to give voices to stories seldom told.

My study will require funding from multiple sources. I have applied for financial aid and for scholarships and will continue to apply for scholarships until the program begins in October. Because I will be studying in the UK, I will bring my three children abroad while I pursue my PHD. The opportunity to bring my children to the UK is the opportunity to show my children that with education they can shape their lives to fulfill their dreams regardless of where their paths may lead or may have begun.

The money I am trying to raise is for Visas, Passports and Airfare for my children to move to the UK with me while I research.

 I am a divorced, single mother of 3. I completed my MA in Writing (Fiction/Nonfiction) at Johns Hopkins University; have attended both the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and Breadloaf; and was accepted to (but could not afford to attend) Sewanee’s Writers’ Workshop; all while being a single mother and working full time.

Please help me continue to make my dreams a reality and to tell the stories of the rebuilding of family after the Emancipation.
Thank you