It's Amazing What $5 Can Do

Bakery's $5 Fundraiser!

Hello Bakery Friends,
We're working on making the Bakery webzine one of the best literary arts and culture publications on or off the net and we could really use your help. You know my dear friends I am all enthusiasm and fire, but these sadly, do not pay for the lights, the website, broadband and other services which help keep Bakery going and growing. Neither do they pay our wonderful and hard-working writers and so now I come to you; you who have been so encouraging and helpful to Bakery in the past and ask you once again to open your hearts (and your wallets) to give the Bakery a little boost.

Just $5

Five dollars is not a lot of money, nowadays it barely buys a gallon of gas. Five dollars is less than the cost of a movie ticket or an 'Extra Value' meal at a fast food joint. But, what if we multiply that by 600? With a $5 donation from 600 people Bakery can do an awful lot. If 600 generous souls give $5, the resulting windfall will pay Bakery's operating expenses for 3 months, allow the Bakery to reserve spaces for 3 writers to attend workshops given by The Writing Salon, including one taught by former US poet laureate Billy Collins and pay for editing, development and other expenses related to putting Single Servings in print! Giving a great start to the career of a wonderful new writer, and allowing Bakery to give other writers, painters, musicians, sculptors and poets opportunities for education, inspiration and career development. A glorious snowball effect that makes the Bakery's mission possible; to help create artists .

Give and Forward

So please go to our page on Fractured Atlas' (our fiscal sponsor's ) website and make a tax-deductible gift of $5, you can even give monthly! I know that a few of you rock stars out there would love to contribute regularly, well now you can set up an automatically recurring monthly gift. Whether or not you choose to give at this time, please help Bakery's mission by forwarding this message to 2 art lovers whom you know would like to be a part of helping a writer get into print. Come on let's start a tidal wave that will sweep a promising writer's book into bookstores and begin a cycle that will benefit artists for years to come!

Thank you all for your good wishes and unstinting support during the past few years. I can't wait to see what 2007 holds for you, for Bakery and for artists everywhere. Be well my my dear friends.

Warmly,

Maya Jewell
Founder, Bakery of the Poets
http://bakeryofthepoets.org
707.416.0868

Bakery of the Poets is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions in behalf of Bakery of the Poets maybe made payable to Fractured Atlas and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law

Over The Rainbow; But Not If I Have To Go With That Dorothy Girl

Am I the only person, who when the Munchkins sang Ding, Dong, The Witch Is Dead, felt a little sorry for the witch?

It's just that I can recall as a child watching the Wizard of Oz for the first time; and feeling it unseemly (yes, 'unseemly', I didn't know the word at the time but looking back I recognize the sentiment. I was a four year old maiden aunt.) to celebrate anyone's death so tunefully. Then I began to think on how lonely the witch must have been if an entire land of people, even if they were very small, were so happy to see her die they burst into extemporaneous and dare I say, award-worthy song. And that perhaps if she had not been so lonely she would not have been so bad. Thus spake the thoughts of an infant Maya; she and Dorothy, forever out of tune.

Bakery of the Poets: The story behind the name

It occurs to me after all this time, that I've never told the story of Bakery of the Poets; or rather the story behind our name. My favorite literary work of all time is Cyrano de Bergerac. Rostand's play is a work of great humor, artistry and love and his hero...truly heroic. Cyrano is big in every way; not just his nose but his heart, his courage, his idealism and his creativity; are all of epic proportions. I love and adore this character. But I admit that I don¿t much identify with him. Yes, in that deep part that is my creative spirit; bold, unfettered, idealistic beyond belief, we are kindred. But as a character or a person...let's face it, he needs a keeper. He seems to careen from one catastrophe to another with unparalleled style and verve.
My own particular style is not conducive to catastrophe; has, in fact, more to do with catastrophe-avoidance than catastrophe-seeking. The character with whom I identify most is Ragueneau; pastry chef, poet (in a small way) art and artist lover; owner of a cafe identified simply as Bakery of the Poets. His love for artists prompts him to allow perennially impoverished scribblers and sketchers to exchange their work for food and wine (a habit which drives his bottom line-watching wife mad) his own poetry, he uses to wrap the bakery goodies he sells. Bakery of the Poets is a gathering place for artists and an artist-watching place for the nobility, the intellectuals and the ordinary citizens who find them fascinating. In Rostand's Bakery of the Poets artists fill their bellies, socialize, fight and find patrons and discuss the big ideas.
Once I really decided to do my part to help artists, the creation of a Bakery of the Poets for the modern age came very naturally. We are using technology to create a place where artists can find all kinds of support; 'bread' for their labors, people who nurture their talent, the encouragement and society of other artists. BotP is a forum in which they are published or promoted, helping artists find new audiences and patrons for their work. We want to give them the support they need to do their work and in that way help create artists. During 2006 we reached our tipping point where making progress no longer feels like pushing a boulder up hill. And with your support, 2007 promises to be a banner year for BotP and artists everywhere. On to the news.