The location is to be announced as the date approaches.
TO DONATE
We accept donations by check and online.
1) To donate by check:
Please make checks out to The University of Houston with “GLASS MOUNTAIN” in the memo line and send to:
Hayan Charara,
Faculty Advisor
Department of English,
3581 Cullen Boulevard
Science Building (BLDG 502)
Houston TX 77204-3013
2) To donate online:
Click the “Go to UH Giving Page” link at the foot of this column to be taken to the UH giving site.
Thank you for your support!
*All donations are tax-deductible
Go to our Giving Page
The Editor-in-Chief of Glass Mountain, recently answered some questions about the most recent fundraiser, which took place on October 26th, 2019, in the University of Houston Old Science Building. Her interview follows.
Forum: How long has Write-A-Thon been going on? Can you trace its development and your participation in it?
Editor-in-Chief: Write-A-Thon has been going on since within a few years of the inception of the annual Boldface Conference. Write-A-Thon started as a way for us to fundraise for the conference while simultaneously enriching the literary community we are so proud to be a part of. Throughout the years, it has included different craft talks, different ideas, and different people, but that goal has remained the same. I participated last year when it was still open to the public and walked away with a myriad of new story ideas and a newfound interest in nonfiction.
This year, while I spent most of the time facilitating, I also got to attend a couple of the amazing sessions and again found the same kind of inspiration—this time, new story ideas and a burgeoning interest in translation. That’s the kind of space we’ve created with Write-A-Thon.
Forum: What does Write-A-Thon offer emerging writers?
Editor-in-Chief: Write-A-Thon offers emerging writers a community. It’s a place where they can focus on themselves as writers, especially since this year’s event focused on our very own Glass Mountain editors, whose own work often gets overshadowed in the wake of the magazine. Write-A-Thon ooffers companionship in its attendees, inspiration in its craft talks, and just plain, simple time to write, which can be difficult to find.
Forum: Can you walk us through the ways writers spend Write-A-Thon?
Editor-in-Chief: Write-A-Thon is pretty “customizable” if you want to think of it that way. It’s a day-long event with a lunch break in the middle, but we generally have two craft talks going on at a time that writers have the option of attending. We always have one apiece for poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. The other craft talks vary from year-to-year, depending on what we feel is most fit for the group. This year, we were pleased to offer craft talks on editing, literary publishing, translation, and more. If writers don’t find a session during a block that they want to go to, we also have a revision room, where writers are encouraged to give feedback to their peers, as well as a submission café, where graduate students can help attendees submit their work to literary journals for publication. We also have open spaces to encourage writers to generate new work, and we top the day off with an open mic.
Forum: What made this year’s Write-a-Thon distinctive from previous years? What were you most excited about?
Editor-in-Chief: This year’s Write-a-Thon was significantly different than it has been in the past. For the first time in its long history, our fundraising event shifted focus away from fundraising. While there’s certainly still an aspect there (we’ll always take donations!), we wanted to give back to the staff that works so hard all year long to produce Glass Mountain’s biannual volumes and our bimonthly online magazine, Shards. This year, Write-A-Thon was an event specifically geared towards and only open to our associate and upper editors. Editors ingest a lot of amazing work and edit pieces galore, and their own creative endeavors tend to get pushed aside. We wanted our staff this year to feel seen, not just as editors, but as artists and writers. I was most excited to see the way this shift in focus would re-inspire the writers who I respect so much, and who are the heart and soul of this magazine.