Partnership & Community 20 :: partnerships & community
We all know we can’t do it alone. Even when the best thing we can do for our community is stay home by ourselves, it takes collaboration from all of us to make that happen and keep the world safe. It also requires collaboration from those of us who can’t stay home, in order to keep things running safely and smoothly. Partnerships are vital to our health and happiness, and they’re also vital to uniting the wideranging VCFA community. In the past year, VCFA has developed partnerships with four media platforms and arts organizations: 88 Cups of Tea, Filmwax Radio, the Poetry Society of New York, and the American Literary Translators Association. All these content-driven partnerships provide a loudspeaker for alumnx success.
Ranked in the top 15 in iTunes literature podcasts, 88 Cups of Tea is an online platform and podcast for creative writers. In partnership with founder Yin Chang, over the past year VCFA has featured podcasts and published essays from over a dozen alums of our WCYA program, including Victoria Wells Arms (’19), Julie Berry (’08), Linda Camacho (’14), Amy Rose Capetta (faculty &’12), Kekla Magoon (faculty & ’05), J. Albert Mann (’17), Yamile Mendez (’17), and more. In Chang’s words, “We’re spotlighting their experiences in a transparent and heart-driven way. From topics exploring the art of writing and the heart of writing, to carving sacred writing time and breaking out of creative blocks, to the specific steps of craft; there are stories that will resonate, guide, and uplift every Storyteller in our community.”
Adam Schartoff, founder and host of the Filmwax Radio podcast, interviews faculty and alumnx from the MFA in Film on the show in an ongoing partnership with VCFA. Guests in the past year have included Ian Cheney (’18), Nina Davenport (faculty), Brad Heck (’19), Amy Hesketh (’18) pictured below, Michel Negroponte (faculty), Michael Staffieri (’17), George Nicholas (’18), and Jason Rosenfeld (’18). Filmwax Radio has been spotlighting the independent film community since 2011, with over 400 episodes produced so far.