In honor of #GivingTuesday, we’re waiving our submission fees on Tuesday, November 28, so you can donate your money or time to your favorite organizations. If you’re looking for suggestions, here are some of our favorite orgs we recommend donating your dollars to or getting involved with as a volunteer.
Asian American Writers’ Workshop
Asian American Writers’ Workshop holds workshops for aspiring writers of Asian heritage while providing a platform for promising talent through scholarships and fellowships.
The organization encourages its writers to produce pieces that feature marginalized communities in an artistic light while accepting the diversity that comes with the term “Asia,” as they accept and promote works of East Asian, South and Southeast Asian, Arab and West Asian, and North and East African communities. The foundation encourages these writers to contextualize their geopolitical and cultural backgrounds with the modern environment of the United States in states such as New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey. Winners of the fellowship also get their works published in The Margins, the in-house online publication of the Asian American Writers’ Workshop that documents the pulse of metropolitan Asian America and Muslim America as it’s being lived right now. Donate here.
Casa 0101
CASA 0101 is dedicated to providing inspiring theater performances, art exhibits and educational programs in Boyle Heights, thereby nurturing the future storytellers of Los Angeles who will someday transform the world. As a pioneer in transforming the neighborhood into a contemporary cultural center, Casa 0101 plays a crucial role in storytelling and community engagement. Your donation supports not just a theater, but a catalyst for artistic expression and diverse narratives. Donate here.
PEN America
PEN America is a literary organization that does critical work to ensure that writers all over the world are able to share their stories. From providing funding for legal counsel for incarcerated writers, supporting free speech, and combating fraudulent news and online bullying, this nonprofit shows that the PEN is mightier than the sword. Expo has been gratified to work with participants from PEN’s Emerging Voices Fellowship and DREAMing Out Loud programs, recently publishing Natashia Deón, Natalie Mislang Mann, Amanda Olivia Rojas, Achiro Patricia Olwoch, and Vanessa Flandorp Tlachi. Support these initiatives and all of PEN’s incredible work by donating here.
PlayGround
A longtime friend of Expo, PlayGround is a playwright incubator and theater community hub in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Chicago that’s served as home to not only several of our past Stage & Screen contributors—including Matt DeNoto, Lena Ford, Ruben Grijalva, Arthur Keng, Jonathan Kuhn, Garret Jon Groenveld, Uma Incrocci, and Vincent Terrell Durham—but some of our editors as well. Each month from October through March, PlayGround’s pool of writers has four days to write on a topic, ranging from “In Disguise” and “Give and Take” to “Child’s Play: Adapted Nursery Rhymes” and “Not So ‘Silent Night’: Plays Inspired by Holiday Songs.” Out of that pool, six plays are selected to be performed the following weekend. It’s a brilliant model: the truncated timeline encourages playwrights, directors, and actors out of their comfort zones and explores new work. During the pandemic, these performances moved online. In the new “normal,” they are live-online hybrids with free admission. With auxiliary programs for full-length plays and directing apprenticeships, PlayGround has facilitated hundreds of plays and is a priceless resource for the theater community. Donate to Expo’s local L.A. chapter here.
Rogue Artists Ensemble
Rogue Artists Ensemble creates “hyper-theater”: original, immersive, multidimensional experiences that celebrate the complexity and diversity of Los Angeles. As one of our editors shared, this org is “THE most fantastic collection of weirdos in the best way.” Did you know it costs about $430 to pay for an actor’s whole week of rehearsals? Rogue Artists is happy to say their most significant expense as an organization is ensuring they pay artists, performers, and theater-makers for their time and donations help make this possible! Donate here.
Spread the Word
Spread the Word is a London-based literature development agency and charity, helping London’s writers make their mark on the page and fostering a literature ecology that reflects the cultural diversity of contemporary Britain. Spread the Word is reputed for its change-making research and programs for writers that have equity and social justice at their heart. These include research into the barriers deaf and disabled writers and audiences experience in accessing the publishing sector, the London Writers Awards for writers from underrepresented backgrounds, and early career bursaries for low-income writers. Donate here.
Women Who Submit
For more than a decade, Women Who Submit has supported and encouraged women and nonbinary writers to submit their work to literary journals by clarifying the submission and publication process. What began has a six-woman submission party around a kitchen table has grown into a network of monthly gatherings around the country and the world, as well as free quarterly online workshops, summer workshops for members, and print anthologies. You can donate to Women Who Submit, now a 501(c)3 nonprofit, here.
WriteGirl
For years, Expo has been hosting publishing workshops inviting Los Angeles high school students and alumni from WriteGirl, so this recommendation should be no surprise! WriteGirl is a Los Angeles-based creative writing and mentoring organization that promotes creativity, critical thinking, and leadership skills to empower teen girls and gender-expansive youth. Since the pandemic, the organization has pivoted its programming online and expanded worldwide, publishing its very own lit journal called Lines & Breaks and a creative writing journal! Donate here, or buy a Care Kit to be shipped directly to a WriteGirl teen!
Young Storytellers
Young Storytellers offers a variety of storytelling mentorship programs for elementary, middle, and high school students, from a nine-week Script to Stage program in which elementary school students write their own short scripts that are performed for their peers, to a shorter Day of Story where adults can volunteer for one day to help fourth graders come up with their own story ideas. Middle school students get the opportunity to work with Warner Media and DC Entertainment to develop their own superheroes, and high school students explore community and representation. Young Storytellers embraces the power of creativity and multi-genre writing in order to create community change. The best part is that mentors can volunteer for an entire program year or just for the day. Donate here.
Exposition Review
Last but not least, like what you’re reading? Why not donate to Exposition Review? We’re a fiscally sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, which means your donations are tax deductible and go directly into our programming—including our workshops for adult and teen writers, paying authors for our annual issue, and more!
Already donated to your favorite cause this year? You can still show your support for Expo and its writers by sharing your favorite story, poem, or art, or by telling your friends to submit to our current issue.