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The Mission and History of Friends of Writers
Friends of Writers, a not-for profit 501(c)(3) organization, enriches American poetry and fiction by cultivating new and vital literary voices. We do this by raising funds to support students, alumni and faculty of our partner, the Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers. The MFA Program pioneered a model of low-residency study based on three core values: community, rigor, and diversity. Community provides support for the individual writer; rigor encourages that individual's finest work; and diversity—in aesthetic, ethnicity, gender, age, occupational, geographic, and economic background—ensures that American writing reflects the entire nation.
Friends of Writers was established in 1991 as an independent non-profit organization. It was begun by faculty and alumni of the Warren Wilson College MFA Program for the immediate purpose of raising scholarship funds. In addition to providing scholarships for WWC MFA students, it provides scholarships to the alumni conference, as well as paying other costs associated with the alumni conference. In recent years, anonymous donors have established additional funds for current students, alumni, and faculty.
Also in recent years, the MFA Program faculty have produced five writing anthologies. The editors and all contributors to those volumes donated 100% of each book’s advance and royalties to Friends of Writers’ scholarship funds; when necessary, they have also paid for reprint permissions, so Friends incurred not a single penny of expense to produce the books.
The only costs for Friends of Writers are essential legal and accounting fees. There is no office, no paid staff. Board members donate their time, the cost of travel to semi-annual meetings, and phone, FAX, and postage expenses. All donations flow directly into the scholarships to support our literary community.
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Friends of Writers is an independent non-profit organization which raises money for the adult literary community. It was begun by faculty and alumni of the Warren Wilson College MFA Program for the immediate purpose of raising scholarship funds.
The Warren Wilson MFA Program, the college’s only graduate program, is financially independent, and does not benefit directly from the college’s fundraising. The program’s costs are paid by tuition. To raise funds for scholarships, it is necessary to have a designated fundraising organization. Friends of Writers currently provides the Holden Minority Scholarship Fund, HIP Emergency Funds (for MFA students who face financial emergencies while they are enrolled), the Wood Scholarship (for an entering poet), the Mueller Scholarship (additional need-based support for a student raising one or more children), general program scholarship funds (often used as supplementary financial aid for students whose need is not recognized by federal guidelines), Memorial Funds (for scholarships to the annual alumni conference), and additional support for the alumni newsletter and conference. In the near future, a Levis Scholarship Fund will be awarded to one graduate of the program each year to support work on a book-length project.
Friends of Writers has overseen the production of five anthologies by Warren Wilson MFA faculty: Poets Teaching Poets, Bringing the Devil to His Knees, Hammer and Blaze, The Story Behind the Story, and Poet’s Work, Poet’s Play: Essays on the Practice and the Art. The editors and all contributors to those volumes have donated 100% of each book’s advance and royalties to Friends of Writers’ scholarship funds.