From Spark to Fire (From February to December 2025)
The upcoming year is full of uncertainty and our voices as Women of Color are more important than ever and the call to create work that reflects our experiences is even more urgent.
With this in mind, I’m offering a year-long program in 2025 to support Women Writers of Color as they create a complete draft of their first full-length book of poetry.
This program will begin in February and end in December. It includes:
- Weekly Zoom write-ins
- Monthly craft workshops/check-ins (from February to August)
- Manuscript workshops (in the month of October)
- One-on-one manuscript consultations (in the month of December 2025 into 2026)
- Public Reading (December)
The weekly Zoom write-ins will be each Sunday at 7:30 pm to 8:30 pm from February to September.
The in-person craft workshops/check-ins will occur on the first Sunday from 1-3 pm on the following months:
February 2nd: Initial on-boarding w/ workshop: “Vision-Casting: Centering Your Project’s Purpose”
March 2nd: Workshop: “Creating Connections: Finding the Themes of Your Project.”
April 6th: “Drawing from the Well: Finding Poetry Collections that Inspires Your Project.”
May 4th: “In the Best Order: On Collection Organization and Narrative Sequence”
June 1st: “Striving Uphill: How to Build Creative Stamina to Complete a Project”
July 6th: “The Forest and the Trees: Manuscript and Poem Editing Practices”
August 3rd: “The Way Forward: Submitting and Publication”
The manuscript workshops will occur on Sundays from 1-4 pm in October. The dates are:
October 5th, 12th, and 19th
A private celebration and read-a-round of poems from cohort members’ manuscripts will occur on:
November 23rd
The public reading will occur in December from 7-9 pm. The date of the reading is: December 7th.
Because of a generous grant from The Streetlight Guild, this program will be FREE to a cohort of six Women Writers of Color. Each cohort member who completes the program will receive an honorarium for their participation in the public reading and a small stipend which they can put towards submission fees.
This program requires a full-year commitment.
In order to cultivate a community of trust and intimacy, cohort members MUST attend all of the monthly craft workshops/check-ins and manuscript workshops.
Members who skip these important events will NOT be included in the manuscript workshops and public reading.
Members who successfully attend all of the events will receive the honorarium and small stipend.
Here are the eligibility requirements for the program.
Applicants must:
- be a Woman Writer of Color
- be over the age of 21
- be a resident of Columbus, Ohio
- have a FIRST full-length poetry manuscript that is 35% or more complete
- have great determination to complete the manuscript by the end of 2025
- have the ability to attend ALL of the in-person craft workshops/check-ins and manuscript workshops
In order to apply for “From Spark to Fire,” please fill out the form below. The application process also requires a 10-15 page sample from your manuscript in progress.
The deadline for application is Sunday, January 19th by 11:59 pm. Unfortunately, late or incomplete applications cannot be considered.
Applicants will be contacted regarding their application by Sunday, January 26th.
If you have any questions, please reach out to me at sayuri@sayuriayers.com
Thank you for considering “From Spark to Fire,” and your labor and dedication as Women Writers of Color.