Dear readers,
We need your help turning poetry into aid.
In the aftermath of the devastating February 6 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, and in the face of an ongoing humanitarian crisis including the displacement of millions during a bitter cold snap, Bored Wolves is donating 100% of all sales from our Turkish poetry books on www.boredwolves.com to the earthquake relief effort.
This includes the books in the photograph above, which have [AID FOR TURKEY] before their titles on our website. Full list below. We’re also including the three postcard-sized prints of art from our books with each order.
The first $670 [2/18 update: $1,700] in reader support has already been transferred, through our Turkish contacts, directly to individuals on the ground getting life-saving supplies to those who need them in the impacted regions of southeastern Turkey.
Specifically, your support becomes:
WATER. There is an extreme shortage of potable running water in the impacted regions, comprising an area the size of Germany.
TOOLS and technical equipment for search-and-rescue operations, spontaneously organized and led by miners mobilizing in the absence of an official effort, including lamps, digging tools, cranes, and most importantly gloves and boots for those digging through the rubble of collapsed buildings, as these can wear out quickly.
TENTS AND SLEEPING BAGS for displaced survivors. Both are in short supply right now.
FUEL FOR HEATING CARS. Cars are often the only enclosed spaces available for immediately warming rescued individuals and diggers from search-and-rescue teams.
EVERY PENNY COUNTS. Dollars go a long way. And in a heinous political climate in which all grass-roots aid is seen by the regime as a form of anti-regime criticism, we have been able to rely on the recommendations and links of our Turkish contacts to make sure the money raised is getting as quickly as possible to those able to immediately turn it into everything listed above. I am batch transferring reader support on a daily basis to accelerate this process.
If you have any questions, please contact me at boredwolvespress[at]gmail or via Instagram direct message [at]boredwolves. Also contact me directly if you would prefer to pay via Zelle or Wise, which can help us avoid PayPal and Stripe fees.
Here is the full list of [AID FOR TURKEY] titles (clockwise from top left in the photograph above):
The Pleasures of Empty Lots: Scenes of Istanbul 2015–2016 by Efe Murad
A Promenade at Home by Sevinç Çalhanoğlu
Slippage by Selcan Peksan and Maja Daneková
My Life in Curves Recently by Sevinç Çalhanoğlu
The Endless Loop in My Mind by Seçil Koman
She Threw the Rope & Pulled the Lake by Alina Asan and Anita Sezgener [bilingual English/Turkish edition]
With your support, we can together turn poetry directly and quickly into: potable water, digging tools, gloves, boots, tents, sleeping bags, fuel and more to help those on the ground save lives.
Thank you! And special thanks to those of you who have already placed orders and helped spread the word. If you could continue sharing our Instagram posts and this newsletter that would be a tremendous help as we seek to reach folks beyond our network.
Stefan & Joanna
p.s. At the start of this initiative, the plan was to contribute funds to the Research Institute on Turkey’s Turkey Earthquake Fund on GoFundMe, which has already raised more than $100,000 toward a goal of $500,000 in funds to be routed to non-governmental relief organizations. This ongoing RIT campaign is incredible. When our Turkish contacts advised us of opportunities to get reader support directly to individuals they know on the ground, we quickly decided to transfer the $670 mentioned above in that direction. RIT has been sharing our IG posts, and so we have contacted them to explain our pivot.
