User:Thatwhoiswise/Voices of Our Nation

Voices of Our Nation Arts Foundation (VONA) is a written arts organization that was founded in 1999 by Pulitzer-prize winning author Junot Diaz, and award-winning writers: Elmaz Abinader, Victor Díaz and Diem Jones in order to empowers writers of color to write without fear of discrimination, and to challenge the idea that people of color simply don't read, write or publish. Since it founding ofter 2,000 aspiring writers from around the world have been involved in their programs and they remain the only multi-genre workshop for people of color.

History
Voices of Our Nation Arts Foundation came about when Junot Diaz was pursuing his Masters in Fine Arts (MFA) at Cornell University in New York City. Diaz being a person of color quickly realized the lack of diversity within the classes and workshops he was taking in pursuit of his degree. Not only was the faculty mostly white but the writers and authors studied were also white and he felt that his entire culture was being ignored except when a white person sought the need to critique a person or author of color or make the argument that color, privileged or racism did not exist.

After completing his MFA Diaz went on to become a published writer and with his new network and privilege, Diaz joined together with fellow writers of color: Elmaz Abinader, Victor Diazz and Diem Jones to create the first writing workshop for people of color which was held in San Francisco. The goal of the workshop was to provide an environment where writers of color could share their work in a safe and supportive environment.

After the success of the first workshops VONA started to partners with higher learning institution around the San Francisco Bay Area and through a series of workshops, fellowships and residences it brought established writers of color such as: Elmaz Abinader, Chris Abani and Staceyann Chinn with up and coming writer of colors giving them the opportunity to perfect their craft. The workshops, fellowships, and residences were based on a variety of genres including LGBT identity and travel and sought to reflect the fact that people of color "live in the crossroads of multiple identities"

In 2015 after working out of the Bay Area in California VONA started working with the University of Miami to offer workshops for writers of color. Currently VONA offers the only multi-genre workshop for people of color. It is seen as an alternative to a Masters of Fine Arts program for "non-traditional writers.

Mission
According to the foundation's website the Mission of Voices of Our Nation is: To develop emerging writers of color through programs and workshops taught by established writers of color.

Notable Teachers
Voices of Our Community Arts Foundation brought up and coming writers and had them be taught by established writers, Some of the more notable instructors include: Elmaz Abinader, Chris Abani, Staceyann Chinn, Mat Johnson, David Mura, Andrew pham, Willie Perdomo, Tayari Jones, Reyna Grande, Kiesse Laymon, Tananarive Due, Minal Hajratwala and John Murillo.

Dismantle
In 2014  Dismantle: An Anthology of Writing from the VONA/Voices Writing Workshops was published by thread maker blanket press.