correction of Venmo username re: Abdul Fundraiser
Dear friends,
A quick update to apologize for writing my Venmo username wrong in my last email, (the correct account is @jinjin-xu, my confirmation email is jinjinxxu@gmail.com) when I asked for donations for my birthday for exiled Afghan poet Abdul Samad! Ah, if you venmo-ed the incorrect account, I think there may be a way to request a refund? I am SO sorry for my messiness and for any inconvenience-- please let me know how I can help you figure this out with Venmo!
In case you missed the fundraiser, you can watch my conversation with Abdul here. The funds will go towards buying him a new laptop and for his medical funds in Jakarta. I am SO moved by everyone who has donated -- we've raised $690 so far, I would love to raise a bit more before I wire it to him in Indonesia!
An update from Abdul: he had a somewhat positive meeting with his Indonesian publisher Gramedia recently, who will allow him to have the copy rights back for his book to be republished elsewhere, the condition being he has to buy back the rest of the books (1150 books left in storage).
I hate this kind of devil's deal stories I've been hearing about publishing? It is very disheartening, and I wonder if you all have any advice for him?
We have mostly gone with Venmo because of the lack of transaction fee vs go-fund-me, but the good news is that a Canadian lawyer found me through the go-fund-me page I made earlier for Abdul's fundraiser -- and wanted to contact him about sponsorship. If anyone knows any contacts in Canada willing to sponsor refugees, please get in touch!
On another note, coincidentally, Abdul met a Chinese journalist on a shared-taxi (angkot) a few years ago, who has written a few articles about him. He introduced him to me a few months ago, and she wrote a profile of my work in Indonesia here, "
在人间|一个出现在雅加达难民营并独自横跨亚欧非9国的神秘女孩儿“徐今今”
In other news, I am so excited to share that the ARCs for my chapbook have been printed and mailed! If you would like to write a review or anything, you can get in touch with me/ the publisher and request one :O
I also wanted to take this chance to share an interview that came out recently over at Singapore Unbound:
Thank you again for coming with me and so sorry about this venmo debacle -- please get in touch if you have any trouble requesting a refund!
warmly,
JinJin