The flooding from Hurricane Helene has caused incalculable damage to western North Carolina. Homes and businesses have been washed away, and entire mainstreets of small mountain towns have been obliterated beyond recognition.This region is home to an abundant literary community—poets, reading series, presses, festivals, bookstores—and it is reeling in the wake of Helene. Poets for Appalachia is a team effort between poets and publishers of poetry, many of whom have ties to the region; its aim is to activate the wider literary community to help the wonderful people of this special place recover and rebuild.By supporting the organizations doing boots-on-the-ground work, we can help get supplies to where they’re needed most, and bolster community-minded rebuilding in the region.Here’s how it works:Step 1:
Make a donation of at least $30 to one of the following organizations, each of whom has been working to address critical needs since day one. Be sure to include “Poets for Appalachia” in the notes field.❤️ BeLoved Asheville (IG: @belovedasheville): Asheville-based org working to provide critical necessities like food, water, and healthcare in the short term and housing and heating in the long term;
🧡 ROAR (IG: @_roar_wnc): Rural Organizing and Resilience, an all-volunteer mutual aid organization based in Madison County, NC with a focus on rural areas in WNC;
💛 MountainTrue (IG: @mtntrue): An environmental organization helping with recovery efforts and keeping people safe by testing for pollutants in streams, wells, and flood debris.Step 2:
Submit your donation receipt (dated between 10/18/24 and 10/31/24) and shipping information to Niina Pollari using the form below or by emailing [email protected]. At the end of this fundraiser, we'll send you a poetry book from one of our friends (see full list below). We’ll include additional books if you donate multiples of $30. We’ll also send you a note to let you know when it’s shipped.

With thanks to all the participating presses who have donated books in order to extend this fundraiser further:Birds, LLCAfter Hours EditionsLost & Found: The CUNY Poetics Document InitiativeMetatronThe Song CaveSoft SkullWonderAction BooksNightboat BooksPublishing GeniusBarrelhouseRose BooksBlack OceanFonograf Editions.Factory HollowThird Man BooksGolias BooksEcotone MagazineUgly Duckling PresseSundress PublicationsPinsapo Press