Voices of Our Nations Arts (VONA), a foundation recognized as "the premier multi-genre workshop for BIPOC Writers," has selected PMA/LSP Associate Professor Karen Jaime as a 2025 VONA Fellow. As a Fellow, Jaime will be participating in their summer poetry workshop.
"This summer, I will be working on completing a poetry collection focusing on my complicated relationship with my mother who passed away in 2021,” said Jaime. “I grew up hearing stories of who my mother was in the Dominican Republic, how she traveled the world after her husband died, and then ended up in New York City where she met my father, and finally moved to Long Island, New York. The person I knew was curious and cosmopolitan in ways that belied her experiences as a monolingual former factory worker in a suburban town, and who converted to Protestantism when I was six years old. My mother had dreams that extended beyond her immediate geography and stories that needed to be told, and I became her vessel. The poetry collection's tentative title, "La Hija de Luisa/Luisa's Daughter," refers to my moniker growing up. It's the way that I was introduced to people."
Voices of Our Nations Arts Foundation is a community-based organization that puts writers of color, their narratives, voices, and experiences at the center of all conversations. VONA supports individual writer growth, creates platforms for community engagement rooted in social justice, and provides workshops and mentors focused on expanding writing opportunities.
