so very virtual is a free weekly newsletter featuring online opportunities, virtual events, and helpful resources for these pandemic times. if you’re new, start here.
All events, opportunities, and resources included here are virtual, remote, or hybrid with an option to participate online. If needed, please learn more about an event or opportunity to decide whether it is right for you. If you have concerns about a listing, you can email theeclarel@substack.com.
Action Alerts 🔔
Steps to support a better world
Submit public comment for the FDA’s upcoming vaccine committee meeting by May 8th.
Sign The People’s CDC’s Expert Letter Urging Science-Based COVID Isolation Guidance by May 11st.
Call Congress for a Long Covid Moonshot while they finalize the FY25 budget through May 14th.
Sign onto Mask Bloc ATL’s open letter to all Atlanta healthcare facilities and providers.
Virtual Events 🎟
Mostly free, low-cost, and scholarship-supported virtual or hybrid events
We Give Summit: A Celebration of Collective Giving — May 7th through the 9th // Free
Mapping & Memory: Poetic Cartographies Workshop with The Sundress Academy for the Arts — May 8th from 6:00 to 7:30 PM ET // Free with donations welcome
Fractured Encounters Anthology Reading with Roots. Wounds. Words.: A Literary Arts Revolution for BIPOC Storytellers — Thursday, May 9th at 8:00 PM ET // Free
The Many Losses from COVID-19 Memorial Dedication Ceremony with NAMING THE LOST Memorials, City Lore, Mano a Mano: Mexican Culture Without Border, Great Small Works, and The Green-Wood Cemetery — Thursday, May 11th from 6:00 to 8:30 PM ET // Free
Virtual Feature Film Budgeting Webinar with HUSSLUP — Monday, May 13th from 6:30 to 7:30 PM PT // Free
Intersectionality in Climate Storytelling with NRDC Climate Storytelling Fellowship and Storyline Partners — May 14th at 1:30 PM ET // Free
YNPN Reads Book Club: Get Good With Money with Young Nonprofit Professionals Network — May 15th at 6:00 PM CT // Free
Questions about Writing? Ask Us Anything! with GrubStreet — May 16th from 6:00 to 7:00 PM ET // Free
Retrospecs: A Benefit for Green Envelope Grocery Aid — Sunday, May 19th from 2:00 to 3:30 PM PT // $10 for livestream tickets
May Poetry Xfit with The Sundress Academy for the Arts — Sunday, May 19th from 2:00 to 4:00 PM ET // Free with donations welcome
Celebrating Emeline, the Heroine of the Lemmon Slave Case: A High-water Mark for the New York Courts with The Historical Society of the New York Courts, The New York State Supreme Court, and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture — Tuesday, May 21st at 6:00 PM ET // Free
BIPOC Leadership Panel with Young Nonprofit Professional Network — May 21st from 6:00 to 7:30 PM CT // Free
TFBWL Reading Club: In Pursuit of Revolutionary Love w/Dr. Joy James with The Free Black Women's Library — Sunday, May 26th from 6:30 to 8:00 PM ET // Free
Late Night Virtual Screenwriting Workshop with Black Film Space — Thursday, May 30th from 10:00 to 11:30 PM ET // $5
The Reel Deal: Funding Unscripted Feature Films with Film Fatales — Friday, May 31st at 5:00 PM ET // $20
How to Build a “Platform” for Writers Who Shudder at the Thought with Courtney Kocak with Pandemic University — Sunday, June 2nd, 5:00 to 8:00 PM ET | 2:00 to 5:00 PM PT // $47.50
dealing with the hard sh*& in our writing lives: writing around trauma, core wounds, and heartbreaks with We Are Urban Haiku — Starts June 23rd // Sliding scale $350 - $650
Online Opportunities 🛋
Fellowships, jobs, programs, and more
The Writers Guild of America East Support Staff Basic Training // Apply by May 10th.
"Camp" of Mathematical Queeries for 2SLGBTQIA+ teens entering grades 9-12 // Apply by May 31st.
GrubStreet Mentorship Program // Slots available through mid-July.
Social Media Volunteer with Long COVID SOS
Remote Resources 📘
Support and info for these pandemic times
Download Clean Air Club’s mask flyer for campus encampments.
Half Hour With: A Million Miles Away (Alejandra Márquez Abella), a webinar recording
About Justin
Justin Clarel is a Black queer writer, performer, and educator creating vibrant stories for a better world. They are most proud of their work with sketch comedy team The Rhubarbs, original works for stage and screen, and love for musical theatre. Keep up with their adventures at @theeclarel and theeclarel.com.