“We know that there is no help for us but from one another, that no hand will save us if we do not reach out our hand. And the hand that you reach out is empty, as mine is. You have nothing. You possess nothing. You own nothing. You are free. All you have is what you are, and what you give.”
― Ursula K. Le Guin
hello from the countryside!
I have landed with my kin and friends to a place where my neighbours are mostly ravens, moss, and trees! it is glorious, a sanctuary to regain strength so I can show up more... there's so much to be done. We could not have done this transition with the ease and joy we did it with without the outpouring of support from so many of you, and so once again, thank you all so much for your generosity and support in all the ways!
Today, I am joyfully writing to you all to share about a new collective project that I have been working on alongside three wonderful friends! We met for about 5 months (over zoom) to bloom this project and I am so bloody proud of it! It is called CAW, and it is a worker-run anarchist journal of art, culture, and of course politics! There will be loads of shiny things being offered as well, including a free zine library and other analog loves.
Who is CAW?
We are a Collective of Anarchist Writers, a Corvid Appreciation Working-group, a cry of autonomy and freedom with many acronymic meanings! We want CAW to be an alternative arts and media platform built on the diverse writings, collaborations and offerings of carla joy bergman, Shuli Branson, Dani Burlison, and Vicky Osterweil.
We are aiming to publish at least two pieces a week, though "piece" could range from an advice column for a lovelorn autonomist, a movie review, a 5000 word screed against the private nuclear family, a piece of flash fiction, a work of art, a letter from an imprisoned comrade, etc. etc. Every week we will send out a newsletter update, with an editor’s note containing our thoughts on the week and giving a roundup of all the new material on CAW….
Read all about us on our ghostly (bare-bones) website: www.cawshinythings.com/
Before we fully launch, we are doing a fundraiser to raise the seed money to begin in earnest to get our project out there in the world, invite people to subscribe, and give us the necessary funding to expand this vision — which includes paying each of us for two days of labor a week, covering platform costs, and solidarity funds.
I will most likely stop writing directly on the joy blog, and instead put my writings only on CAW, where you’ll get 3 more writers works if you choose to sign up! And of course, you are welcome to opt out of that. This won’t happen until we fully launch in February, but either way, you can sign up over there now if you want!
Sending out much love and solidarity to you all!
carla 🐦⬛