Jenah’s short stories have been in the works ever since her honours year at Victoria, as separate vignettes that she started but never managed to finish. But then again, she believes that stories are never really finished, just abandoned and that “if I can at least get it to a space where I’m happy to abandon it, I think I’ll be happy”. One day she realised that three of the stories just fit together. They all have the same motif, but aren’t specific and could really be set anywhere. They’re all about an old house on the river though, and seperate somewhat haunting events that take place there.
Ever since hearing about the St. Rupertsberg success, Jenah has been planning her own crowdfunding campaign. First, she decided she needed a team approach, so she paired up with Emma Anderson, a Wellington based photographer. She decided to create a magazine to showcase both the writing, but also photos that embody the stories. Her plan is to create an aesthetic with a nice balance and appreciation of white spaces. And if anyone can do it, Jenah can.
Then she decided serious promotion was required. As part of her promo plan she created some amazing postcards to pop around Wellington (shown above). These showcase some photos and excerpts that really help you understand exactly what she wants to do with her project.
When we caught up I was so excited, because within the space of two days Jenah had already raised 20% of her target budget. I asked her about who had been the first to pledge, and how she’d managed it so quickly. She told me that she’d been talking about this project for ages, but when it got published she only told a few close family members and friends to start. Within a few hours her mum, best friend, and best friend’s mum had all pledged. And it snowballed from there.
What can you do? You can help support this up and coming writer by pledging to her project here. You know you want to!
If you want to read a bit more about Jenah – check out this: http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-
What a great platform for emerging talent!