BOLT CUTTERS AUTHOR COHORT

​The Bolt Cutters Author Cohort (BCAC) is a program started in 2023 by Minal Hajratwala, founder and guiding coach of the Unicorn Authors Club, and Tijanna O. Eaton, program director.  It is "[a] program for authors who have been incarcerated, jailed, or detained by ICE.  Authors who have served time inside prisons, jails, and immigration detention centers have vital stories to share. The Bolt Cutters Cohort is here to support system-impacted writers to further their writing project. It is fully funded for all accepted participants."

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So far, the program has provided support to 21 authors who are in various stages of their writing process, from outlining their book and generating a first draft to completing and submitting their manuscripts.  Their projects run the gamut from creative nonfiction about the “crimmigration” system and memoirs about intergenerational healing to experimental novels set in the communities around them.  BCAC has helped these writers win fellowships, attend residencies.

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​​​As of April 2026, BCAC is now a fiscally sponsored project of:

 

 

 

Independent Arts & Media is based in San Francisco, CA.  BCAC is now accepting tax-deductible donations.

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Your donation will provide funding for:

• Book and sanctuary coaching

• Writing cafes

• Craft talks

• Story workshopping

• Stipends for each writer

• An in-person retreat

• Translation of key documents into Spanish

• Spanish-language interpretation during group meetings and individual coaching

• A cohort anthology

• Professional development​

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