The Yellow Arrow Journal issue ANFRACTUOUS, Vol. VI, No. 2 (fall 2021), is now available for purchase from the Yellow Arrow bookstore and most other distributors. If interested in purchasing more than one copy for friends and family, click here.

ANFRACTUOUS explores the idea of belonging/unbelonging; as Keshni Naicker Washington, the issue’s wonderful guest editor, explains, “. . . we become some self-fashioned mosaic of belonging unique to our own choices and the intricate twists of our experiences.” What does it mean to belong and who gets to decide when/how someone belongs?

And to find out what our incredible authors thought of the theme, pick up a copy of the PDF version along with the paperback. Included within the PDF version only are the authors’ and Keshni’s responses to the following question: what/who/where was a turning point toward acceptance/belonging? Take some time and reflect on your own response. Is there a turning point for you?

Don’t forget to watch the prerecorded reading of ANFRACTUOUS, “An Exploration of Belonging: The Anfractuous Reading,” released November 30 and now available here.

Guest editor Keshni considers her creative endeavors a means of lighting signal fires for others. Born and raised in an apartheid segregated neighborhood in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa, she now also calls Washington, D.C. home. And after nine years here has finally gotten used to Orion being the right way up in the night sky. Her stories are influenced by her evolving definition of home and the tides of political and social change that move us all. She is an alumnus of VONA and TIN HOUSE writing workshops. Connect with her keshniwashington.com and on Instagram @knwauthor.

The cover art, “Desert Winds” by Susan diRende (cover design by Alexa Laharty), was created by placing large daubs of ink on paper and using a stylus to swirl it around and mix the colors until a shape began to emerge. The artwork springs from Susan embracing what she calls her “messy and convoluted technique,” arriving at “a willingness to dream in squiggles like a child again.”

Issue featuring: Jesenia Chávez, Gabrielle de Gray, Nuha Fariha, Raychelle Heath, Christina Hoag, Keshnie July, Pat Kabra, A’Eysha Kassiem, Mary Marca, Caroline Miller, Shuba Mohan, María Elena Montero, Mala Naidoo, Sylvia Niederberger, Rebecca Pelky, Smita Singh, Rashna Wadia, Maggie Wang, Kim Whysall-Hammond, Patricia Wright, and Yvonne

Editor-in-Chief: Kapua Iao

Poetry Editor: Ann Quinn

CNF Managing Editor: Brenna Ebner

Editorial Associates: Angela Firman, Siobhan McKenna, and Rachel Vinyard

Thank you for supporting independent publishing. Pick up your copy of ANFRACTUOUS today.