Hope and Healing

Smoke the Peace Pipe

Yellow Arrow Publishing Releases a New Chapbook!

Baltimore, MD

A new chapter opens in the story of Yellow Arrow Publishing with the release of our first chapbook, Smoke the Peace Pipe, by Roz Weaver. Since its establishment in 2016, Yellow Arrow has devoted its efforts to support all women writers through inclusion in the biannual Yellow Arrow Journal, our Writers-in-Residence program, and a multitude of writing workshops and community events. We at Yellow Arrow are excited to continue our mission by supporting Roz in all her writing and publishing endeavors.

Smoke the Peace Pipe is a collection of poems inspired by the author’s experience of trauma and how this settled in her body, sometimes as her own worst enemy. Through this chapbook, Roz encourages the possibility that we all can find hope and healing by showing up in the present moment, in the environment and with people around us, and through a shared appreciation of nature, spiritual exploration, and sacred connection with the Earth. By sitting and sharing a peace pipe with ourselves, we have an opportunity to bear what we thought was unbearable and make space for the possibility of a bigger picture. The 26 included poems bring every reader on a journey, from pain, trauma, and separation, toward recovery in the form of transformation, healing, self-love, and spirituality. The cover art by Joanne Baker was inspired by Roz’s poetry, the feeling of emotion, ideas and words, ebbing and flowing like an ocean. All-consuming but cleansing.

Roz is a current resident of West Yorkshire, England, working as a social worker and therapist while studying for her MA in Creative Writing at Teeside University. She began writing poetry in early 2017 as a solitary means of exploring her experiences of trauma and was subsequently published for the first time in January 2018. Roz then began developing some of her writing for spoken word. Her most recent work has been on exhibit with Awakenings, a Chicago-based arts collective of survivors of sexual violence, as well as the London Design Festival, and performed at Leeds International Festival and the renowned Edinburgh Fringe. Roz is currently teaching a (sold out!) Yellow Arrow workshop, “Poetry as Therapy,” in which classmates can explore the therapeutic aspects of poetry as a way of creatively expressing their thoughts and feelings. You can learn more about Roz in our interview with her from last month.

Paperback and PDF versions of Smoke the Peace Pipe are now available from the Yellow Arrow Publishing bookstore. You can also purchase paperback copies from Amazon and e-book copies from most distribution channels. You are welcome to leave reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, your own websites/platforms, or by sending us a direct email with your thoughts. Connect with Yellow Arrow Publishing or Roz on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter to share some love for her chapbook. If you don’t have time to send a review, just know that we appreciate you.

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Yellow Arrow Publishing is a nonprofit supporting women writers through publication and access to the literary arts. To learn more about publishing, volunteering, or donating, visit yellowarrowpublishing.com.

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Literary Night 2020