The Light Reflects Our Path: A Thank You to Family and Friends
Dear supporters, authors, readers, and staff,
As we reflect on all we have endured and accomplished this year, we begin with an overwhelming feeling of gratitude. This year, like the last, has been laced with challenges as we have continued to navigate the changing landscape in the arts and literary community, and the significant events that have impacted small businesses and nonprofit organizations like ours around the country and the world. During these times, we have seen that literature and words are more critical to us than ever before—we must sustain our ability to support those who have stories to share and provide our community with the tools and resources that lift their voices up. We could not have succeeded in doing so this year at Yellow Arrow Publishing without the unwavering support of our authors, our readers, our staff, our volunteers, and our invaluable supporters.
We began this year in reflection, with the release of Yellow Arrow Journal on the theme RENASCENCE. In RENASCENCE, we were taken by the awareness and appreciation for our roots, our histories, our shared and unique experiences. Our guest editor, Taína, shared her words on the power of pen and ink:
“In the correct hand . . . paper and ink are tools of resistance. Of rebellion. Like my ancestor etching petroglyphs on the caves of Isla Mona, it is daring to make permanent a fleeting existence. The fuel which has ignited revolutions and birthed nations. In the hands of the silenced, paper and ink is a re-claimation. A renascence. It is ours.”
We explored our stories and cultures with a lens of both nostalgia and awakening, a reflection of our common and unique experiences and a call for change.
Then with our EMERGE: Pandemic Stories and Coming Into View zines, we faced the trauma and the victories brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and let our voices play a role in our growth and transformation. The zines were based on the Yellow Arrow 2021 yearly theme EMERGE and the desire of all who participated in the zines to expand, develop, and come to light. We hope to continue this zine tradition each year with our chosen yearly theme.
And in our November journal, ANFRACTUOUS, we celebrated the resilience and persistence of those who twist and turn but do not break. As Guest Editor Keshni Naicker Washington states in her introduction, “Of all the stories we tell ourselves and others, the most significant follow the words ‘I am . . .’” This unbreakable spirit is what drives us from this period of emergence into a new year and a new perspective.
We were thrilled to publish three phenomenal chapbooks—No Batteries Required (Ellen Dooling Reynard, April 2021), St. Paul Street Provocations (Patti Ross, July 2021), and Listen (Ute Carson, October 2021)—and have just announced the incredibly talented writers we will publish in 2022: Amanda Baker, Darah Schillinger, and Nikita Rimal Sharma. You can learn more about these and last year’s authors here.
Pick up a copy of all of our publications in our bookstore and please show your support to our 2021 authors by watching them read their pieces on the Yellow Arrow YouTube channel.
This year, we were also able to reflect at an organizational level, thinking back on our foundations (check out Founder Gwen Van Velsor’s blog on this topic here) and thinking ahead to our next steps. We have set in place our goals and plans for 2022, which include expanded workshop offerings and events for writers, the resurgence of our Writers-in-Residence program (stay tuned for an announcement about this in January!), and a focus on further diversifying our work, both in the words and writers we publish, and the folks behind-the-scenes who drive us forward. We have expanded our Board of Directors and are set to introduce a new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion statement.
Finally, in an effort to provide sustainability for the initiatives we have planned for next year, we have launched our fundraising campaign: Turning the Next Page. This campaign will run through year-end; if you have not donated yet and are able to, we would so greatly appreciate your support! Funds go towards supporting tomorrow’s authors today.
Yellow Arrow depends on the support of those who value our work; your continued support means everything to us. Donations are appreciated via PayPal (staff@yellowarrowpublishing.com), Venmo (@DonateYAP), or US mail (PO Box 102, Baltimore, MD 21057). You can further support us by purchasing one of our publications from the Yellow Arrow bookstore, joining our newsletter (bottom of page), following us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, or subscribing to our YouTube channel.
Once again, thank you for supporting independent publishing and women writers.
Sincerely,
Annie Marhefka and the Yellow Arrow Publishing team