Meet a Staff Member: Isabelle Anderson

Yellow Arrow Publishing is excited to (re)introduce Isabelle Anderson, Vignette Assistant for 2024’s Yellow Arrow Vignette AMPLIFY. Isabelle (she/her) was a publications intern at Yellow Arrow in 2022. She is a poet and fiction writer from Baltimore, Maryland. She recently graduated with a BA in English from Washington College where she was a finalist for the Sophie Kerr Prize and the recipient of The Pfister Poetry Prize through the Academy of American Poets. When she is not reading or writing, she can be found on a nature walk, checking the trees for good spots to hide golf pencils à la Mary Oliver.

Submissions for Yellow Arrow Vignette AMPLIFY are open April 1-30 and will be shared in August, ending with the AMPLIFY reading in the fall. Unlike past issues, this issue of Vignette does not ask submitters to send in pieces on the theme of AMPLIFY; rather, staff at Yellow Arrow are using the idea (our 2024 yearly value) in house as a reminder to continue to share and amplify women-identifying voices. We want to return to some of the earliest goals of Yellow Arrow: sharing and amplifying the creative work of voices and themes that aren’t heard loudly enough. And this summer, the Vignette series is dedicated to emphasizing those women who aren’t often heard enough, and the stories, essays, poems, themes, and topics that are too often missed. Better yet, we’re focusing on Baltimore itself and want to hear from all our women-identifying creatives currently from or lived in the area. Learn more about our focus, our guidelines, and how to submit at yellowarrowpublishing.com/vignette/submissions.

We are happy to have Isabelle rejoin us for this year’s Vignette series. She says, “I’m looking forward to reading for the upcoming issue with a level of general excitement, to see what the women of Baltimore are working on, and to revel in all the beautiful creativity happening around me.”

Tell us a little something about yourself:

For a long time, my genre of choice was fiction, and, in a way, my love for poetry snuck up on me. I didn’t read much poetry until a few years ago, and discovering many contemporary women writing poetry really sparked my interest in writing it myself.

What do you love most about Baltimore?

Within the last few years, I’ve worked at a couple small businesses around Baltimore County, and I love the ways they intersect with the community. From working in local food service and creative spaces, I’ve met so many neighbors and found information on book clubs and writing groups I might not have otherwise.

How did you get involved with Yellow Arrow? Why did you want to join the Yellow Arrow team?

Initially, I worked with Yellow Arrow as an intern in 2022, but my current role is as the Vignette Assistant for the upcoming issue. I wanted to rejoin the Yellow Arrow team because my internship had been such a positive experience and I’ve always admired the mission of highlighting women-identifying writers.

What are you working on currently?

Lately I’ve been trying to refine some work (mostly poems) for MFA applications and potential publication along with working on a long-form fiction project about sisterhood.

What genre do you write or read the most and why?

Poetry! I love the freedom it allows, and how it can give a home to my detail-obsessive brain.

What book is on the top of your to-be-read pile?

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo—I haven’t committed to it yet, but I’ve heard great things and really love to see the ways LGBTQ+ experience have been highlighted in the Yellow Arrow space in recent years.

Who is your favorite writer and why?

Olivia Gatwood. I hugely credit her poetry collection Life of the Party for cementing my interest in poetry and informing a lot of my earlier attempts at writing poems myself. Her poems are often heavily narrative—which appealed to the fiction writer in me—and simultaneously manage to take on such an etherically musical quality.

Who has inspired and/or supported you most in your writing journey?

My three little sisters Madeleine, Genevieve, and Juliette inspire and support me every day in writing and beyond by being the hilarious, imaginative, and lovely girls they are.

What do you love most about writing? 

That it’s a quiet act while quite literally being anything but quiet. I’ve always been fairly self-contained, so I think as a child I was drawn into writing largely because it is an activity that can be done alone and can be silent, yet it produces something expressive and something through which people can connect.

What advice do you have for new writers?

To follow what feels good about writing. While I’ve had an interest in writing fiction for quite a long time, I started experimenting with poetry not that long ago and found the genre just seemed to fit me well. As I’ve learned more about form, it’s started to help me make sense of certain patterns of mine—like what details I find interesting and how my ideas develop—and I think the best way for a newer writer grow and better understand their own process is to first follow what’s enjoyable and interesting, then move from there.

What’s the most important thing you always keep near where you work?

A cup full of colorful markers and highlighters—I love color-coordinated notes!

What’s your vision for Yellow Arrow in 2024?

My vision is a continuation on the preexisting mission to give space to women-identifying writers, and I hope we reach even more women in the Baltimore area with Vignette specifically.

Baltimore creatives who identify as women: check out our call for Yellow Arrow AMPLIFY at https://www.yellowarrowpublishing.com/vignette/submissions—we would love to read what you write! Submissions are open through April 30.

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Yellow Arrow Publishing is a nonprofit supporting women-identifying writers through publication and access to the literary arts. You can support us as we AMPLIFY women-identifying creatives this year by purchasing one of our publications or a workshop from the Yellow Arrow bookstore, for yourself or as a gift, joining our newsletter, following us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, or subscribing to our YouTube channel. Donations are appreciated via PayPal (staff@yellowarrowpublishing.com), Venmo (@yellowarrowpublishing), or US mail (PO Box 65185, Baltimore, Maryland 21209). More than anything, messages of support through any one of our channels are greatly appreciated.