Yellow Arrow Publishing Blog

Yellow Arrow 3/31/23 Yellow Arrow 3/31/23

Her View Friday

Yellow Arrow Publishing supports women-identifying writers from a wide variety of backgrounds, not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it makes us stronger. Women’s voices have historically been underrepresented in literature, and we aim to elevate those voices and stories through our programs, publications, and support.

Part of our mission in supporting and uplifting women writers is to promote the Yellow Arrow community’s individual accomplishments. We’d like to further expand that support and promotion outside of our Yellow Arrow publications. Twice a month, we’d like to give a shout out to those within the Yellow Arrow community who recently published:

single-author publications
single pieces in journals, anthologies, etc. as well as prizes/awards

You can support our authors by reading this blog and their work, sharing their news, and commenting below or on the blog. Congratulations to all the included authors. We are so proud of you!

Every writer has a story to tell and every story is worth telling

“Mothers and Brothers” by Gargi Mehra FROM INDIA

Genre: poetry

Name of publisher: The Good Life Review

Date published: January 2023

Type of publication: online

thegoodlifereview.com/issue-ten/mothers-and-brothers-by-gargi-mehra/

"The Blue Tin" by Diann Leo-Omine from Sacramento, CALIFORNIA

Genre: creative nonfiction

Name of publisher: ANMLY

Date published: February 2023

Type of publication: online

medium.com/anomalyblog/from-the-fridge-to-the-frying-pan-the-blue-tin-8a5309095a30

Find Diann on Twitter @sweetleoomine, Instagram @sweetleoomine, and Facebook @diann.michelle.

Yellow Arrow (past and present) board, staff, interns, authors, residents, and instructors alike! Got a publication coming out? Let us help celebrate for you in Her View Friday.

Single-author publications: here.

Single pieces and awards/prizes: here.

Please read the instructions on each form carefully; we look forward to congratulating you!

*****

Yellow Arrow Publishing is a nonprofit supporting women writers through publication and access to the literary arts. You can support us as we SPARK and sparkle this year: purchase one of our publications from the Yellow Arrow bookstore, join our newsletter, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter or subscribe 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.

Kapua Iao 3/28/23 Kapua Iao 3/28/23

My Top 12 Books of 2023 to Read from Natasha Saar

By Natasha Saar

With March coming to a close, there’s still plenty of time for you to spend reading, reading, reading. If you can tear your eyes away from Yellow Arrow Publishing’s work, I've compiled a list of 2023 must-read books that might tickle a similar reading itch . . . and you’ll get to see what everyone’s reading nowadays.

1. Good for a Girl by Lauren Fleshmen (Penguin Press, get your copy here)

In this half-memoir, half-manifesto, Lauren Fleshmen tackles the world of running and commercialized sporting from its greatest highs to its greatest lows—and there are much more of the latter. Fleshmen gives voice to girls fitting into a sporting system designed to lift men and, with someone with her multitude of experience, she has a lot of it.

2. Yellowface by R.F. Kuang (Harper Collins, out in May, get your copy here)

After the death of fellow student and literary superstar Athena Liu, fame-hungry Jane Hayward is hit with an idea: steal Athena’s manuscript and pass it off as her own. So, what if it’s about Chinese laborers under the British and French in World War I? Even if Jane’s not from Athena’s exact background, shouldn’t this story get told? Reviewers seem to agree, but critics seem convinced there’s something Hayward isn’t telling them. . .

3. Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor (Riverhead Books, get your copy here)

Sunny’s the lady-killer heir, Ajay’s the family maid, and Neda’s the plucky journalist. Their one similarity: a connection to the Mercedes that jumped the curb, killed five, and left one baffled servant. Now, they’re caught in a plot that spans towns, families, friendships, and romances, and you’d better hope it ends with them keeping their heads. It’s the Indian mystery thriller you always knew you wanted!

4. A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher (Nightfire, get your copy here)

If you’re like this blogger, you like a good Southern gothic—and if you’re not like this blogger, you might still want to give this one a look. After accepting an extended visit home, Sam discovers a house quieter, dustier, and emptier than she remembered. With her Mom’s trembling hands and the vultures circling overhead, Sam feels like there’s anything but a good omen rising.

5. Old Babes in the Wood: Stories by Margaret Atwood (Doubleday, get your copy here)

Margaret Atwood returns to short fiction for the first time since 2014 with a series of tales that depict a mother-daughter relationship. The twist? The mother purports to be a witch. It’s a bunch of bite-sized glimpses into what family means when it’s held down by baggage, fantasy, and complications.

6. Happy Place by Emily Henry (Berkley, get your copy here)

If you’re into some contemporary chick lit, Emily Henry has delivered yet again. This time, the package is in the form of a college romance, an annual getaway, and a breakup. Except this breakup happened six months ago, and they haven’t told their friends. Not wanting to ruin their yearly vacation, Harriet and Wyn agree to pretend to be a couple for one more week . . . but will the facade break, or stop being one at all? (Knowing the genre, probably the latter.)

7. The Faraway World: Stories by Patricia Engel (Avid Reader Press, get your copy here)

Engel takes us on a journey of Latin America's communities burdened by poverty, family, and grief, and there are a lot of them to be had. This compilation of 10 (previously published) short stories will give you a taste of the full breadth of human experiences with an authentic voice, witty writing, and vulnerability that will touch anyone.

8. My Last Innocent Year by Daisy Alpert Florin (Henry Holt, get your copy here)

Isabel Rosen is part of the prestigious elite, about to graduate into eliter, and has always felt out of place. After a nonconsensual encounter with one of the only other Jewish students on campus, she’s about to feel that even worse. A whirlwind affair with her older, married writing professor is the only thing she has to cope, but nothing about it seems to bode well for her.

9. Really Good, Actually by Monica Heise (William Morrow, get your copy here)

Maggie’s got it all: a dead-end thesis, a dead-end marriage, dead-end savings, and she’s not even 30. With her support group by her side, Maggie barrels through her first year newly single with wit, humor, and heavy self-deprecation. Emphasis on all three, and additional emphasis on it being a wild ride.

10. The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise by Colleen Oakley (Berkley, get your copy here)

Tanner’s chance to escape a life made up of 19 hours of video games comes with an opportunity to be an elderly woman’s live-in caregiver. Simple, except for the fact that Louise didn’t want a caretaker in the first place, looks weirdly similar to a prolific jewelry thief, and, one day, insists that they leave town immediately. Thus ensues a wacky road trip that spawns an equally wacky—and unlikely—friendship.

11. Wolfish: Wolf, Self, and the Stories We Tell About Fear by Erica Berry (Flatiron Books, get your copy here)

Erica Berry has walked a years-long quest to study the cultural legacy of the wolf, and this is the result. If you’re interested in wolves, this will tell you all you need to know. If you’re not, you can find criticism, journalism, and memoirs galore that let us peer into the world of predator and prey. What does it mean when we, as humans, can be both?

12. I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai (Viking, get your copy here)

Bodie’s ready to leave her past behind her, but she can’t resist her ala mater inviting her back to campus to teach a course. That just means she’s back to thinking about her college roommate’s grisly murder, and how strange the conviction was, and how she has this nagging feeling that, back in 1995, she might’ve known the key to solving the case. But is it too late to run it back?

Have you read any of these already? Did I miss a few most-definitely, absolutely-necessary mentions? Tell us about it in a comment so that we can pick up a copy today.

Natasha Saar (she/her) is a senior at Loyola University Maryland, pursuing a BA in English, and the spring 2023 publications intern at Yellow Arrow Publishing. She’s in charge of editing nonfiction submissions at her university’s literary magazine, Corridors, and also works as a resident assistant in her dorm hall. In her free time, she enjoys folding origami, baking, and playing social deduction games.

*****

Kapua Iao 3/21/23 Kapua Iao 3/21/23

All My Languages: A Conversation with Elizabeth M. Castillo

By Melissa Nunez, written January 2023

In all my languages I have found there is no word for you. Although most vowels are the
same, no matter where they sit on your tongue, and life goes on, I’ve noticed, and tries to
drag one along with it. But my bags are not packed. – “New start”

Elizabeth M. Castillo is a British-Mauritian poet who writes in a variety of different languages under a variety of pen names. Her work has been featured in publications and anthologies across the globe such as FERAL: A Journal of Poetry and Art and Poetry Wales. In her writing Elizabeth explores the different countries and cultures she grew up with, as well as themes of race and ethnicity, motherhood, womanhood, language, love, and loss. She self-published her bilingual, debut collection Cajoncito: Poems on Love, Loss, y Otras Locuras in 2021. And we are excited that Elizabeth had poetry accepted to Yellow Arrow Journal, Vol. VIII, No. 1, KINDLING, coming out in May! Thank you for thinking of us in February when journal submissions were open.

Elizabeth engages the writing community with a confidence and open-minded grace that is admirable, and she energetically supports and promotes other indie authors. I was delighted we were able to coordinate a video conference despite a 12-hour time difference while she was spending some time in Mauritius. We had a conversation about the versatility and power of poetry, the lure of languages, and even connected over the homeschooling experience.

When did you first fall in love with poetry?

When I was a child, I loved Edward Lear. My parents would buy Victorian (and Edwardian) poetry, limericks, and silliness—I can still recite many of them now. That is where my love for the musicality and playfulness of words comes from. When I am writing poetry, I find that the syncopated rhythm from those early (think Rudyard Kipling) poems sometimes comes back to me. I also feel that I discovered poetry a second time, for myself, when I was a teenager. I was quite a depressed teenager even though I didn’t realize it at the time, we didn’t have that kind of vocabulary back then. I would write all my heartbreak and misunderstandings into poetry and that is when poetry became therapeutic for me. Now, as an adult, it is a mix of both. I can play with poetry, or it can be a help to me. I think poetry should be whatever you need it to be as a writer and as a reader.

Who are your favorite women writers?

Warsan Shire is the kind of poet I would love to emulate. Ada Limón is absolutely fantastic as well. There are several other inspiring poets I have discovered through social media, like Nikki Dudley, Melissa Hernandez, and Mary Ford Neal. I actually have a fangirl story here: I boosted Mary’s first book so much, out of pure love for it, that she acknowledged me in her second book!

As for nonfiction, Ariel Saramandi is an excellent Mauritian essayist. My relationship with Mauritius is a complicated one because I had a difficult time living here, but it is the biggest part of my heritage. I also grew up all over the place so there is that diasporic feeling of belonging/unbelonging present. Reading Saramandi’s work has given me an extra push into exploring that side of my reality and discovering more of what it means to be Mauritian, from the southern hemisphere, a woman of color, a writer of color, a linguistic minority, and all these things. Her writing is so impactful. You read her essays and you need to pause after each section and breathe before coming back to it.

How can I show them

what it is to talk;

how to cut the thoughts down to

word-shapes,

and coax the heart, and tongue, into

speaking?

Conditionals, perhaps?

The language of what could never be,

or what might have been. – “Paris, mi-octobre”

Writing on identity and heritage, especially in relation to the diaspora, is becoming more prevalent. I have been exploring my own connection to heritage, history, and language (trying to develop my Spanish and dig even deeper by researching Nahuatl) fueled by that feeling of unbelonging that you mention. Why do you think these stories are so resonant?

I follow some people on social media that post about Indigenous languages like Nahuatl and discuss the origins of words and what has been misused or appropriated. I feel like these resources are so important because otherwise we are shooting in the dark and there is this massive gap in identities. I am not someone who feels we need to just erase all of the literary canon so far and everything, but there is such space and such a rich diversity of stories that I believe people want to read. We are tired of reading the same perspective in poetry, at least in my case. I’ve picked up some of the acclaimed poets, especially North American poets, and there are one or two that I’m like, “Yeah, this is a banger.” But then there’s another poem about sitting in the woods looking at birds, and another on the same, and then at the country house looking at birds. First of all, who lives that life? Second, that is not what I want to read. It is not what makes me excited and inspires me to read and write. It is not what makes me feel seen and heard, what gives words to my experience. I believe a lot of that representation is found in these cultures and in these emerging voices like the ones platformed by publications like Yellow Arrow [Publishing]. So, it is exciting to see, whether it is an educational YouTube account, or a writer, or an essayist, these voices getting the attention not just that they deserve but that the world needs. It is what readers need.

Although I am not fully fluent in many languages, I am drawn to the musicality of different accents and sounds in different tongues. Do you ever switch languages in your poems after they’ve been drafted for the sound?

When I have worked in a language, when I work in Portuguese, or Spanish, or French, or Kreol, it is because the poem has come to me in that language. I don’t touch that because in some cases it’s not my first language or the language I am most comfortable working in. If they appear to me like that then I am not going to scare them away. I have, however, switched some poems into English. I have been working on a chapbook on motherhood and daughterhood (experiencing motherhood with mental illness, parentified children, and all that kind of thing) and I felt like I needed to focus more on French, but for some reason my muse isn’t a fan of La Francophonie. I would put things in French, and it would just feel so unnatural. Even though they were beautiful, they were just not working and so I would have to put them back into English.

Ya no soy aquella florecita- / I’m no longer that tiny little flower

En muchedumbre me converti, / I’ve become an entire horde,

En selva entera, ¡ten cuidado! / a whole jungle, but watch your step! – “Aquella florecita”

Do you have any favorite words that you often use, or have felt drawn to including in a piece?

I’ve spent some time in Chile (in fact my Spanish is Chilean more than anything else) and I love the sound of words in Mapudungun, the language of the Mapuche which are the indigenous tribes of mostly the south of Chile. Pichintún, which means “a little bit,” is in one of my poems. I say “pichintún of miel on my lengua,” which is a little bit of honey on my tongue. I love the word muchedumbre. I just think that it sounds like what it is. Even cajoncito is a word that I absolutely adore, the way it just rolls off the tongue and the way it just almost looks like what it is. Or maybe I’m just being a bit of a linguist about it. . . .

In a language workshop you led (through Crow Collective) you talked about writers being able to respectfully incorporate languages in their writing even if they are not native or fluent speakers. What advice do you have for those learning new languages and navigating the full context of usage without that experience?

There is such a fear nowadays of getting things wrong, of being seen as culturally appropriating or disrespecting something. It is a good consciousness to have but it mustn’t become a fear because then we don’t do anything. There is nothing wrong with acknowledging a mistake and apologizing for missing the mark on the meaning or context of a word. We are all learning and without this mindset we are promoting the opposite of diversity. We would all just be gatekeeping experiences until everybody is fluent or everybody has lived every experience and that is not possible. On the contrary, language and culture are fluid. They mix and they change as they encounter one another and that is the beauty of it. Just look at English and how it has evolved because so many people are speaking it all over the world. If you approach a new language with that humility and awareness, that it is something separate from you or related to you in whatever limited context, then I think that you can’t go too far wrong. There must be a respect, an admiration, and an understanding for it. The attitude should not be one of taking things and using them for personal gain, especially if you are operating from a place of privilege yourself, but rather handling them with respect and honor. That is what makes the difference. It might seem like a vague answer but that is my approach. The ability to acknowledge mistakes and say, “Hey, I messed this one up,” or “I didn’t understand it,” is underrated and gets you very far in life.

Do you have any tips for learning new languages or favorite resources to share?

Move to the country that speaks it and don’t speak your own language to anyone. Put yourself in the middle of the village . . . but no, that’s not always possible. As a language teacher I would say you find the medium that you enjoy. If you are very musical, plunge yourself into music and look up music interviews in the language. That is how I came to Spanish. I used to listen to Gloria Estefan and Shakira and look up the lyrics. I would use my knowledge of French to understand what I could and then translate the rest. That was literally my first start with Spanish when I was a teenager. If you are literary, look up short stories. Find something that you love and enter the language from there. Then, you will keep loving it when it gets tricky. Some languages, for example if you are a native Arabic speaker and you are coming to a Latin-based language, might require a couple of language classes (whether it is through an app or one-on-one) so you can get your head around the different language system. But many of us, I think, have some knowledge of most of the languages we want to speak and coming into it from a point of pleasure, of interest, of engagement will get you very far.

Come, fresh tears spilled into the clean laundry, come,

those few, thrilling seconds I hold myself underwater in the bath.

Come, sweet, bewitching intensity, step this way,

total disregard for consequence. – “Gathering my children to me”

Do you have a favorite poem that you have written or one you find the most fun to read?

I do. Well, favorite is difficult. It depends on the time of day really. I love the final poem in Cajoncito, “I thought of you today.” That poem just fell out of me. There is such catharsis in it and there was such catharsis from writing it. It is a happy-place poem. When I read it, I am very relaxed. I love “Gathering my children to me,” which actually doesn’t get much rep, like no one has ever said they love it. That is a personal favorite because I thought it was very clever when the idea came to me. It is very fun to perform because it is basically me telling all my faults to get in line because they have made a mess of where we are, and we have to leave. A poem that was written as a joke that everyone seems to adore and so I’ve come to love as well is the opening poem, “Can I send you my poems?” It was meant to be an absolute tongue-in-cheek, self-deprecating piece because I am so dramatic and feel all-the-things-all-the-time. It was meant to be that, and then I read it to my husband. He was like, “That’s excellent.” He is not in any way literary so for him to enjoy it was something. And when I shared it with other people, they also said it was good. There are a handful of shorter poems as well that are very personal and very precious to me, but I never read them. They still carry a bit of a sting, so I actually avoid them, but they mean a lot to me.

What advice would you give to those writing through grief/loss?

Keep writing. Until the pen and your heart are empty, just keep doing it. Let it all out. If you are in any way task-minded or outcome-minded, try your hardest to put that aside and just write. Don’t edit, don’t think of where it is going or what you can make of it. This can be hard because we don’t have that much time in the day and we want to be productive, to earn something, to publish something. But just keep writing and don’t think. Write and write and write and write. At some points it might feel like a hose that has a hole in it. You know there is water there and it is building up, but it is just coming out in drops. Or if there’s some big tangle, a good way of untangling it is just to shift your perspective. In a lot of my poetry, in many of my pieces from my new chapbooks I am working on, I have shifted the perspective and the speaker. I have written as myself outside of myself where I put my story from someone else or I have made my narrator male instead of female. I have also shifted the time frame and rather than after the loss I’ve written from before the loss. So, if ever it feels like a tangle, shift where you are standing and see if that helps. Sometimes that little shift suddenly brings the whole thing out. It is amazingly cathartic to the point where, for me, if you can read the poem, a personal poem that is a piece of your heart, and you feel nothing except enjoyment of your work, then you’ve got it. You’ve done it. You have achieved the goal. It is very satisfying to see something written literally laced in tears that is now just a great piece of writing.

I am running out of languages to grieve in. – “Saudades”

As a fellow homeschooling mom, I was excited to see that mentioned in your author bio. How do you feel homeschooling has affected your writing perspective or voice?

It affects my writing—full stop—because who has the time? A lot of homeschool moms tend to get the reputation of wanting everyone else to jump on the wagon with them, but I’m like, “No. Please don’t. You will fall off and hurt yourself. I’m barely hanging on to the wheel!” The choice to homeschool is a very personal one that every family must decide for themselves. If you do not have 1000% conviction to do it, do not do it. Writing and poetry take a lot from me. It is not just five or ten minutes; it takes time to sit down and work. One of my convictions in this life choice is that everything that comes outside of it is always something extra. Time spent on one thing is automatically time taken from something else. My only sort of barometer was that if my writing was in any way affecting my children, if they felt they were being deprived of me, then I would have to rethink what I was doing. At no point has that been the case. On the contrary, my daughters have blossomed seeing me write. They love to come and sit next to me when I’m writing with a pen and paper and write their own stories. Other times they will say, “Oh, mummy, can we write this as a poem? I want to write a poem about my little sister because I love her so much.” If anything, it is somehow joined into the homeschooling life of being creative and taking time to contemplate things. My creative time benefits them and I’m a better mother for it because it keeps me sane. I think homeschooling obviously adds to your workload as a mother. As a mother who suffers from anxiety and depression, I have times when I struggle with my mental health. I’m also fairly convinced that I have ADHD along with being severely dyslexic. It is already a lot to deal with, and I talk about it a lot in all those poems that come out as “What am I doing? Why did anyone trust me with kids?” If I had all my ducks in a row, then maybe I wouldn’t be able to write or feel the need to write about motherhood and daughterhood.

Writing also gives me such an intimate relationship with my children. It is incredibly inspiring to see the world from their perspective. I have a poem that is going into my new chapbook called “What My Four-Year-Old Tantrumed.” It is literally what my four-year-old shouted when she was having a tantrum and brushing her teeth. It was so poetic. It started with, “I just want to be in the dark and brush my teeth.” And I thought, “Yes, don’t we all.” It just went on and it sounded like a poem, and I mean terrible mother of the year award, but I was outside the door furiously typing what she was saying while she was having a tantrum. It made a great poem! I think these experiences definitely influence voice because you write about real things, which cycles back to what I said about wanting to read about reality. I know that is what I want as a reader. If I’m not going to read about reality, I want to read fantasy or science fiction. When I read poetry, I want to read something I can relate to, something that feels like “Yeah. Totally. That chick gets it.” All off these things can only happen when they are informed by reality, which is kids who are stroppy and tired and pushing your boundaries and have far more energy than should be legal. That definitely influences my poetry.

And finally, to bring this wonderful conversation to a close, what would you pick as your personal mascot?

I think I would probably be some kind of frog or other creature that stays very still and then moves around a lot and then stays very still again. That is literally me. I’d love to say something graceful and wondrous like a dolphin but that doesn’t fit. You know what? It would probably be an Octopus. It comes out, turns all these brilliant colors, and is odd and amazing but probably prefers to be in a hole somewhere pretending to be a piece of coral. An octopus, definitely.

Elizabeth M. Castillo’s bilingual, debut collection Cajoncito: Poems on Love, Loss, y Otras Locuras is for sale on Amazon, and her debut chapbook Not Quite an Ocean will be published by Nine Pens Press in 2023. You can connect with her on Twitter and Instagram as @EMCWritesPoetry or on her website elizabethmcastillo.net.

Melissa Nunez is a Latin@ writer and homeschooling mother of three from the Rio Grande Valley. Her essays have appeared in magazines like HerStory and Honey Literary. She has work forthcoming in Hypertext, Scrawl Place, and others. She is a columnist at The Daily Drunk and a staff writer for Alebrijes Review. You can follow her on Twitter @MelissaKNunez.

*****

Kapua Iao 3/14/23 Kapua Iao 3/14/23

Finding Grace and Humor in Womanhood: A Conversation with Ann Weil about Lifecycle of a Beautiful Woman

Ann Weil glances out the window of her Key West home. “There’s a person who wears a full-on Spiderman outfit and rides a skateboard on their way to and from wherever Spider-people go, and then the next minute, there will be chickens in my yard and the love is in the air—it’s just a crazy place,” she says. Ann is explaining the reasons why she and her husband decided to spend their winters in Key West and “having a poem walk by [her] window every day” is at the top of her list: “I saw a guy yesterday in a full-on pirate outfit walking down the street probably going to work and that is the norm and that’s where I fit in.” Ann adds that as a poet, Key West is an ideal place to draw inspiration because of its strong literary history. Elizabeth Bishop, Ernest Hemingway, and Shel Silverstein all lived and wrote there, and currently, “Judy Blume owns the bookstore, and I get to see her when I shop there.”

Ann was fueled by the Key West literary community of past and present while working on Lifecycle of a Beautiful Woman, the newest Yellow Arrow Publishing chapbook, set to release next month. In her upcoming collection, Ann explores the oscillation of emotions that accompany aging as a woman in our society. “I think all women have a part of their lives where they feel at their most beautiful . . . and a sense of power that comes along with . . . that external beauty. Then, you get older, and it fades and . . . its deflating.” She continues, “Sometimes, I look in a mirror and I don’t recognize the person. And the thing is, I don’t feel as old as I look, I still feel like I’m 27, but I’m almost 62 so it’s a really interesting journey.” This balance between coming to terms with internal and external perceptions of oneself is at the heart of Ann’s chapbook. In each of Ann’s poems, she boldly embraces the messiness and heaviness that life brings while also weaving in humor. The vulnerability that she brings to her writing as she explores relationships with lovers, friends, and her body allows us all to remember that to be human is to make mistakes, learn from them, and still move forward with our heads held high.

Lifecycle of a Beautiful Woman is now available for PRESALE (click here for wholesale prices) and will be released April 2023. Follow Yellow Arrow @yellowarrowpublishing on Facebook and Instagram for more information. Recently, Yellow Arrow Vignette Manager, Siobhan McKenna took some time to speak with Ann about her inspiration behind Lifecycle of a Beautiful Woman. Ann was published in Yellow Arrow Vignette AWAKEN in 2022, so it seemed like a great opportunity for Siobhan to reconnect.

Understanding that

this body will carry me to the next, each radiant rendition

fading, falling away until the only beauty left is bone.

“Lifecycle of a Beautiful Woman”

What does your writing process look like?

In terms of the actual writing process, I try to raise my awareness of everything. My environmental surroundings, the people. I keep notes on my phone, notes in a journal of things that strike me as interesting images or characters or lines. I eavesdrop in the drugstore. I just am constantly trying to be a pack rat. Then, [the words] sit and percolate in my mind and then something speaks to me.

I’ve also always felt like I am what you call “a one-night-stand poet.” When I’m in the moment, whether I’m writing about yesterday or 10 years ago, I write, and I’m in that zone. I have the flow thing going on and I am so in love with what I’m writing. And I think—this is it. This is the poem that is going to be great. And I love it, love it, love it. And then usually the next day—I’ll look at that poem and I hate it. OMG. I can’t believe it. I say, “This is terrible, and it makes no sense, and I don’t have time for it anymore.” But then, as part of the revision process (if I let it sit long enough), I can go back to those poems and say to myself, “this is pretty good actually.” I don’t know what that is—that one-night-stand thing—that search for something perfect. But then, if you just let it all settle . . . either I can recognize it is a good poem or there are elements of the poem that are good, and I’ll pluck those out and put them in [a poem] going forward.

Where do you find your inspiration for your work?

I read a ton of poetry. I just wrote a poem, and I pulled the epigraph from one of Mary Oliver’s. . . . The line was: “how the little stones even if you can’t hear them are singing.” Then I went from [that quote] and did a persona poem as the stone. So that was my inspiration. I do a lot of “after” poems. Sayeed Jones has this amazing poem called “The Blue Dress,” and it’s a marvelous play in metaphor—rolling metaphors just one after the other to explore the dress. And it made me think, “I gotta write a dress poem,” because for years I had a size eight rainbow-colored dress in my closet . . . so I wrote a poem called “Sequin Dress Size Eight Never Worn.” I also get a lot of inspiration from fellow poets, and I take a lot of classes. I’ve done all of Ellen Bass’s craft talk series, and I’ve taken a class with Kim Addonizio and Rick Barot I’m a serious lifelong learner—that’s how I feel most alive.

You mentioned Mary Oliver, what other poets or writers have inspired you?

So many! Mary Oliver totally saved my life at different times with lines from her poetry. Also: Ellen Bass, Yusef Komunyakaa, Ruth Stone, Ada Limon, Ocean Vuong. It’s amazing that someone’s words can have such a profound effect on another human being that they don’t know.

To open your chapbook you use the poem, “What were you thinking, Pandora?” about how you have opened doors in your life without thinking about all the consequences that could follow. I’m wondering if you think most humans are intrinsically like Pandora and yourself. Are we all inclined “to peek” with a “boxcutter in hand”?

Oh yeah—I worry about people who aren’t. I know that there are more people who are more self-controlled than I am and get into fewer messes in life—and more power to them. But I’m just open. I want to be out there and experience everything I can in the short time that I have on this planet. So, you gotta open the boxes. Sometimes, it’s a mistake to open the boxes, but it definitely leads to living a fuller life—I’ll tell you that.

Clearly a lesson here, but . . .
temptation rings the doorbell
and there I am, boxcutter in hand.
Yes, I peek. Often.

“What Were You Thinking, Pandora?”

In “She Takes a Second Mistress,” you choose the word “mistress” to talk about your love of painting. When I think of the word, I conjure the words “immoral” or “forbidden.” Why did use the word mistress when it comes to your writing and painting?

Obsession. Obsession. Theoretically, when you have a mistress or lover, initially you’re obsessed. For a while, I dabbled in painting, so it was a second mistress, but my first mistress is writing. I’m obsessed with writing. It’s my favorite thing to do and I’m thinking about it all the time. It was easy to write about [painting] when you think about all the rich language painting evokes. It was an obsession and also wanting to be good at something—a new relationship, in this case, painting.

Wow. I love that. I thought you were going to go a different route with your answer because when I read the poem, I thought about the devaluing of art in our society, and seeing painting as a “mistress” would imply it’s an illegitimate hobby or career in some way.

Yeah, that’s interesting. That never entered my mind. If you just look at [an affair] from the view of the lover, it’s a really good and exciting and wonderful thing because somehow you have a hole in you that needs to be filled . . . [and] there’s a euphoria of being loved and wanted and desired. And I had that for a little while with painting—not that it loved me, but I loved it so much. And I am still head over heels with writing and I can’t see that will ever stop. So, I guess I never want to be married to my writing—I just want to have an affair with it *laughs*—this interview is going off the rails!

she thinks about the places that hurt, and knows

the truth—if you leave first you can’t be left.

“In the Pastel Hour”

Many of your poems reflect on difficult relationships: lovers, fathers, the one with yourself. Do you find writing as a way to process these experiences in the moment or is it only after you’ve processed, and time has passed, that you can write about them?

I’m totally doing both. I’m processing everything in my life right now. Whether it happened five minutes ago or 40 years ago. As a teacher, one of the most valuable lessons I learned in college [when I was] preparing to teach was [how to be] a reflective teacher. As a teacher, after every lesson, I was taught that you should think about: what do you need to change, keep, toss? [I’ve carried this practice] with me through my whole life. I am still trying to put tools in my toolbox to grow my skillset [in order] to handle whatever life throws at me. You can’t do that without reflection. So, yes, [I continue to reflect] whether it’s an interaction I had five minutes ago with somebody or a long, long time ago. And sometimes you have to leave things in the past in order to deal with them at a later date and there can still be value [on reflecting] at a later point.

Why do you feel it’s important to release these poems into the world—with whom would you like them to resonate?

First and foremost: other women. . . . Other women have become so important to me as I’ve evolved. Their friendship, their openness and willingness to exchange and explore things that are really hard. Falling apart bodies, falling apart relationships. I’m getting to that stage in life when bad shit is happening. I’ve always loved men—obviously. But other women are just the heart and soul of everything. And the women in my mainstay writer’s group are so interesting, we got together at the beginning of the pandemic and they’re now my closest friends. My closest friends are in a box in a computer screen!

[My] poetry is all about my feelings and connecting with other people’s feelings and trying to [write] something that is true to myself and universal. And even if you’re a truck driver from New Jersey you might be able to read my poem and feel something. I really try to be accessible in my writing and that is one of my struggles: I’m probably too accessible for today’s modern poetry world. But it’s important to me . . . to connect with the wider community.

What do you think that others can take away from your writing?

Life is amazing and wonderful, but life is really, really hard. Both sides of that coin deserve attention and reflection when you get toward the end (although . . . there’s this lady who just died at 120 . . . maybe I’m only halfway through, but I really don’t want to live that long). . . . I’ve had a lot of tragedy and hard times in my life. I’ve had three marriages—third time lucky. I’ve had death—my children’s father died in a car crash. So, there’s a lot of tough stuff that’s all there.

And one of my all-time favorite words is grace. [I hope others read my chapbook and take away] grace—to give yourself grace and others grace. And to not hold onto failures and grudges and the bad stuff. But not being afraid either to take it out and explore it when you need to. And to keep looking forward: with three husbands—don’t write marriage off your list because I feel so lucky that I kept trying to find my partner and it’s not that I didn’t love the other two men that I was married to. I loved them deeply, but they weren’t the right person for me for the long haul. And humor. When in doubt, throw some humor in.

How long must I wait for this difficult truth

To roost in my addled birdbrain?

That it’s not my job to paint the sky

a painless shade of blue

“At the Al-Anon Tables I Learn to Shut My Beak”

I love that for Lifecycle of a Beautiful Woman’s cover art, your daughter, a photographer, visited you in Key West and photographed you in a pool. What was your inspiration behind the cover art?

I wanted it to reflect the content of the book, which is definitely about womanhood, about beauty, about life, loss, love. But I also [wanted the cover to] be very indicative of the style of poetry that I tend to gravitate towards which is quirky. I like to have fun—I don’t like to take life too seriously.

[For the front cover], I got in my mother’s pool wearing pink high heels and the shot is of just my legs floating in the beautiful blue waters and then, on the back cover we have this shot where I’m trying to do a handstand in the water so my legs with the pink, high-heeled shoes are just splayed all over the place.

With the covers, I’m trying to [convey] to people that yes, this is about womanhood and beauty, but it’s also fun which sums up who I strive to be. [I’m] someone who can look at the serious parts of life and lives the serious parts of life, but damn, if I’m not gonna have some fun along the way.

Final question, how did you learn about Yellow Arrow and why did you decide to publish with us?

I learned about [Yellow Arrow] through Duotrope. . . . I pay attention to their weekly calls for submission and heard about [Yellow Arrow] there. I always go to the publisher’s site to see if my work might be a good fit. [After I went to Yellow Arrow’s site], I thought these folks are doing what I’m doing: writing about womanhood, exploring it, and celebrating it. I felt a strong affinity with your website and reading the work of other women. After that, deciding to publish was easy.

****

Thank you, Ann and Siobhan, for sharing your conversation. Preorder your copy of Lifecycle of a Beautiful Woman today. Yellow Arrow Publishing is a nonprofit supporting women writers through publication and access to the literary arts. Yellow Arrow Publishing is a nonprofit supporting women writers through publication and access to the literary arts. You can support us as we SPARK and sparkle this year: purchase one of our publications from the Yellow Arrow bookstore, join our newsletter, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter or subscribe 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.

Kapua Iao 3/7/23 Kapua Iao 3/7/23

Meet a Board Member: Nikita Rimal Sharma

Yellow Arrow Publishing is incredibly excited to officially introduce our Director of Fundraising, Nikita Rimal Sharma, to the Yellow Arrow family. Nikita currently resides in Baltimore, Maryland, and is originally from Kathmandu, Nepal. Professionally, she works at B’More Clubhouse, a mental health nonprofit that is all about working toward reintegration and finding a community for adults living with mental illness. Her sources of joy include long walks with her dog, Stone, curling up with a good book, and documenting her thoughts and emotions. She also loves spending time with close family and friends, especially her husband, Prashant.

Nikita states, “I have been so inspired by the women at Yellow Arrow. The way everyone approaches their role with so much intention, love, confidence, and passion continues to give me the fuel to better myself and also believe in myself. I am looking forward to more magical moments like this.”

She recently took some time to answer some questions for us. Show her some love in the comments or on Facebook/Instagram!

Tell us a little something about yourself:

The title poem from my chapbook, The most beautiful garden, was just nominated for the Pushcart Prize by Yellow Arrow Publishing, and I could not be more thrilled and honored.

What do you love most about Baltimore?

I love how people in Baltimore seem more real and raw. Although the media and social structure may not have been fair to the city, I feel as if the people here have so much resiliency in the way they never give up. I also love how each neighborhood has its own personality as well.

How did you get involved with Yellow Arrow and what do you do?

Like Gwen Van Velsor (Yellow Arrow Founder) wanted it to be, [my joining Yellow Arrow] was serendipitous. I was just walking in the Highlandtown neighborhood with my colleague. The door to the then Yellow Arrow House was open, and it looked very inviting. I went in, learned a little, and googled about it later. I saw that there was a poetry class coming up which was Ann Quinn’s Poetry is Life class. I thought it was exactly what I needed then, and I was right.

What are you working on currently?

I am realizing that I need to be consistent with filling my days and time with things that bring me joy and inner fulfillment for my emotional and mental health. When life gets busy, it’s easy to stay preoccupied . . . and forget and move away from practices and habits that make you feel rested and grounded. I am trying to stay more consistent with doing things such as writing, reading, and going on long walks daily so I can continue to fill my cup with positive energy.

What genre do you write and why?

I write poetry because I love how I can say so much with so few words. Poetry is also great because it gives the reader a chance to interpret the poem to their liking and circumstances.

Who is your favorite writer and why?

I must go with Mary Oliver here. I love how she takes nature as an inspiration. When I am amidst nature, I feel like I am filled with wisdom about life, so I really appreciate reading her words.

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

Whenever I get the opportunity to sit still and observe nature and humans going about their lives, it inspires me to write. Inspiration usually comes in the most ordinary things. I will say that my husband has been my biggest support. He reads and compliments everything I write like it is the most magical thing in the world and encourages me to follow my heart. I love him for that.

What do you love most about writing?

It helps me to slow down, reflect and digest the beauty, harshness, hope, and struggle that life has to offer. It makes me appreciate all the little things and is also a great tool to manage my emotions.

What advice do you have for new writers?

Whether it’s on an Instagram page or submitting to a journal, don’t be afraid to write and share (even when you think it’s horrible).

What’s your vision for Yellow Arrow in 2023?

My vision is to be able to share as much as I can about Yellow Arrow with the wider Baltimore community (and beyond). I have always written but being a part of Yellow Arrow has made me into a writer. I want to work toward creating this reality for more women.

*****

Kapua Iao 2/28/23 Kapua Iao 2/28/23

A Week as a Publications Intern

By Jackie Alvarez-Hernandez, written November 2022

When I was little, I adored the idea of being surrounded by books. In my head, my ideal world was one where I could spend every second of every day in the library, helping people find whichever story they wanted. And I could help people write stories and put them there in that library for others to find.

Obviously, this didn’t come to pass. Being a librarian takes a lot more work than my younger self imagined, and I had no idea of what went on in book publishing. But that desire to help people with their stories is something that’s remained the same. So when Yellow Arrow Publishing opened applications for an internship as a publications intern in the fall, I knew I had to take the chance.

I wasn’t sure what to expect, truly. I didn’t know how involved I would be—I had an internship in publishing beforehand, but that was in a different place. How many of the rules would be the same? How much would be different? It’s a common question everyone wonders when going somewhere new.

As it turns out, there’s a lot to do.

I usually start my week by looking at the schedule outlined for me by my supervisor, Kapua Iao (who is amazing and is always ready to answer my many, many questions), the editor-in-chief. The tasks can range from large to small, mainly projects that involve promoting or working on Yellow Arrow’s publications, both old and new.

For instance, I’m often tasked to read one of the chapbooks Yellow Arrow has published in the past or one of the previous issues of Yellow Arrow Journal. From there, I pick out five quotes from the pieces within and create promotional images for them on Canva to later publish on our social media accounts. This one is actually pretty fun to do—not only do I get to read some incredible poetry and creative nonfiction, but I also get to come up with images that represent the quote I selected. It can get very creative!

I also work on creating social media posts to celebrate certain holidays with a Yellow Arrow twist. This means crafting a promotional image on Canva, coming up with a fitting text description, and creating relevant hashtags for our Instagram posts. One of my first tasks had been to put together the black-and-white collage of the board and staff of Yellow Arrow for Women’s Business Day. I also worked on Black Poetry Day, sending an email to some of our African American poets beforehand and then organizing their answers for a post. I even put together the weekly posts for National Book Month 2022 and for NaNoWriMo 2022!

I’m also in charge of updating the blog posts for Her View Friday. This one requires some diligence, given that sometimes we receive some late submissions at the last second. Often the schedule will mention checking and double-checking the submissions list before the blog gets posted. Once the post is made, I’ll head over to Meta Business Suite and schedule the social media posts that will announce the new blog post.

Of course, it’s not all just social media. One big task that I’ve been helping with over numerous weeks is the next issue of Yellow Arrow Journal—in my case, it’s Vol. VII, No. 2, PEREGRINE. This involves voting on which submissions we should include as well as copyediting some of the pieces we chose. I’ve also helped proofread the issue to find any missed mistakes. Since we’re trying to get this published by November 22, keeping to deadlines is a must. Often, I’ve had to set aside some extra hours to have everything checked over and ready in time.

Sometimes I also assist with promoting new chapbooks we’re releasing, like putting together an email template before sending it off to bookstores on our mailing list (and really, sending an email should never be so nerve-wracking).

Other than these big tasks, I often get assigned some smaller ones that vary with each week. Sometimes it can be organizing the blog calendar, preparing it for next year. Or it can be updating our author list with their social media tags. (You know, the usual busy work that needs to get done.)

And then of course, sometimes I’m asked to write a blog post. Don’t worry, I do get to pick a topic ahead of time and schedule a date that I can finish it. Reasonably, of course.

It seems like a lot—and it is. This along with my schoolwork is not something simple.

But it’s worth it. I can say that everything I’ve done has helped me understand what goes on in book publishing, both online and in the real world. We do so much just to get our authors seen and heard. Obviously, I didn’t apply thinking it’d be easy.

But I also didn’t think it’d be this fulfilling. Seems like that’s one thing about books my younger self got right.

Jaqueline Alvarez-Hernandez (or just Jackie) (she/her) was born and raised in Frederick, Maryland, and just graduated from Loyola University Maryland with a bachelor’s degree in writing. A fan of stories whether on the page or on the movie screen, she hopes to start a career in book publishing that will allow her to explore any and all types of writing. She loves to read and write short stories in both fantasy and horror genres. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and playing video games with her fiance. You can find her on Facebook @jackie.alvarezhernandez.77 or on Instagram @honestlytrue16.

*****

Yellow Arrow 2/24/23 Yellow Arrow 2/24/23

Her View Friday

single-author publications
single pieces in journals, anthologies, etc. as well as prizes/awards

You can support our authors by reading this blog and their work, sharing their news, and commenting below or on the blog. Congratulations to all the included authors. We are so proud of you!

Every writer has a story to tell and every story is worth telling

“Connecticut Avenue” by ANN QUINN FROM MARYLAND

Genre: poetry

Name of publisher: Potomac Review

Date published: Fall 2022

Type of publication: print

mcblogs.montgomerycollege.edu/potomacreview/current-issue-2/

"Mother's Milk,” "Doctorly Gifts," "Before the Operation," and "Awakenings" by ute carson from austin, texas

Genre: poetry

Name of publisher: Flapper Press

Date published: January 2023

Type of publication: online

flapperpress.com/post/the-flapper-press-poetry-caf%C3%A9-the-poetic-intimacy-of-ute-carson

“After Reading Geohazard Warning Signs At Mt. Rainier” by Rebecca Brock from Leesburg, Virginia

Genre: poetry

Name of publisher: West Trestle Review

Date published: January 2023

Type of publication: online

westtrestlereview.com/west_trestle_rebecca_brock.html

“My Mother Suggests a Tranqulizer” by Rebecca Brock from Leesburg, Virginia

Genre: poetry

Name of publisher: Literary Mama

Date published: January/February 2023

Type of publication: online

literarymama.com/articles/departments/2023/01/my-mother-suggests-a-tranquilizer

PRIZES/AWARDS

“Raising Glaciers” by Rebecca Brock from Leesburg, Virginia

Prize/award: 2022 Kelsay Book Woman's Poetry Prize

Genre: poetry

Name of publisher: Kelsay Books

Type of publication: print and online

kelsaybooks.com/pages/winners-of-the-womens-contest

Rebecca Pelky from Potsdam, New york

Prize/award: 2023 National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship

Genre: poetry

arts.gov/impact/literary-arts/creative-writing-fellows

and

arts.gov/impact/literary-arts/creative-writing-fellows/rebecca-pelky

Find Rebecca on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @rebeccapelky.

"I Remember How I Believed" Poetry by Rebecca Brock from Leesburg, Virginia

Prize/award: finalist of the River Heron Review Editors' Prize

Genre: poetry

Name of publisher: River Heron Review

Date published: February 1, 2023

Type of publication: online

riverheronreview.com/2022-river-heron-editors-prize-1#/rebecca-brock

Find Rebecca on Twitter @wordsbyRB and Instagram @rebecca_brock.writer.

Yellow Arrow (past and present) board, staff, interns, authors, residents, and instructors alike! Got a publication coming out? Let us help celebrate for you in Her View Friday.

Single-author publications: here.

Single pieces and awards/prizes: here.

Please read the instructions on each form carefully; we look forward to congratulating you!

*****

Kapua Iao 2/21/23 Kapua Iao 2/21/23

Review of Jenn Koiter’s So Much of Everything by Naomi Thiers

Although Jenn Koiter’s exciting collection So Much of Everything isn’t formally broken into sections, it feels as if it is because the poems have many different moods and styles. This book won the 2021 DC Poet Project prize administered by D.C. arts group Day Eight (dayeight.org/dc-poet-project) and it has riches to offer. The book seems to move from the voice of someone who feels “different” and rather separate from others to the voice of someone fully experiencing grief for someone she lost.

Many of the first 13 poems center on a speaker who is a bit of a mess, a bit of an oddball, or at least has rotten timing. Several poems feature a character called The Messy Girl, who doesn’t have it together at all—and not just in terms of her appearance:

Lines of birds shift in the air like words that cannot stay still

on the page, latecomers looking for a place

in an already crowded field. What else is wrong?

She might be coming down with a cold. (There was a man with a cold.)

She might be pregnant. (There was a broken condom.)

Or consider (from “The Messy Girl Discovers She’s a Gay Camp Icon”)

She puts on

addiction like a rhinestone bustier, suffering

like a sheer black backless bodysuit.

And her love affairs are an earring, an earring,

and high, high heels.

“The Messy Girl Carries a Torch for the Boy Who Could Not Stop Washing” tells how this character is obsessed with other misfits and people with odd medical conditions. It may sound like it’s all just too quirky, but these poems are more human and relatable than that. I think readers—especially women—will feel Koiter echoes their own messy emotional and physical experiences. “The Messy Girl’s Hair Is a Mess” is packed with sensory details about hair and skin. In “Through Snow,” the speaker drives home through such blinding snow that she begins to doubt the evidence of her senses and isn’t sure she’s entering the right house when she pulls up to home. And in “Easter Night,” a woman realizes she slept through Easter day (“through hugs and handshakes of smiling strangers, earnest, quavery hymns”) and says:

I wish I were a woman who could

worship the sun rising.

I would stand with them and cheer.

Though someone must greet the dark

each day, and how much more

today, when all is new?

In the book’s middle are the “Candy Jones” poems, Candy Jones being a 1940s cover girl and beauty expert who published guides on beauty in the ‘50s and ‘60s. These are collage poems created using only sentences plucked from Jones’s beauty guides. They weren’t my favorites in the book, but the creative arrangements of semi-scolding, often contradictory, statements on how to be “beautiful” is impressive—and shows how weird and tiring it is to try to be what society expects of a woman.

Make a critical rundown of your imperfect features.

Hold your stomach absolutely flat

and tuck your buttocks in neatly.

Pay attention to your shoulders. Pay attention

to the condition of your shoes.

Observe swimsuit ads

and learn to stand gracefully

with your knees together.

Practice sitting and standing in front of a full-length mirror

until you’re certain

you place your legs in the most becoming positions.

And later, in “Ghazal, With Accessories”:

Make your first appearance upon your arrival wearing a hat.

Even if hats are not your favorite accessory, wear a hat.

[soon followed by]

Your goal is pureness of line and complete simplicity.

Choose your jewelry accents sparingly. Don’t wear a hat.

The collection then moves into free verse poems centered on various subjects: Travel to other countries (including “The Messy Girl Feels at Home in Delhi”), reflections on a religious upbringing and spirituality, and even a poem about a set of tools on the family farm the speaker was forbidden to touch as a child. Again, there’s a bit of emphasis on the speaker being “different.” But I love “Early Dinner Ending with a Line from Thomas Merton,” in which a woman sitting at a restaurant bar cringes at the behavior of some tacky tourists, but soon realizes she is the only one bothered; all others at the bar are accepting and enjoying each other. Even the speaker who feels herself so apart is one of the community.

The last four poems, starting with the long, sectioned poem “The Survivor,” are more spare in style. They take us into the shock and darkness of grieving for a loved one who has died suddenly. I found these the most moving poems in the book. They’re a gut punch, but because the speaker’s emotional expression is so direct, raw, and authentic, we feel a warm connection to her and compassion for her. Here are two excerpts from “The Survivor”:

I push my foot into my boot, and you die.

I put my toothbrush on its stand, and you die.

I put on my headset, and you die.

I fixed myself tea, I order Thai food, I smudge

the surface of my tablet, and you die. . . .

and

All I remember about your body

in its casket are the thick, black sutures

across the top of your bald head, and

the color of your skin: darkened,

mottled, like you were one big bruise.

Perhaps I should’ve taken,

another look, a longer look,

but how long can anyone stand

before miracle, and your body

stitched and purple and emptied, was

a miracle: wine back into water,

water back into the rock.

There are so many different moods, styles, voices, and language feats in these poems that I think any reader will find something here that feeds them.

You can find Jenn Koiter’s book So Much of Everything (2021) at Day Eight Books: day-eight-books.myshopify.com/products/so-much-of-everything-by-jenn-koiter.

Naomi Thiers (naomihope@comcast.net) grew up in California and Pittsburgh, but her chosen home is Washington D.C./northern Virginia. She is the author of four poetry collections: Only the Raw Hands Are Heaven, In Yolo County, She Was a Cathedral, and Made of Air. Her poems, book reviews, and essays have been published in Virginia Quarterly Review, Poet Lore, Colorado Review, Grist, Sojourners, and other magazines. Former editor of the journal Phoebe, she works as an editor for Educational Leadership magazine and lives on the banks of Four Mile Run in Arlington, Virginia.

*****

Annie Marhefka 2/16/23 Annie Marhefka 2/16/23

Workshop Wednesdays: Find your writing community with Yellow Arrow

By Annie Marhefka

We’ve been thinking and talking a lot about our Yellow Arrow community lately, about the women-identifying writers who seek solace in our words, whether through reading the latest issue of Yellow Arrow Journal, attending a poetry reading featuring one of our chapbook authors, or joining in our online workshops in search of a spark of inspiration. We’ve been asking you, at events, workshops, and through surveys, “What drew you to Yellow Arrow?” We get a variety of responses to this question, but there is always a common thread—the desire to explore this creative urge of yours. The desire to grow your craft, gain confidence in your work, and find inspiration. The desire to find others who also feel that inclination towards writing, and to connect with them.

When I first made the decision to refocus on my writing, I felt overwhelmed by what was out there. I found there were writing groups and communities on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Discord, BookTok (what even was BookTok?!), and some of them had numbers in the thousands or tens of thousands of members. I was unsure of myself as a writer (and also an introvert) and I didn’t know how best to immerse myself in the literary scene. Two things really were the catalyst for the change in my comfort level as a writer, and as a member of this literary sphere. The first was finding Yellow Arrow. It felt serendipitous: a local group of women-identifying writers each on their own unique journey, collectively encouraging each other on. The second was beginning to attend writing workshops.

I found writing workshops were a place of comfort for me—a place to hear about other writers’ inspirations, a space to pause and reflect, and a setting where, eventually, I started feeling brave enough to share my own writing with others. There is nothing more fulfilling to a writer than the support of other writers, the cheering on of each other, the moments when you can see that you’ve moved someone with your words.

This is exactly the type of nurturing environment we have tried to create with our Yellow Arrow workshops. Today, we’re announcing our full 2023 spring workshop schedule. In addition to our monthly workshops, Restorative Writing with Raychelle Heath and Poetry is Life with Ann Quinn, we’ve now opened enrollment for a series of Workshop Wednesdays. Each Workshop Wednesday has a different instructor with a different workshop topic, and we’re just thrilled to offer this variety of sessions to you. We’ve also made a firm commitment to ensuring our workshops are accessible to everyone, so Workshop Wednesday sessions are all just $25 each. Check out our Workshop Schedule for full workshop listings and sign up in our online store.

Our workshops are small, intimate groups that meet online to write and share together. They are intended for writers of all stages—even if you aren’t sure you would call yourself a writer (yet!). If that is you, know that you are welcome here. Come write with us! We’d love to create with you.

If you’re interested in both purchasing Yellow Arrow Journal and attending a workshop, check out our new membership option! Yellow Arrow members receive both 2023 issues of Yellow Arrow Journal, bonus items, and 50% off a workshop! We also have the option to donate a workshop space for a writer with a financial hardship available in our bookstore. If you have a financial hardship but wish to attend a workshop, we encourage you to sign up for our no-cost workshop wait list and we’ll contact you when a no-cost space becomes available!

At Yellow Arrow, we believe every writer has a story to tell, and every story is worth telling. Maybe your story starts with a Yellow Arrow workshop.

Enrollment is now open in our online store.

*****

Kapua Iao 2/14/23 Kapua Iao 2/14/23

A Heart’s Deepest Desire

“The key to finding happiness in this life is realizing that the only way to overcome is to transcend; to find happiness in the simple pleasures, to master the art of just being. The things you love about others are the things you love about yourself.”

~ Brianna Wiest (Instagram @briannawiest)

By Amanda Baker, written November 2022

I’m going to tell you something that you may not expect: you do not know what you want. When it comes down to truths, you likely do not fully know your heart’s deepest desire. You may think you want a fancy home, a high paying job, to be “chief of something,” to get a brand-new car, etc. But these are not your deepest desires.

Your deepest heart’s desires are buried under years and years of conditioning, learned beliefs, ego-driven satisfaction (some of these wants are really great, and they really may serve you and move you toward your truest, deepest desire). In Sanskrit the word sankulpa translates to “intention” or “to become one with.” And we can use our intentions to connect with our deepest heart’s desire. Moreover, what we believe we want can help us connect with what we truly desire, in a spontaneous and even symbolic way. It’s once you start to open it little by little that the magic happens. You can’t chase it like we are led to believe. Your deepest desires come to you.

Me, I’ve always wanted to feel whole, to be significant, to be remembered. But, I never wanted to be a poet, never dreamed of being a yoga instructor or using the therapeutic philosophy of yoga to treat my clients as a mental health therapist. Somehow, individual yoga-based therapy stumbled upon me when I was given referrals from an old supervisor. People in my yoga classes started asking for therapy yoga sessions. My business built itself, and I believe it’s because I did not fully seek it, obsess over it, or hustle for it.

I had wanted to be a mental health therapist since I was 18 years old. I followed the blueprint of “get my diploma, go to a reputable college, get my master’s in clinical social work,” and wa-la, I made it! I had a series of stable jobs, won some awards, and believe me, those things were gratifying. Connecting with young children, eventually adults, and being a catalyst for their happiness allowed for some really amazing moments. I also married my high school sweetheart, bought a home, and had a child; we were living the American Dream. So why did I continue to have a long-standing emptiness in me? This longing for something more? It stayed with me everywhere.

I never imagined that I could be a yoga instructor because in my mind, I am terrified of public speaking. My heart, though, knows that I am destined to share publicly in some way. I spontaneously signed up for 200-hour yoga teacher training in 2019 and from there my heart truly started to learn how to open.

Then, it was through yoga and fears of rejection, actual rejection, loss, and heartbreak that I returned to writing. Even though I never wanted to be a poet, repeating patterns in my life brought me back to what I loved to do at age seven: write poetry. I followed a yearning, I did not know was there, to self-publish old poems and to continue daily to write new ones. And here’s what I found out, sharing my poetry has lived in my heart’s desire since I was a child. I even call it an epiphany to go to my childhood home and read through my old diaries and journals. Now, it is through my prose poetry that I share deepest truths and connect, even resonate, in such an intimate way with others.

What you obsess over is not what you truly desire / it’s something that will get you close to safety / likely temporarily / then that will likely turn dull / boring / maybe even unsafe / and it’s because those things are external / safety is an internal state / sometimes fostered by an external anchor / maybe another person / a sensory experience / an expressive catalyst / like writing / music / or genuine authentic shared connection.

You have to open your heart / and you can only do that when you feel really, really safe / and the reality is / most of us don’t.

I hope you find safety / I hope you connect / I hope you come to understand your deepest heart's desire when it shows up at your feet or right in front of your face / and when it’s there / I hope you accept it.

Poetry is one way I open my heart and stay true to myself. Here are some suggestions for you:

Meditate for three to five minutes then engage in a “brain dump”: stream of consciousness writing; write whatever comes.
Set a sankulpa or “intention” for your day. State it as if it already happening: “I trust my inner wisdom.”
Practice restorative or gentle yoga with a focus on the heart chakra.
Do a loving-kindness meditation, a radical act of self-love and healing. “mindful: healthy mind, health life” and Jon Kabat-Zinn provide a great loving-kindness meditation (including audio!) at mindful.org/this-loving-kindness-meditation-is-a-radical-act-of-love.
Exercise self-compassion, for example, see Tara Brach’s RAIN technique at tarabrach.com/wp-content/uploads/pdf/RAIN-of-Self-Compassion2.pdf.
Write a love letter to yourself
Read creative nonfiction books by Brianna Wiest such as The Mountain is You and 101 Essays that Will Change the Way You Think.

So, all in all, when you open your heart, your deepest desires come to you. You will know when you feel it. My heart’s deepest desire is to connect with your heart’s deepest desire and bring it to life.

I write to remember

I write to forget

I write to elicit freedom

And rid regret

I write until it’s exhausted

Collecting negative unconscious

I write.

And so can you.

Amanda Baker believes that we are more authentic as our childlike selves than we are as adults. We are more likely to share our truth and live our truth as children, but who says we have to stop. Amanda is a mental health therapist, 200-hour yoga instructor, and poet from Baltimore, Maryland. She attended the University of Maryland School of Social Work and James Madison University. She is a mother of her four-year-old son, Dylan, and enjoys time in nature. Amanda has self-published a poetry collection that includes written work from her early teens into her 30s. You may find her book ASK: A Collection of Poetry, Lyrics, and Words on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Her chapbook What is Another Word for Intimacy? was released October 2022.

*****

Kapua Iao 2/7/23 Kapua Iao 2/7/23

Meet a Board Member: Mickey Revenaugh

Yellow Arrow Publishing would like to introduce our new board president, Mickey Revenaugh. Mickey is an education innovator, mission-driven leader, and recovering journalist/current writer of creative nonfiction and fiction. In addition to cofounding a Maryland-based international network of virtual schools, she serves in board leadership for a New York City charter school, a national charitable foundation, and a global private school. Her writing has appeared in VICE, Chautauqua, Cleaver, Catapult, Louisiana Literature, Lunch Ticket, and many others. She holds an MFA from Bennington College, an MBA from New York University, and a BA in American Studies from Yale University. She lives and works in Brooklyn, New York, and can be found online at mickeyrevenaugh.com or on Instagram @mickeyrevenaugh.

Mickey states, “I look forward to joining forces with Yellow Arrow’s amazing corps of women-in-writing to bring forth the voices of others.” She further adds that her vision for Yellow Arrow in 2023 is “building on its inspiringly solid foundation to create an ever-growing, effectively sustaining community.”

Tell us a little something about yourself:

After an almost 20-year hiatus, I picked up creative writing again in 2014 when I entered the Bennington low-res MFA program, which did the trick! I produced a ton of material despite still working full time at my day job and got my degree (dual genre, nonfiction/fiction) in 2017, the year I turned 60. Now I am 65, have just retired from that same day job, and am excitedly/nervously diving into a daily writing routine. My current projects include a collection of short stories set in and around airports, and a nonfiction look at “21st century homeschooling.” I’ve also recently developed a love of flash and plan to keep producing and publishing short pieces, fictional and not. My publications and such are listed at mickeyrevenaugh.com.

What do you love most about where you live?

Baltimore is where the great professional adventure of my life took place—the founding and development of Connections Academy, a leading network of virtual schools now serving more than 100,000 students around the globe. Connections started in a borrowed office in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor area, with a founding staff made up mostly of Baltos and Marylanders (including more than a few now with Yellow Arrow, see below). The pilgrimage from Brooklyn, where I live, to Baltimore and back became a familiar rhythm of the next 20+ years. I earned super-elite frequent traveler status on Amtrak, memorized rest stops for the occasional times I drove, and regularly forced myself to explore outside the office and its immediate square blocks. I spent time in an elementary school in Coppin Heights, met parents in Dundalk, discovered tattoo parlors in Fells Point and took up a permanent seat in the FedEx Kinkos on Charles.

As Connections grew, Baltimore also evolved, gentrifying fast in the Inner Harbor, grappling with The Wire and Freddie Gray, always a dichotomy of have and have not, hopeful and desperate. Once the home office relocated to suburban Columbia and then closed altogether during the pandemic, the thing I missed most was that taxi ride from Baltimore Penn Station to Central and Fleet as the sun rose.

How did you get involved with Yellow Arrow and what do you do?

Yellow Arrow Executive Director Annie Marhefka and I worked together for years at Connections Academy, and she and I serve together on the board of a foundation named for our late founding CEO. As several other current and past Connections folks joined Yellow Arrow as board members and volunteers, Annie and I began talking about how I might be of service as well. I joined the Yellow Arrow board as president late fall 2022 and officially assumed office in January 2023.

What are you working on currently?

Now that I’ve retired from my corporate gig, I am working on developing a daily writing routine—now an official member of the #5amwritersclub!—with an eye to fleshing out my Airport Series short story collection, getting my nonfiction “21st century homeschooling” book project underway, and building up my portfolio of flash pieces. I am also leading several nonprofit boards, mentoring an array of rising professionals, and flexing my grabber tool for picking up track around the neighborhood.

What genre do you write and why?

I write creative nonfiction so I can draw on all the journalistic habits developed over a lifetime, and I write fiction because it’s such a relief sometimes just to make everything up.

Who is your favorite writer and why?

I’ve typically favored women writers, including Joan Didion, Louise Erdrich, Toni Morrison, Jumpha Lahiri, and Edith Wharton, but lately I’ve been inspired by George Saunders as both a writer and a teacher.

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

My MFA advisor Dinah Lenney came into my writing life at a crucial time. She helped me see how the pieces fit together and gave me the confidence to imagine publishing. Also, my literary agent, Sharon Pelletier, manages to always be encouraging, even when sharing discouraging news.

What do you love most about writing?

I love making something solid and potentially lasting out of ephemeral moments, overheard scraps of conversation, imaginary connections among disparate objects.

What advice do you have for new writers?

Believe in your voice and your story enough to evolve a little every day.

*****

Welcome to the team Mickey! We are so excited to work with you this year. Yellow Arrow Publishing is a nonprofit supporting women writers through publication and access to the literary arts. You can support us as we SPARK and sparkle this year: purchase one of our publications from the Yellow Arrow bookstore, join our newsletter, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter or subscribe 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.

Yellow Arrow 2/3/23 Yellow Arrow 2/3/23

Her View Friday

single-author publications
single pieces in journals, anthologies, etc. as well as prizes/awards

You can support our authors by reading this blog and their work, sharing their news, and commenting below or on the blog. Congratulations to all the included authors. We are so proud of you!

Every writer has a story to tell and every story is worth telling.

Author: Zorina Exie Frey

Tell us about yourself: I am an essayist, screenwriter, spoken-word poet, content writer, and digital designer. Yellow Arrow Journal UpSpring published my poem, "Vitamin Seed."

Where are you from: Maryland

What describe your main writing space: Technology. Books. Cats.

Tell us about your publication: Poetry - Preaching 2 the Mic is a compilation of theatrical spoken-word poetry that speaks to cultural- and self-hypocrisy while seeking forgiveness and self-love.

Why this book? Why now? How did it happen for you: I wanted to publish all of the poems I've performed and published before I earned my MFA in creative writing (poetry and creative nonfiction). I want my readers to see the difference between my pre-MFA poetry and post-MFA poems.

What is your writing goal for the year: Get my creative thesis published.

What advice do you have for other writers: Establish your goals and research publishing options.

What else are you working on/doing that you’d like to share: Submitting, submitting, and submitting!

You can find Zorina on Twitter and Instagram @zorinaexie.

Author: Tricia Knoll

Tell us about yourself: Yellow Arrow Journal RENASCENCE published my poem, “Random Selection,” in 2021.

Where are you from: Williston, Vermont

What describe your main writing space: I write a lot about the outdoors and sit at a window looking at it when weather does not permit writing outside.

Tell us about your publication: One Bent Twig is poetry in praise of trees, from first loved trees to those endangered by climate change. It was published in January 2023.

Why this book? Why now? How did it happen for you: I have always loved trees, practiced as a Master Gardener, and see impacts of climate change on trees.

What is your writing goal for the year: I'd like to write 200 new poems and 300 haiku.

What advice do you have for other writers: Keep at it. No matter what. Keep working.

What else are you working on/doing that you’d like to share: I'm a gardener . . . for butterflies. I work to eliminate invasives from my woods.

You can find Tricia on Twitter and Instagram @triciaknollwind.

Author: Ellen Dooling Reynard

Tell us about yourself: I spent my childhood on a cattle ranch in Jackson, Montana and was one-time editor of Parabola Magazine, retiring to and living in Temecula, California. My first chapbook, No Batteries Required, was published in 2021 by Yellow Arrow Publishing. I have been nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize.

Where are you from: Temecula, California

What describe your main writing space: Complete with cats.

Tell us about your publication: Double Stream is a collection of ekphrastic poetry based on paintings and drawings by my late husband, the French painter Paul Leon Reynard. It was published in November 2022 by South Forty Press.

Why this book? Why now? How did it happen for you: My late husband, the French painter Paul Reynard, often asked me to write about his work, but I felt at the time that I didn’t know enough about art to do so. Fifteen years after he died, I started writing poetry, and it was at that time that I encountered the ekphrastic poetry of Rooja Mohassessy. I said to myself that I should write poems about my husband's art, and this book is the result of those efforts.

What is your writing goal for the year: To write more poetry.

What advice do you have for other writers: Send your best work out to online and print journals and don’t mind rejections—we all get them!

What else are you working on/doing that you’d like to share: I am reworking older poems that I had put aside.

You can find Ellen on Facebook @ellen.reynard.127.

Yellow Arrow (past and present) board, staff, interns, authors, residents, and instructors alike! Got a publication coming out? Let us help celebrate for you in Her View Friday.

Single-author publications: here.

Single pieces and awards/prizes: here.

Please read the instructions on each form carefully; we look forward to congratulating you!

*****

Kapua Iao 2/1/23 Kapua Iao 2/1/23

Yellow Arrow Journal (VIII/01) KINDLING Submissions are Now Open!

Yellow Arrow Publishing is excited to announce that submissions for our next issue of Yellow Arrow Journal, Vol. VIII, No. 1 (spring 2023) is open February 1–28 addressing the overarching concept of advocacy and community. Guest editor, Matilda Young, states,

The work of changemaking is the work of community and care, of recognizing how our lives and futures are inextricably linked. Our writing can reflect this vital work and be a part of how we bring change to life.

Maybe it is by sharing our full selves with the world or speaking clearly to the injustice of the past and present. Maybe it is sharing the story of how another person inspired us or helped us find healing or how we ourselves find healing and connection in the practice of community care. Like writing, changemaking is fundamentally an act of imagination: envisioning a world that does not yet exist but must.

This issue’s theme will be KINDLING

: easy combustible material for starting a fire

: something or someone that helps start (spark) a movement, an event,

changemaking, and/or advocacy

What is your vision for advocacy? How can you kindle changemaking in yourself? In others? How do people broaden their vision and their actions?
How have you (or how can you) create inspiration in yourself and in others?
How do you get yourself or someone else to join a journey toward advocacy?

Yellow Arrow Journal is looking for creative nonfiction, poetry, and cover art submissions by writers/artists who identify as women, on the theme of KINDLING. Submissions can be in any language as long as an English translation accompanies it. For more information regarding journal submission guidelines, please visit yellowarrowpublishing.com/submissions. Please read our guidelines carefully before submitting. To learn more about our editorial views and how important your voice is in your story, read About the Journal. This issue will be released in May 2023.

KINDLING’s guest editor, Matilda Young (she/they), is a poet with an MFA in poetry from the University of Maryland. She has been published in several journals, including Anatolios Magazine, Angel City Review, and Entropy Magazine’s Blackcackle. She enjoys Edgar Allan Poe jokes, not being in their apartment, and being obnoxious about the benefits of stovetop popcorn. Matilda’s poem “This Yes, This” was part of Yellow Arrow Journal FREEDOM, and Matilda was our .W.o.W. #7. Matilda was also one of our three fantastic Writers-in-Residence 2022 cohort. We are excited to work with Matilda over the next few months.

The journal is just one of many ways that Yellow Arrow Publishing works to support and inspire women through publication and access to the literary arts. Since its founding in 2016, Yellow Arrow has worked tirelessly to make an impact on the local and global community by advocating for writers who identify as women. Yellow Arrow proudly represents the voices of women from around the globe. Creating diversity in the literary world and providing a safe space is deeply important. Every writer has a story to tell, every story is worth telling.

*****

Kapua Iao 1/31/23 Kapua Iao 1/31/23

Beast at Every Threshold: An Exploration of the Balance Between Hope and Despair

By Beck Snyder, written October 2022

It has, admittedly, been a while since I decided to sit down and read a collection of poetry for reasons other than needing a good grade on a class assignment. Poetry is one of the realms of writing that often eludes my grasp—not because I don’t want to seek it out, but because fiction and nonfiction pieces usually end up getting there first. When it comes to Natalie Wee’s collection Beast at Every Threshold (2022), however, I immediately knew upon beginning that this was a book that would stick with me as clearly as any beloved fiction adventure from my childhood.

Beast at Every Threshold is best described as a careful balancing act between hope and despair as Natalie wades through both her past and present while considering her potential future. Within her poems, she openly acknowledges and explores the tragedies of life and loss, such as her grandmother’s Alzheimer’s and abuse she herself has suffered. She does not attempt to fool her audience into believing that every problem in life can be solved through having hope, but as she looks into the more depressing aspects of life, she still brings hope into the equation along with a strong sense of reclaiming power, as she does in the poem “Wei Yang Tells Me About Resurrection.” In the poem, she describes the pain that is necessary for resurrection but turns it on its head into using that pain to transform your own life and bring it under control: “Choose a hell / of your own making over the hell that unmakes you.” Her sense of hope also comes to a head in her poem “In My Next Life as a Fruit Tree,” where she muses on her potential next life and what she will become, and while she could choose anything, all she wishes to do is to provide love and care for those who come after her, and to simply exist peacefully: “but I’ll flower one crop each day for as long / as the palm reaching upwards needs something to adore / it.”

It’s a beautiful message that takes the idea of existence and works it into something that we do not have to prove we deserve, but something that we can simply enjoy. Within this collection, Natalie is no stranger to depression and pain, but is not interested in painting a grim, hopeless vision of the world around her. Natalie sees both hope and despair that exists within the world, and because of that, I was left feeling as though I was seeing real, unbridled truth on the pages before me.

Just as Natalie is a master of finding hope within despair, she also works within her poetry to find beauty within the unconventional. This is a theme that comes in right away in the first poem of the collection, “In Defense of My Roommate’s Dog,” which turns the somewhat embarrassing act of a dog humping a stuffed animal in front of guests into a breathtaking exploration of sexual longing and asks the reader why they find shame in masturbation when it is rooted in a longing for love and the need to survive: “Maybe the trade-off for resurrection is / shame vast enough to kill / us.” Natalie has turned this small, everyday act, which most of us would feel awkward about witnessing, into a radical questioning of our values, and why it is that we are so ashamed of basic human nature.

Natalie also continues this theme of unconventional beauty throughout the entire collection, most notably to me in the piece “Inside Joke,” where she uses texting lingo and internet memes, two things which are typically not considered to be poetic, into an exploration of togetherness and adoration.

“tbh, we are so damn lucky to be loved like this

w/ endless ways 2 bless one another

our voices crowned w/ something new

& tender

& no one else’s”

I wasn’t expecting to find a piece within this collection that hit quite so close to home, but as someone on the edge of Gen Z, this piece connected strongly with me as a kind of validation for the way the younger generations share our love and laughter with one another.

Natalie is also heavily interested in exploring immigrant culture and the experience of living separate from yet still connected to one’s home country. Nearly every poem in the collection connects to this overarching theme, whether that connection be overt or subtle. Natalie’s culture and mother tongue bleeds into every word she writes, in a way that proves that she could not separate herself from this aspect of her life. Throughout the collection, she explores the nature of being an immigrant through poems such as “An Abridged History,” “Frequent Flyer Program,” and “Immigrant Aubade,” all of which look into different aspects of her unique-yet-shared experience. Within these pieces there is clear trauma, as she discusses hate crimes and disconnect, but there is also love threaded in between as she connects with other women both within her family line and out of it, who have lived through her pain and understand it, and are all moving toward a more hopeful future of reconnecting and learning to carry the pain without allowing it to become overwhelming.

Another aspect that connects much of Natalie’s work, so much so that she describes herself first and foremost as a queer author, is an exploration of her queerness. Her love poems are unlike any I’ve read before, in a way that allows for tenderness to sit alongside doubt. Natalie writes of love as the very thing that allows her to become real, and the honesty and delicate nature she brings to that admission connected strongly with me as a reader while also taking my breath away. She writes of love as something to hold onto and call her own when everything else falls away, as a final reason to hang on to hope when the world is far too dark to see anything else. All too often, I see queer love described in ways that are meant to prove we are no different than anyone else, but Natalie writes about it as if that difference is the very core element that makes it beautiful and worthy of celebration. She does not shy away from anything risqué—instead, she brings it to light and asks us to celebrate alongside her: she is in love, she is real, she is worthy.

Overall, Natalie’s collection is a stunning look into the different parts of her life, where they connect, where they collide, and how she weaves them all together. It is a breathtaking balance between hope and despair, and a poetry collection that left me reaching out for more only to turn the page and find the acknowledgements waiting. In an age that is all too eager to push queer, immigrant stories into the background, Beast at Every Threshold is an honest, unashamed look at the life that exists around Natalie and one that demands to be listened to.

You can find Natalie Wee’s Beast of Every Threshold: Poems (2022) at Arsenal Pulp Press: arsenalpulp.com/Books/B/Beast-at-Every-Threshold.

Beck Snyder is a senior at Towson University studying both creative writing and film. They are from the tiny town of Clear Spring, Maryland, and while they enjoy small-town life, they cannot wait to get out of town and see what the world has to offer. They hope to graduate by the summer of 2023 and begin exploring immediately afterward. You can find more from Beck at their Instagram, @real_possiblyawesome.

*****

Yellow Arrow 1/27/23 Yellow Arrow 1/27/23

Her View Friday

single-author publications
single pieces in journals, anthologies, etc. as well as prizes/awards

You can support our authors by reading this blog and their work, sharing their news, and commenting below or on the blog. Congratulations to all the included authors. We are so proud of you!

Every writer has a story to tell and every story is worth telling.

*the last couple months of 2022 have been a blur . . . this blog celebrates these final achievements!

“I'll have an American Breakfast please, hold the (W)” by rASHNA waDIA from sANTA cLARA, cALIFORNIA

Genre: poetry

Name of publisher: Salt Hill Journal

Date published: Fall 2022

Type of publication: print

salthilljournal.net/sh48

“All This Was A Nice Place Once” by Laura Rockhold from Minnesota

Genre: poetry

Name of publisher: Black Fox Literary Magazine

Date published: September 16, 2022

Type of publication: print and online

issuu.com/blackfoxlit/docs/bflm_issue_23_final_draft_issuu_version

This poem is a golden root, a new poetic form created by Laura.

“Other~Land” by rASHNA waDIA from sANTA cLARA, cALIFORNIA

Genre: poetry

Name of publisher: Terrain.org

Date published: November 10, 2022

Type of publication: online

terrain.org/2022/poetry/rashna-wadia/

“Outline For A Relief Map” by Laura Rockhold from Minnesota

Genre: poetry

Name of publisher: The Ekphrastic Review

Date published: November 24, 2022

Type of publication: online

ekphrastic.net/the-ekphrastic-review/outline-for-a-relief-map-by-laura-rockhold

“Baby Boy, Born at 34 Weeks” by Heather Brown Barrett from Virginia

Genre: poetry

Name of publisher: The Ekphrastic Review

Date published: December 16, 2022

Type of publication: online

ekphrastic.net/the-ekphrastic-challenges/ekphrastic-writing-responses-rachel-ruysch

Find her on Instagram @heatherbrownbarrett.

“Daylight Saves” by Kay Smith-Blum from Seattle, Washington

Genre: creative nonfiction

Name of publisher: Adelaide Magazine

Date published: December 20, 2022

Type of publication: print and online

adelaidemagazine.org/2022/12/20/daylight-saves-by-kay-smith-blum

Find Kay on Instagram @discerningKSB, Twitter @KaySmithBlum, and Facebook @kay.smithblum.

“acquired taste” by Valerie Wong

Genre: poetry

Name of publisher: Superpresent Magazine

Date published: December 20, 2022

Type of publication: print and online

superpresentmag.com/current-issue/

Find Valerie on Instagram and Facebook @theglutenfreepoet.

“Anatomy of the Postpartum Mother” by Annie Marhefka from Baltimore, Maryland

Genre: creative nonfiction

Name of publisher: Fatal Flaw Literary Magazine

Date published: December 2022

Type of publication: online

fatalflawlit.com/essay-pieces/anatomy-of-the-postpartum-mother

Find Annie on Instagram @anniemarhefka and Twitter @charmcityannie.

LATEST ADDITION . . . PRIZES/AWARDS!

“The Taking Hands” by Laura Rockhold from Minnesota

Prize/award: First Place, Bring Back The Prairies Award

Genre: poetry

Name of publisher: League of Minnesota Poets 2022 Annual Poetry Contest

Date published: November 2022

mnpoets.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/2022-Contest-Results-for-posting-on-Website.pdf

“Paradise Parade” by Laura Rockhold from Minnesota

Prize/award: Third Place, Southern MN Poets Society Award

Genre: poetry

Name of publisher: League of Minnesota Poets 2022 Annual Poetry Contest

Date published: November 2022

mnpoets.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/2022-Contest-Results-for-posting-on-Website.pdf

“Pee is for Prejudice” by Zorina Exie Frey from Maryland

Prize/award: Pushcart Prize nominee

Genre: poetry

Name of publisher: Glassworks Publication

Date published: December 2022

Type of publication: print and online

rowanglassworks.org/pee-is-for-prejudice.html

Find Zorina on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @zorinaexie.

“What the Salt Meant” by Joanne Durham from North Carolina

Prize/award: Pushcart Prize nominee

Genre: poetry

Name of publisher: Poetry South

Date published: December 2022

Type of publication: print

poetrysouth.submittable.com/submit/210830/purchase-issue-14-dec-2022

Find Joanne on Instagram @poetryjoanne and Twitter @DurhamJoanne.

Yellow Arrow (past and present) board, staff, interns, authors, residents, and instructors alike! Got a publication coming out? Let us help celebrate for you in Her View Friday.

Single-author publications: here.

Single pieces and awards/prizes: here.

Please read the instructions on each form carefully; we look forward to congratulating you!

*****

Kapua Iao 1/24/23 Kapua Iao 1/24/23

Meet a Staff Member: Melissa Nunez

Yellow Arrow Publishing would like to introduce our on-staff interviewer, Melissa Nunez. Melissa lives and creates in the caffeinated spaces between awake and dreaming. She makes her home in the Rio Grande Valley region of South Texas, where she enjoys observing, exploring, and photographing the local flora and fauna with her three home-schooled children. She is a column contributor for The Daily Drunk Mag. She is also a staff writer for Alebrijes Review. Melissa contributed her nonfiction piece “What is Mine” to Yellow Arrow Journal’s Vol. VI, No. 1 issue on RENASCENCE. And most recently, Melissa wrote “Alight,” which was included in EMERGE: Coming Into View. Both publications are available in the Yellow Arrow bookstore. You can find her prerecorded reading of “Alight” on Yellow Arrow’s YouTube channel.

Melissa states, “I am looking forward to meeting and conversing with new/new-to-me writers. I love reading new works from new writers, becoming immersed in new ideas and perspectives, and being able to get that behind the scenes look at their processes. I am excited to continue sharing this with the Yellow Arrow community.”

Tell us a little something about yourself.

I recently started publishing photography and visual art. The experience has been one of growth and positivity. Expanding to new mediums has brought additional beauty and strength to my body of work.

What do you love most about living in Mission, Texas?

I love the continual journey of seeing my city through new eyes and falling in love with my surroundings. I appreciate the opportunities to become one with nature, to experience the richness of color and sound, and to delve deeper into local history.

How did you get involved with Yellow Arrow and what do you do?

Yellow Arrow was one of my first publications. The experience of publishing in the RENASCENCE issue and participating in the accompanying launch party/live reading was so fulfilling and motivating. The offer to continue to collaborate within this community was one I could not resist. They have been so welcoming and encouraging of my work, and I am so glad I started contributing blogs and interviews for the website.

What are you working on currently?

I am working on a collection of hybrid visual poetry.

What genre do you write and why?

I write a mix of nonfiction and poetry, and I recently branched out into visual art and flash fiction as well. Taking on new challenges has been so rewarding and I look forward to continuing to test my skills as an artist.

Who is your favorite writer and why?

I was very inspired by Louise Erdrich while pursuing my MFA, and her writing continues to move me. She tells such compelling stories. I love the way her characters come to life on the page, flawed but forgivable. I also deeply admire the work of Aurora Levins Morales. I love her heart for community and uplifting the voices of those outside positions of privilege. She has inspired my essay writing and education this past year.

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

My family. My husband protects my writing time almost as fiercely as I do. He helps me find balance in my life for exercising my expressive outlets. My children celebrate each publication with me and brag about my successes to family and friends. They motivate me to continue making them and myself proud.

What do you love most about writing?

The creation of something new. The surprise you find within your words or work of art. It is an endless act of discovery, both of yourself and your world.

What advice do you have for new writers?

Remember to be happy with the voice within. Self-validation is so important. It can be hard at times not to get down when the publications or opportunities you want and work hard for don’t pan out, but your voice is the one that matters most. If you like and are proud of what you do, you don’t need that external approval.

You can follow her on Twitter @MelissaKNunez.

*****

Welcome to the team Melissa! Yellow Arrow Publishing is a nonprofit supporting women writers through publication and access to the literary arts. You can support us as we SPARK and sparkle this year: purchase one of our publications from the Yellow Arrow bookstore, join our newsletter, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter or subscribe 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.

Kapua Iao 1/17/23 Kapua Iao 1/17/23

We are Each Other’s Harvest: Advocacy and Community Care

“We are each other’s harvest; we are each other’s business; we are each other’s magnitude and bond.” ~ Gwendolyn Brooks

Yellow Arrow Publishing would like to announce the next guest editor for Yellow Arrow Journal, Matilda Young. Matilda will oversee the creation of our Vol. VIII, No. 1 issue. Mark your calendars! Submissions open February 1 and the issue will be released in May.

This next issue of Yellow Arrow Journal will explore the overarching topic of advocacy and community care. To learn more about this idea, read Matilda’s words below. The theme will be released next week.

Matilda Young (she/they) is a poet with an MFA in poetry from the University of Maryland. She has been published in several journals, including Anatolios Magazine, Angel City Review, and Entropy Magazine’s Blackcackle. She enjoys Edgar Allan Poe jokes, not being in their apartment, and being obnoxious about the benefits of stovetop popcorn. Matilda’s poem “This Yes, This” was part of Yellow Arrow Journal FREEDOM, and Matilda was our .W.o.W. #7. She was also part of the fantastic Yellow Arrow Writers-in-Residence 2022 cohort.

Please follow Yellow Arrow on Facebook and Instagram for the theme announcement. Below, you can read more about Matilda’s perspectives on advocacy and community care. We look forward to working with Matilda over the next few months.

By Matilda Young

When I graduated college, I knew two things: I wanted to make my career as both a writer and a changemaker.

It didn’t turn out that way, until it did.

I spent many years as a government employee, fact checking legal briefs and researching case law, then writing commemorative emails and copyediting 100-page technical reports (the one about shark finning still haunts me).

Only over the last few years did I find my way into advocacy and writing full time. Even then, even when I found my path to my dream job, I’ve had high highs and low lows. Alongside some of the best, and brightest, and kindest, and funniest, and most passionate people I’ve ever known, I’ve navigated joy, victory, inefficiency, callousness, compassion, and unthinkable tragedy.

I am not the same person as when I started.

Being in LGBTQ+ advocacy has helped me find my way to the truth of my own gender queerness. It has also helped me understand the importance of being open and authentic, not just about my gender and sexuality, but also my struggles with depression and anxiety, about needing help some days to just make it to the next day.

I’ve also got to meet extraordinary people who, in so many different ways, are dedicated to healing the world around them: the Black trans community leader who has fought her entire life for justice and safety; the older lesbian who sat with the dying during the worst of the AIDS crisis and brought them comfort; the ally mom who gives out free hugs to LGBTQ+ people who need them; the D.C. drag queen who organized a fundraiser for abortion access; the young trans man who testified before his state legislature to ask them to stop attacking his identity and community.

Working in advocacy has also helped me begin to recognize my own limitations as an advocate and as an ally. I have made a lot of mistakes. I have learned the lesson of humility over and over again. But there is no shame in that lesson. As the great advocate Cecilia Chung said, “There is always more that I can learn.”

I don’t know if I will always have advocacy as my day job. But I do know that it will always be part of my life. Because it has brought me joy, and friendship, and fellowship, and healing, and hope, and laughter, and discovery. And because I have seen firsthand how our struggles—our survival—are interconnected. Or as the great Fannie Lou Hamer said, till all of us are free, none of us are free.

Another thing I have learned, what so many folks have taught me, is that there are so many ways to change the world. Sometimes it is voting, and marching, and donating. Sometimes it is telling our truth plainly and unapologetically; sometimes it is passing the mic. Sometimes it is checking in on a neighbor, or being part of a mutual aid group, or having the tough conversation with a loved one. Sometimes it is listening deeply and being willing to change.

There is no one way to heal the world; the only requirement is that we try.

There is so much darkness in the world, but even the smallest spark can start a fire.

*****

Kapua Iao 1/10/23 Kapua Iao 1/10/23

SPARK: Generating Heat and Light with Yellow Arrow Publishing’s 2023 Yearly Value

By Mickey Revenaugh

It’s a thrilling thing to newly affiliate with an organization you’ve long admired: Every interaction crackling with shared verve, every discovery shimmering with potential.

It’s also profoundly humbling to join such an organization after it survived widespread yet very specific peril. The global pandemic that killed millions also shut down a beloved physical location, threw budgets into disarray, and sent intimate literary interactions online overnight.

That’s my starting place as new board president for Yellow Arrow Publishing: Equal parts thrilled and humbled to have the opportunity to serve. That’s also what makes SPARK the perfect 2023 value for Yellow Arrow and for me.

As 2022 hit its final stretch this winter, the Yellow Arrow staff and board considered a chunky list of possible values for the new year ahead. The new value had to build on 2022’s AWAKEN, which Executive Director Annie Marhefka reflected on so eloquently a year ago. Previous yearly values include REFUGE for 2020 and EMERGE for 2021—watchwords that trace not only Yellow Arrow’s experience of the last few years but the culture as a whole.

For 2023, SPARK captures the quickening of the pulse we feel now after awakening. Anticipation—possibly even anxiety?—leading to action: Let’s get up. Let’s go, now.

And yet, the truth is that a spark is not a blaze, nor a lit lantern, nor an engine roaring in full throttle. A spark is a precondition, necessary but not sufficient. The immortal poet Bruce Springsteen once wrote, “You can’t start a fire without a spark,” but that was in a different song than “I’m On Fire.”

So Yellow Arrow and I approach 2023 with excited humility. We’re aiming to accelerate recent expansion of our publishing program, including our biannual Yellow Arrow Journal, our chapbook series, and 2022’s successfully launched online journal, Yellow Arrow Vignette—all with extra sizzle provided by our monthly author spotlight .Writers.on.Writing. We’re building out our workshop offerings, including our unique Restorative Writing series and the ever-popular Poetry is Life. And we are finding new ways to ignite creative and communal kindling with in-person events across Baltimore and beyond. All this with an eye toward the financial sustainability that feeds our literary fires.

Together we’ll gently but relentlessly coax Yellow Arrow’s spark of 2023 into full flame, heating and lighting our way through this year of extraordinary promise. Won’t you join us?

Mickey Revenaugh is an education innovator, mission-driven leader, and recovering journalist/current writer of creative nonfiction and fiction. In addition to cofounding a Maryland-based international network of virtual schools, she serves in Board leadership for a New York City charter school, a national charitable foundation, and a global private school. Her writing has appeared in VICE, Chautauqua, Cleaver, Catapult, Louisiana Literature, Lunch Ticket, and many others. She holds an MFA from Bennington College, an MBA from New York University, and a BA in American Studies from Yale. She lives and works in Brooklyn, New York, and can be found online at mickeyrevenaugh.com or Instagram @mickeyrevenaugh.

*****

Yellow Arrow Publishing is a nonprofit supporting women writers through publication and access to the literary arts. You can support us as we SPARK and sparkle this year: purchase one of our publications from the Yellow Arrow bookstore, join our newsletter, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter or subscribe 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.

Kapua Iao 12/20/22 Kapua Iao 12/20/22

2022 Year in Review: Wrapping Up a Year of Change

Dear Yellow Arrow Community,

If asked, I think most people would choose summer or spring as their favorite season, but there is something about the beginning of winter that beckons, that sparks a moment of pause, that promotes a bit of stillness. That stillness is not just an opportunity for reflection, but an opening for what is to come. In the same way we prepare our houses for holiday guests—sweeping the floors and cleaning the oven and dusting off the holiday decorations—at Yellow Arrow Publishing, we are winding down what has been an incredibly fulfilling year and readying for 2023 even more focused on supporting and empowering women writers. But before we clear some space on the shelves for all that is to come, let’s take a moment to look back at all we have done in our 2022 Year in Review.

Each year we select a yearly value that embodies the energy we want to bring into our work, and this year, we selected AWAKEN. We focused on paving a new path forward which included sprinkling some in-person events into the all-virtual programming of the past few years, expanding our Board of Directors and staff, and kicking off new ventures, like expanded workshop offerings and the launch of Yellow Arrow Vignette, our new digital publication.

With Yellow Arrow Journal this year, we first explored the theme of UpSpring with guest editor Rebecca Pelky. A poem that really resonated for me was Zorina Exie Frey’s “Vitamin Seed”:

All this time, everyone’s been going the wrong way.

They build ladders and monuments to rise when what

you really have to do is root down. Grab a handful

of earth. Reel deep. Touch the core. The seed. The

heart.

Zorina’s words reminded me that the heart of what we do here at Yellow Arrow is empower women-identifying writers to tell their stories.

Our latest release of Yellow Arrow Journal, PEREGRINE, focuses on illuminating and reclaiming languages, exploring our authors’ personal connections with language, self, and place. Guest editor Raychelle Heath shared, “As a traveler myself, finding home in places of welcome, the word peregrine feels like it also applies to me, and to this broader human experience that we are all traveling through in one way or another.” We are still gushing over the gorgeous cover art by Daryle Newman, who told us, “I cannot tell you how much I have enjoyed being a part of this publication. I have not spoken to my art for some time so doing the interview was incredibly cathartic, thank you.” We hope you find a little bit of home in the words of these stunning writers and that their voices awakened something inspirational within you—whether that be a desire to take pen to paper, a reflection on what home means to you, or the instinct to take flight and tackle a new adventure.

An UpSpring author shared their appreciation recently: “And thank you for the thorough support and communication throughout—everyone at Yellow Arrow Journal is incredibly hardworking and thoughtful.” We published 47 different writers in Yellow Arrow Journal this year and 19 more in our first-ever digital publication, Yellow Arrow Vignette AWAKEN.

In addition to the journal, we published three incredible poetry collections: The most beautiful garden by Nikita Rimal Sharma, when the daffodils die by Darah Schillinger, and What Is Another Word For Intimacy? by Amanda Baker. We were thrilled that our chapbook authors this year were all from the Baltimore area so we could continue to awaken in our first community. It was great to see them flourish and awaken in their own way. We recently announced our 2023 chapbook authors and can’t wait to share their stories with you and work with them on their journeys as authors.

We spent our spring working with the fabulous 2022 Writers-in-Residence, and we were so inspired by their words that we published a collection of their poetry, I (want to) love you, Baltimore. We are grateful to Arao Ameny, Amy L. Bernstein, Catrice Greer, and Matilda Young for sharing their voices with us.

This year, we were (finally) able to start attending some in-person events again. What fun we had! We had a virtual booth at SMOL Fair, participated in The Lost Weekend Book Festival outside of Greedy Reads in Remington, enjoyed reading and sharing with friends at the Write Women Book Festival, and had Yellow Arrow authors and writers-in-residence read poetry on-stage at the Arts & Drafts Festival at Guinness Open Gate Brewery. But here is what stood out to me: can I tell you how many times a writer tentatively approached our table and when asked if they were a writer, they would respond, “Well, I write. I’m not sure if I would call myself a writer.” This, friends, is exactly why Yellow Arrow exists! We are here to spark your writing journey, to surround you with fellow creatives on similar paths of exploration, to lift your voices.

Yellow Arrow also offers accessible, affordable workshops year-round that foster a sense of community and support among writers in all stages of their creative journey. This year, we listed a total of 26 workshops with topics ranging from the development of craft elements like writing dialogue through the exploration of ars poetica and generative nature poetry. One workshop participant shared, “I felt connected to the other workshop participants and appreciated the diversity of thought and writing styles represented,” and another stated, “I appreciated the wide-ranging poets, moments of interaction among participants, and quiet reflective periods to journal and write.” We also kicked off the year by publishing a collection from the writers in our 2021 Poetry is Life series led by Ann Quinn (our 2022 session continues into February, and we encourage you to sign up; information about the 2023 session will be available next month!). We also just announced a new series that begins in January: Restorative Writing with Raychelle Heath. You can sign up for all six sessions now or join one session at a time. This is a great way to kick off the new year by honoring your writing intentions on a monthly basis in our supportive community!

We introduced some cool, new ways to support our independent press in 2022, like our brand new merch store (go grab a mug!) and our addition to the Amazon Smile program (go add us as your favorite charity and we’ll benefit from your holiday shopping!) and the reopening of Yellow Arrow Journal subscriptions (we'll let you know when 2023 subscriptions open).

I have tremendous gratitude for all the hard work that goes into our programs and publications, and the team behind the scenes who make all of this happen are some of the most talented and passionate individuals I have ever worked with. Our readers, volunteers, interns, guest editors, workshop instructors, and board members have unwavering dedication to Yellow Arrow’s mission, and this is so evident in the wonderful publications we produce and programs we offer. This year, we welcomed additional staff and board members, and also are sadly saying farewell to a few. We are incredibly fortunate to have had Gina Strauss step in as our interim board president for 2022. She has led our team this year with grace, compassion, and such a warmth of spirit that we will undoubtedly still feel the uplifting effects of her contributions for a long time to come. Jessica Gregg, who has been serving as our board secretary, will also be stepping away at the end of the year. Jessica has been such an asset to our team and though we are sad she is leaving the soard, we know she will also remain a part of our Yellow Arrow community.

We are thrilled to introduce our new board president to you, as well as two other new members joining our board, neither of which is a stranger to the Yellow Arrow family! We feel so grateful to have these three incredible talents join our team. Stay tuned for interviews with our new board president, Mickey Revenaugh, our new director of author support, Patti Ross, and our new director of fundraising, Nikita Rimal Sharma.

One final note. Around the literary world this year, we have read stories of small presses and literary institutions closing their doors. The literary arts space is one where we cheer each other on, and we have been saddened to see other organizations that reached a point of financial unsustainability. At Yellow Arrow Publishing, we are pushing on with our mission to support and empower women-identifying writers, and as we do, we are asking for your continued support now and into the new year.

Now, more than ever, we believe in the power of words and literature to amplify women’s voices and share our powerful stories with the world. Our goal is to be as inclusive and accessible as possible to all women-identifying writers, and in order to pay our contributing authors and keep submissions low or nonexistent, we must build up our financial resources. We are thrilled that we have been awarded a creativity grant from the Maryland State Arts Council for 2023, and we continue to apply to other grant and funding opportunities.

Furthermore, we have kicked off a fund drive to support the future of Yellow Arrow Publishing. To help us reach our goal, we are aiming for 50 donors of $50 or more and 10 donors of $100 or more. Funds raised go directly to support our programs, and in 2023 we plan to focus on expanding access to the literary arts for women-identifying writers by:

Offering low-cost, accessible workshops for creatives to explore the craft of writing
Expanding outreach and scholarship efforts to encourage more writers from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic groups to attend our workshops
Offering additional resources for emerging writers entering the literary world
What does your donation accomplish? A $50 donation from you is the equivalent of:
- One free 1-hour event that could be available to up to 25 writers
- Two workshop scholarships
- Five poetry or prose pieces published in Yellow Arrow Journal

We are ever so grateful for your continued support of women-identifying writers. Donate today to help us achieve our fundraising goals!

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 65185, Baltimore, Maryland 21209). You can further support us by purchasing one of our publications from the Yellow Arrow bookstore, joining our newsletter, following us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, or subscribing to our YouTube channel. More than anything, messages of support through any one of our channels are greatly appreciated.

Once again, thank you for supporting independent publishing and women writers.

Warmest Wishes,

Annie Marhefka and the Yellow Arrow Publishing team

Annie Marhefka is a writer in Baltimore, Maryland. Her creative nonfiction and poetry have been published by Lunch Ticket, Literary Mama, Pithead Chapel, Anti-Heroin Chic, and others, and her work has been nominated for Best of the Net. Annie is the executive director at Yellow Arrow Publishing, a Baltimore-based nonprofit supporting and empowering women writers, and is working on a memoir about mother/daughter relationships. You can find Annie’s writing on Instagram @anniemarhefka, Twitter @charmcityannie, and at anniemarhefka.com.

Kapua Iao 12/13/22 Kapua Iao 12/13/22

Gathering the Flock to Sing: Reflecting on PEREGRINE

By Raychelle Heath

My first contact with Yellow Arrow Journal was as a submitter. I have had two poems published within the journal, in the issues ANFRACTUOUS and UpSpring. I also have had the opportunity to teach the workshop Exploring Embodiment: The Ars Poetica in 2022; my Restorative Writing workshop series starts in January 2023—I hope to see you there. I really love what Yellow Arrow Publishing stands for. So when I received the email asking if I would be interested in guest editing PEREGRINE, Vol. VII, No. 2 (fall 2022), I was incredibly excited and delighted. In fact, I almost wondered if it was a mistake. But it wasn’t, and I was more than happy to say yes to going on this journey of curation with the Yellow Arrow team.

The journey of creating PEREGRINE started with me trying to figure out what it was that I wanted to say with this issue. And it just so happened that I was at a point in my creative exploration where I was thinking about language. I was thinking about how we use it, what languages we prioritize, and just what words do on a page. And while that may sound kind of basic for a writer (of course writers think about what words we’re going to use) this felt like a deeper question about connections and community. I wanted to explore what happens beneath the words we use, and editing this issue gave me the opportunity to do that and to ask others about their ideas around the languages that they use, don’t use, and why.

While the seed for PEREGRINE was a question around language, other things came to light as the issue came together. Submissions moved beyond exploring language and questioned who gets to speak. It was so beautiful to be able to read the voices of writers who were grappling with the question of how they had been silenced in certain ways and how they had found their voice again. There were also questions of identity that came up around language and how we express ourselves, not just in words but in how we express ourselves to the world through our bodies, our gender expression, and our relationships. I could not have asked for a more profound experience than being able to read through the variety of explorations of the PEREGRINE theme found in our submissions.

I learned a lot from being at the helm of this curation, one of the most important things being how necessary it is to work with a great team. And what I can say is that the Yellow Arrow team was with me every step of the way as this issue was coming together. From the initial selection of pieces to the final curation and outreach, to the marketing, down to picking the stunning cover that went along with this issue, this team has been an absolute joy to work with. I am so proud of PEREGRINE and what it is offering to the world. I believe that this issue truly gives voice to those of us who are trying to find out who we are and what we want to say.

With PEREGRINE, there are beautiful explorations of homelands; for example, these lines from Kathryn Reese’s “Glasshouse Mountains”: “The Maroochy gives herself to the sea. I trace her shimmering, seeking the mangrove-lined bend my grandfather fished . . .” There are explorations of identity like in Blaise Allysen Kearsley’s “Words to Call a Sweater.” The lines, “You believed in make-believe; the pretend transformed you into something you wanted to see, different from what was there,” remind me of my own time of wishing I could be something else. There are spaces where family ties are explored, such as in Rina Malagayo Alluri’s “Kitchen tales,” where she unpacks her relationship with language through her relationship with her mother: “When I ask why she never taught me, / she explains I was stubborn, / only responded in English / it is so painful . . .”

And there are just beautiful moments of wandering, like in Patricia Falkenburg’s poem “Roaming.” where the lines “no place / in midair / to stay / where we should / trust / come or go / on our own / wings only” invite us to fly away for a spell.

If you haven’t already had a chance to dive into this issue and really allow it to give you a nice warm hug, I hope that you will get a copy. From the cover to the last page, this issue really is a stunning exploration of what it means to be on this human journey.

Paperback and PDF versions are available from the Yellow Arrow bookstore. Discounts are also available (here) if you would like to purchase copies for friends and family (minimum purchase of five). You can also search for Yellow Arrow Journal on any e-book device or anywhere you purchase books, including Amazon and most other distribution channels. And don’t forget to join us for the reading of Fly to Me, Speak to Me: A PEREGRINE reading on December 15 at 8:00 pm EST; let us know you’re coming at fb.me/e/2uBha3laI.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to PEREGRINE and to the many wonderful submitters whose pieces we couldn’t fit into this issue. We look forward to seeing you on December 15.

Raychelle Heath holds a BA in languages from Winthrop University and an MFA in poetry from the University of South Carolina. She uses her poetry and her podcast to tell the multifaceted stories of black women in the world. Raychelle also explores her experiences with the culturally rich communities that she has encountered in her travels. Her work has been published by Travel Noire, Fourth Wave, Yellow Arrow Journal, The Brazen Collective, and Community Building Art Works. She currently works as curriculum director, sanctuary coach, and facilitator for the Unicorn Authors Club. She also regularly facilitates for The World We Want workshop.

*****

Yellow Arrow Publishing is a nonprofit supporting women writers through publication and access to the literary arts. We recently revamped and restructured its Yellow Arrow Journal subscription plan to include two levels. Do you think you are an Avid Reader or a Literary Lover? Find out more about the discounts and goodies involved at yellowarrowpublishing.com/store/yellow-arrow-journal-subscription.

You can support us as we AWAKEN in a variety of ways: purchase one of our publications from the Yellow Arrow bookstore, join our newsletter, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter or subscribe to our YouTube channel. Donations are appreciated via PayPal (staff@yellowarrowpublishing.com), Venmo (@yellowarrowpublishing), or US mail (PO Box 102, Glen Arm, MD 21057). More than anything, messages of support through any one of our channels are greatly appreciated.

“Mothers and Brothers” by Gargi Mehra FROM INDIA

"The Blue Tin" by Diann Leo-Omine from Sacramento, CALIFORNIA

“Connecticut Avenue” by ANN QUINN FROM MARYLAND

"Mother's Milk,” "Doctorly Gifts," "Before the Operation," and "Awakenings" by ute carson from austin, texas

“After Reading Geohazard Warning Signs At Mt. Rainier” by Rebecca Brock from Leesburg, Virginia

“My Mother Suggests a Tranqulizer” by Rebecca Brock from Leesburg, Virginia

PRIZES/AWARDS

“Raising Glaciers” by Rebecca Brock from Leesburg, Virginia

Rebecca Pelky from Potsdam, New york

"I Remember How I Believed" Poetry by Rebecca Brock from Leesburg, Virginia

“I'll have an American Breakfast please, hold the (W)” by rASHNA waDIA from sANTA cLARA, cALIFORNIA

“All This Was A Nice Place Once” by Laura Rockhold from Minnesota

“Other~Land” by rASHNA waDIA from sANTA cLARA, cALIFORNIA

“Outline For A Relief Map” by Laura Rockhold from Minnesota

“Baby Boy, Born at 34 Weeks” by Heather Brown Barrett from Virginia

“Daylight Saves” by Kay Smith-Blum from Seattle, Washington

“acquired taste” by Valerie Wong

“Anatomy of the Postpartum Mother” by Annie Marhefka from Baltimore, Maryland

LATEST ADDITION . . . PRIZES/AWARDS!

“The Taking Hands” by Laura Rockhold from Minnesota

“Paradise Parade” by Laura Rockhold from Minnesota

“Pee is for Prejudice” by Zorina Exie Frey from Maryland

“What the Salt Meant” by Joanne Durham from North Carolina

Subscribe to the Yellow Arrow Newsletter!