Yellow Arrow Publishing Blog

Kapua Iao 7/4/23 Kapua Iao 7/4/23

Meet a Staff Member: Meagan Gamble

Yellow Arrow Publishing would like to introduce editorial associate Meagan Gamble. Meg (she/her) is a writer and bookseller living in Boulder, Colorado, for some reason, despite the fact that she is terrified of heights. She graduated from City University of London with an MA in creative writing and publishing in 2016 and now works in academic publishing. She is an editor, writing tutor, and her dad says she’s “Amazing, Beautiful, and Smart.” She hopes to keep working in books in some capacity for the rest of her career, either behind the scenes or as a novelist herself. You can find her on Instagram at @mgnface or on Twitter at @megelissag.

Meg says, “I’m excited to be involved with a creative community that values women’s voices and to help produce some interesting work!”

Tell us a little something about yourself:

Well, usually the first thing I tell people is that I love to read, but I feel like that’s pretty obvious here (naturally)! I’m the eldest of four, so my siblings’ habits have migrated over the years into mine: I love art (art history especially), music, going to watch movies alone in an empty theater, painting, long circular walks (preferably with a dog), Sunday Morning on CBS, redoing my hair a million times before ultimately settling on the same hairstyle I wear every day, etc. I’ve been lucky enough to live in a lot of different places, both here and abroad, and so one thing I do value about myself is my ability to adapt quickly and find meaning in anxious or scary experiences. Good for writing! I also love tattoos. (Don’t tell my grandma.)

What do you love most about where you live?

I live in Boulder, Colorado, at the moment, which is a very strange, vibrant, eclectic little mountain town. Yesterday I saw someone giving a tarot reading at the bus stop outside my office if that gives you idea. (I know her, actually—she charges a fair price!) It’s a college town and a tech hub for the Western slope, so there’s a real eclectic mix of people from all walks of life, most of which are pretty weird. I like it a lot, honestly—there’s a real character to this town that I hope they’re able to preserve and defend against the incoming onslaught of gentrification because it would be a real loss to Colorado to turn this funky little place into your typical slick, expensive suburb. (#KeepBoulderWeird is the slogan if you’re so inclined.)

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

I was looking for opportunities to keep me connected with creative writing (as opposed to academic writing, which is what I deal with in my current job), and I was attracted to Yellow Arrow’s mission of amplifying women/women-identifying creatives! I will admit to the somewhat uncool trait of being really into weird grammar questions, so I was also looking for something where I could practice and develop my formal copyediting skills. So that’s what I’ll be doing, for the most part—proofreading and copyediting as well as voting on submissions to certain publications! Exciting stuff. :)

What are you working on currently?

Right now, I am primarily working on some creative nonfiction attempts. It’s been a difficult year with a lot of changes for me! Writing is a good way to work through stuff, so it’s been very helpful. I would like to get back to fiction soon, but I’m in no rush. It will come when I’m ready for it, I think.

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

I do read prose primarily because that’s what I write, it’s what I’ve always loved, and it’s where I’m most comfortable. Most people would call my tastes “literary” (some would call them “pretentious,” others, “eclectic,” perhaps depending on which part of my bookshelf they’re looking at) so I suppose that’s what I would say in terms of genre. I do love reading poetry, but I think the disconnect is that I really cannot write it (my brain simply does not work that way) and so naturally I gravitate towards novels for the most part. There are just too many good ones, and I only have so many hours in my life to read them. It’s tragic.

What books are on the top of your to-be-read pile?

I’m having a moment with nonfiction, which may or may not be because of the 75% off sale at Princeton University Press back in February, but that’s between me and my bank account, thanks. I’m reading Shakespeare’s Festive Comedy by C. L. Barber, a somewhat famous piece of literary criticism about the influence of Elizabethan seasonal holidays on Shakespeare’s comedies. (I love a good social/cultural history of Shakespeare, man, I really do.) But that’s a book from 1959 so I suppose it doesn’t really count—as far as new releases go, I cannot describe to you my excitement about Lorrie Moore’s newest, I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home, coming out at the end of June. And I’m also about to start my first Tessa Hadley novel, and I’m rather excited about it.

Who is your favorite writer and why?

Ruth Ozeki, all the way. I’m primarily a prose writer, and I grew up reading stuff I could actually get my hands on in my very small Iowan town (this was presmart phones, you see) so it was a pretty weird mix of “women’s fiction” (Alice Hoffman! Maeve Binchy!) and “stuff my grandpa gave us when he was cleaning out his house” (Tom Robbins! Kurt Vonnegut!). It was somewhat of a revelation to grow up and discover an entire wealth of fiction that was sort of a combination of both—grounded in a female perspective, engaging and readable, but stylistically experimental as well. Ozeki is such a pleasure to read, with a light touch to her prose that is so warm and inviting—but she deals with heavy subjects and takes big narrative swings, which I respect. I will forever remember sitting in a cafe reading A Tale for the Time Being in one sitting, while the very nice manager kept coming over to check on me and ask gently if I wanted a more comfortable chair to sit in. It was 2016, I was 26, and I’m pretty sure I was crying. (She was very nice about it.) Books like that only come along every once in awhile, and I treasure them for a long time when they do.

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

Forever my family, specifically my brother Taylor. He passed away recently, very suddenly, and we were very close, so everything I do is in his honor, really. He was absolutely my biggest hype man. He loved everything I read, and he didn’t even have to read it to love it. He’d just see me writing something and say some goofy thing like “oh, that’s GREAT! I can TELL!” (He usually could not see my screen. Sometimes what I was writing was an email.) I think everyone deserves a person like that, but specifically writers, who can sometimes get so buried in their own rooms that it’s difficult to step outside onto the balcony and look back in and say, “well yeah, I am cookin’ something in there.” He was wonderful and I miss him very much. Everything I’ve accomplished in life, and everything I will accomplish, will be because he made me believe it was possible.

What do you love most about writing?

What a gigantic question! I’ve been doing it for so long I suppose I haven’t thought about it indepth at any point because it’s always just been the way that I process myself and the world around me. It’s a natural instinct I have, and a compulsion also. I enjoy the way I can sink into it to the point where it becomes almost meditative. My brain goes smooth, and I stop thinking about my problems and I just coast on it—and that’s true for both writing and reading for me. I enjoy the way it connects people and infuriates people. And I love the feeling when you finish something and you’re mostly happy with it, and then you put it in the drawer and think, okay, what next? It’s beautiful, frustrating work. I could do nothing else with my life.

What advice do you have for new writers?

Read! Read widely. This is a cliché, but it’s true. Reading is a skill which is different from writing, but you still need both! From a practical angle, also, you need to know what’s being published! I cannot tell you how many writers I met as a bookseller who had never seriously considered their market: what it looks like, what people want to read, how they discover books, what similar titles already exist. It’s extremely valuable, both from a creative perspective and a very pragmatic perspective, especially if you’d like to publish your work eventually (traditionally or not).

Read bad things, too. Read things that challenge you. Read genres you know you won’t like, won’t write, or both. And try to read critically—when you finish something you didn’t like, ask yourself why. “Oh, I absolutely loved this, I couldn’t put it down” —great! Why? Be specific! Assign yourself book reports. But like, in a fun way. I swear it helps.

What’s your vision for Yellow Arrow in 2023?

I think it’s hard nowadays to keep your focus on your creative life, with the world being what it is, and real life getting increasingly harder. There’s a quote from Carl Sagan’s Cosmos that I love: “Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people, citizens of distant epochs, who never knew one another. Books break the shackles of time, proof that humans can work magic.” Art is what connects us and sustains us in a world that often can seem cold and hostile. Keeping that flame burning is an act of courage, and a necessary one, and whatever small part Yellow Arrow plays in that, I’m happy to be involved.

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Welcome to the team Meg! 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.

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

What Ignites Your Spark? The Yellow Arrow Vignette SPARK Online Series Begins

By Siobhan McKenna

Welcome to the second annual release of Yellow Arrow Vignette, Yellow Arrow Publishing’s online creative nonfiction and poetry series. For this issue, we aligned with our 2023 yearly value and chose the theme of SPARK. We will publish the SPARK pieces on Mondays and Wednesdays from today through September 11, ending with a reading from our 2023 Vignette authors on September 13 at 8:00 p.m. EST.

yellowarrowpublishing.com/vignette/spark-2023

As writers it can be difficult to articulate the reasons for creating a word map to navigate the beauty, guilt, loss, and nuance in this world. There are writers who need to write even though it is a challenging, arduous process and there are writers who easily sit down in front of the page daily to unpack their thoughts. I fall somewhere in between . . . although more often on the scale of procrastination until the words burst through my sweaty and overly caffeinated fingertips in a large swell and then I edit and edit. And edit again.

Whichever writer you are, you are a writer.

This mantra was instilled in me by one of my favorite writers, Laurel Braitman. Over the last few years, I’ve participated in several of her writing workshops which she would often begin by reminding everyone that it didn’t matter if we had written last year or that morning. If we had shown up to write, we were writers.

This sentiment resonates with me as someone who doesn’t feel called to write every day and yet, when I do find myself needing to untangle my thoughts through words—everything else falls away. Laurel’s reminder also helps soften the nagging voice that says: you are not writing, submitting, editing enough.

These thoughts are exhausting and don’t help me write more. Don’t we already live with enough self-judgment? Let’s not add this judgment to our writing and instead simply bask in the pleasure of ideas that we weaved together and applaud those who spun an image depicting that feeling we could not communicate.

These past few months, I’ve been harnessing my SPARK for writing by taking in the words of other writers—mainly women (although David Sedaris did slip in quite often). I sped through memoir after memoir: Laurel Braitman, Ashley C. Ford, Brandi Carlile, and Stephanie Foo; and realized I was in a state of seeking. Seeking inspiration on how to write well, but mostly seeking to remember that these contemporary women had celebrated great joys and tremendous losses and survived; were still surviving.

Outside the page, I also found inspiration on my commute through New York City’s boroughs; from stumbling upon tulip laden pocket parks to watching in amazement as a little girl slumbered soundly against her father’s shoulder on the subway. The car lurched and screeched, still her eyes never fluttered. Even now, there’s a poem unfurling in my synapses about her. About that beautiful sleep, that trust.

During this time, I didn’t do as much writing as I wanted. Perhaps, that’s always the case? And yet, I don’t feel as guilty as I usually do when this happens. Instead, I feel like this phase of soaking in and seeking inspiration was exactly what I needed to write.

Since leaving New York City for my next travel nurse assignment, lines and ideas have been emerging in the quieter moments of my day. As I was walking home along the Puget Sound in my current city of Seattle, the sky pink and the leaves breathing, the hazy outline of a poem formed in my head. And yesterday, a glorious string of words sat next to each other in an email; I scribbled them on a sticky note as a title for an essay.

In this summer’s Vignette, the theme SPARK takes on a variety of forms from the literal to the meta. C.D. Jones’s poem “this time machine” recalls the tangible heat and heartache of young love while Veronica Wasson’s essay “On Clothing (Five Pieces)” ponders how clothes were the catalyst needed for her to explore her authentic self.

Some of the Vignette writers use the theme of SPARK to explore the influences in their lives that have ignited their creative pursuits. Angela Acosta praises poets Concha Urquiza and Ernestina de Champourcín among others as a guiding life force in her poem “A Centennial for Herstory,” and in “To be Frank (or Why I Write),” Laurel Maxwell invokes the sentiments of Maya Angelou and Virginia Woolf as she deliberates on why writing is her creative medium.

You’ll also discover meditations on the necessity (and struggle) to write from authors such as Marisa Victoria Gedgaudas in her poem “Colygraphia”:

I must try to find the words. I must keep this promise to myself. I must pay the debt even if there is no one coming to collect it.

And writers who discuss the “unseen cloud” and “electric current” that guides our writing such as in “Zeitgeist,” a poem by Elyse Welles that kickstarts our series:

It taps us on our shoulder

Zaps us in our dreams and waking thoughts

It asks us,

“does this fit?”

Fit what? It’s baseless needs and wants.”

Thank you to all the writers who followed that glimmer of inspiration and kept their promises to write. I am amazed by the breadth of our collection and hope that a SPARK ignites in you as you read each published piece.

Thank you, Kapua Iao, Editor-In-Chief, and Annie Marhefka, Executive Director, for supporting me throughout this series. Thank you also to the Yellow Arrow Publishing board for their continued support on this endeavor. Thank you also to our wonderful editorial associates, readers, and interns: Sydney Alexander, Cecilia Caldwell, Angela Firman, Meg Gamble, Melissa Nunez, Mickey Revenaugh, Beck Snyder, and Andrea Stennett. These folks diligently read through submissions, worked on edits, and contributed amazing feedback for every single submission we received! Finally, thank you to every writer who submitted to the series and gave us the opportunity to read a slice of your story. We are delighted. We are grateful.

Since January 2020, Siobhan McKenna has worked for Yellow Arrow as an editorial associate and interviewer, among many other roles. She is now the Vignette Managing Editor. Siobhan earned her bachelor’s degree in creative writing and biology from Loyola University Maryland and a master’s degree in nursing from Johns Hopkins University. In addition to her work at Yellow Arrow, Siobhan is a travel nurse and is currently located in Seattle, Washington. Her writing can be found in Canthius, Intima, throughout the Yellow Arrow blog, and with Next Level Nursing.

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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 6/30/23 Yellow Arrow 6/30/23

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

“rebirth” BY tess kay from minneapolis, minnesota

Genre: poetry

Name of publication: Flora Fiction

Date published: Spring 2023

Type of publication: print and online

florafiction.com/literary-magazine

Find Tess on Facebook @tess.dajc.

“I am, you are” BY Rebecca Brock from leesburg, virginia

Genre: poetry

Name of publication: Split Rock Review

Date published: Spring 2023

Type of publication: online

splitrockreview.org/rebecca-brock

“Poetry Translation Folios with Work by Chinese Poet Zhang Zhihao” BY Yuemin He from chengdu, china

Genre: poetry translation

Name of publication: Copper Nickel

Date published: March 2023

Type of publication: print and online

copper-nickel.org/journal

“How Can a Culturally Responsive Discussion of the Five-Paragraph Essay Help Asian American Students Write Well?” BY Yuemin He from Chengdu, China

Genre: nonfiction

Name of publication: Inquiry

Date published: April 18, 2023

Type of publication: print and online

commons.vccs.edu/inquiry/vol26/iss1/6

PRIZES/AWARDS

“Scientists Determine Time Perception Varies in Animals” by rebecca brock from leesburg, virginia

Genre: poetry

Name of publication: 2023 Sweet Lit Poetry Contest finalist

Date published: June 2023

Type of publication: online

sweetlit.org/rebecca-brock-2023-poetry-contest

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!

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Kapua Iao 6/27/23 Kapua Iao 6/27/23

Crying in Great Wall: The Simplification of the Asian-American Experience in Asian-American Media

By Sydney Alexander, written May 2023

Recently, I sat down for lunch with one of my good friends at college, and she mentioned that her mom had said to her that Everything Everywhere All at Once and Turning Red were essentially the same movie in different fonts. Both movies are about Asian Americans wrestling with their two identities, which are invariably at odds with another—being too Asian for America and too American for Asia—as well as the typical tiger-mom/rebellious-daughter conflicts, which are explored through some fantastical element, whether it be through red panda magic or Marvel-movie type action scenes. As I thought about it, I realized my friend’s mom was right.

I realized that there seems to be a reservoir of Asian caricatures that frequently emerge in popular movies. The fierce and overbearing tiger mom is mitigated by a goofy, quiet father-figure. A rebellious daughter is balanced out by the softer momma’s boy, as depicted in the short film Bao by Domee Shi. Take any combination of those caricatures; that book or movie probably exists.

I want to differentiate Asian American literature from Asian Americans writing Mainland literature. When Asian Americans write genre fiction about Asians, it frequently takes place in Mainland Asia. Asian American Literature itself—stories about Asian Americans in America, I feel, are what fall prey to caricatures and tropes.

I also realized that this pattern isn’t just limited to the movie screen; it is also pervasive in popular books. In the short story “Crying in H-Mart,” Michelle Zauer and her mother have a less strenuous relationship than the mother-daughter pairs in movies, but still the story centers around Zauner’s feelings of inadequacy and disconnectedness: she is not Asian enough, and losing her mother exacerbated those feelings. This is not to say I fully dislike these Asian-American narratives. Of course, “Crying in H-Mart” resonated with me; I’m half Chinese, but I don’t speak Mandarin. I grew up eating Chinese food but could never order it for myself. I just think that these being the only narratives about Asian Americans that seem to “make it” in mainstream media is detrimental. Yes, the dual identity is something Asian Americans face, including myself. But at the same time, I believe that the Asian American experience is much broader and richer than it is made out to be in mainstream media. I wonder, are Asian American writers and creators pigeon-holed by these depictions? If these narratives are the ones that sell, why write anything else?

One of the issues with 5th Chinese Daughter by Jade Snow Wong was how it portrayed Chinese immigrants as the “model minority,” and I see today’s caricatures as just another box into which Asian American writers may package themselves for consumption by today’s society. In the 20th century, Asian Americans leveraged their being a “model-minority” to whites in pop culture; today, Asian Americans find purchase in mainstream media by writing about the same, tried and true narrative, pulling from the same toolbox of tropes and caricatures. More broadly, there is a market now in pop culture for media about marginalized identities, but I feel like it is reductive for the same Asian American story to be told, over and over, as my friend’s mother put it, “in different fonts.”

I wanted to create a reading list and added authors writing both Mainland and Asian-American literature. It was quite difficult for me to put this together.

Crossings (1968) by Chuang Hua
The Poppy War (2019) by R.F. Kuang
How Much of these Hills is Gold (2021) by C. Pam Zhang
Minor Feelings (2021) by Cathy Park Hong
Beasts of a Little Land (2022) by Juhea Kim (juheakim.com)
Various poems, fiction, and nonfiction by Grace Shuyi Liew, see graceshuyiliew.com

C Pam Zhang succeeds the most; her novel follows two Chinese siblings grappling to survive in America’s 19th century wild west. I included a couple of writers who have a lot of material published online, which I believe speaks to the Asian-American experience without subscribing to the traditional narrative discussed above. This includes Grace Shuyi Liew and Juhea Kim. The Poppy War is fantasy that pulls from Chinese history; I would classify it as mainland lit, but I still believe it’s worth a read. RF Kuang also released a new book recently that is thematically more related to this blog, titled Yellowface (see a March 2023 Yellow Arrow blog from Natasha Saar here). Cathy Park Hong’s book is a collection of essays in which she dissects the treatment and experience of Asian-Americans further.

Sydney Alexander is a sophomore at Middlebury College in Vermont studying English and geography. She grew up in Ellicott City, Maryland, but enjoys the fact that she has lived all over the country, including North Carolina, California, and Wisconsin. Her work has been published online in Hunger Mountain Review.

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Kapua Iao 6/20/23 Kapua Iao 6/20/23

Community Building–Community Love: Reflections on KINDLING by Matilda Young

By Matilda Young

For Yellow Arrow Journal Vol. VIII, No. 1, KINDLING, we asked our authors to share what the idea of “kindling” means to them, and how it’s reflected in their work. We posted some on our Facebook/Instagram stories in May, but here are a few of the amazing responses we received:

Kathleen McTigue: One of the core values of our immigration justice network here in Boston (BIJAN) is this: “We fight for one another as family, because we are.” Though my activism for justice has always been driven by strong convictions, what has sustained and inspired me all these years is the love I’ve received from others. We are family and how we treat each other matters more than we sometimes know.

Al Kelly: I was drawn to the idea of the beginning of something. The idea that, before the fire, there is a spark, a thought. It takes those initial steps of gathering the wood and putting it all in one place which allows the person that comes behind to start the fire.

Thomasin LaMay: What drew me to this is that I spend lots of time with people, especially women/teens in southwest Baltimore, who are such beautiful folks with a huge capacity to care and love. They are overlooked in so many ways, and one of [the ways] is that they are too messed up to care and be involved in community. Honestly I have met some of the most loving and good people in hard places. Kindling for me is a way to startle some (more empowered) folks into taking another look: at how they think, who they find lovable, who is worth helping. And really, as a poet, to just celebrate what love is in all its messy and beautiful ways.

Sarah Piper: “CALLING” came to me in a moment of self-determination, of realizing no one’s answers outside of myself could resolve the questions I had. And even if I didn’t have those answers yet, I could incubate the uncertainty into something beautiful and powerful. And when I saw the issue theme of KINDLING, it evoked that same awakening, a return to the self as a beginning, a new start to build communities of our own ideals from the raw materials we already have available within us. And to set loose a freeing fire in the world.

I love all these answers, and how each of us are drawn to our content and to this theme by connected yet disparate things. We each have our own take, and we each found our way to one another.

Kindling to me is recognizing that we are all capable of creating and sharing light. The light you give touches lives in ways you may never know. I know that my life has been touched by the work shared in KINDLING, by our authors and artists, and by everyone who shared their work with us. It has been touched by the incredible Yellow Arrow staff and volunteers working tirelessly behind the scenes to make this journal a success. And it has been touched by everyone who showed up in support of the creators and the work, whether by attending the reading, or buying a copy, or telling the people in their life they should give KINDLING a read (and you should!).

I hope that the writing and cover art provide shifts in perspective, discoveries and challenges, stories to hold on to, encouragement to go out and keep doing the good work—whatever that means to you.

This is my first time guest editing a journal and from what I’ve seen from all the individuals who made this issue possible, it is truly an act of community building. It is a collective labor of love by people who share a common passion for writing and giving that writing a home. I could not be more grateful to be part of this community, and I hope we can all find connections here for years to come.

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 with this blog, the reading—Scorching, Speaking: A KINDLING reading—is available on the Yellow Arrow YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/GEygfG8v2XI. Make sure to subscribe to our channel and show everyone who read some love in the comments.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to KINDLING, and to the many wonderful submitters whose pieces we couldn’t fit into this issue.

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.

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Kapua Iao 6/13/23 Kapua Iao 6/13/23

Hope Beyond Galaxies: A Conversation with shantell hinton hill about Black girl magic & other elixirs

i learned how to vanish
into thin air
when i was little.
a witch taught me—
made me do it
because she couldn’t stand
the sight of me.

“Black girl magic”

As a woman with vision, shantell hinton hill is a voice that conjures renovation and hope. She is a pastor, social justice advocate, and writer who makes her home in Arkansas. To speak with shantell is to encounter a professional yet powerful passion for positive change. She actively engages and encourages her community (and audiences beyond) through her social media platforms.

Black girl magic & other elixirs, shantell’s debut poetry chapbook, is and now available for preorder (click here for wholesale prices). The poetry chapbook delivers a dynamic message that uplifts and empowers Black girls, Black women, and all those in this world impeded by systems that still default to oppression. Within, shantell speaks to the strength garnered from her experiences and the faith she has in herself, her community, and those devoted to seeking a better way for this world.

Melissa Nunez, Yellow Arrow author and interviewer, met with shantell over Zoom to discuss the development of her poetic voice and the power of music and spirituality that spark the magic found in her collection.

Who are some women writers who have influenced you?

First and foremost, I need to name the writers who inspire me who have passed on. Toni Morrison and Octavia Butler are my absolute all-time favorites. They both have been so formative to who I am as a person and my literary tastes. I would add bell hooks, Alice Walker, and Zora Neale Hurston who have inspired and shaped me as well. Lucille Clifton is a powerful poet I admire who informs some of my own work as a poet. I also appreciate and enjoy the world-building found in N.K. Jemisin’s writing. I tend to lean toward Black women authors, Black feminist authors. They have spoken to my soul for a very long time, and I am excited to lean into the lineage of who they are as writers and as people.

Many of your poems touch on the invisibility of the power-less, be that a child, a female, a person of color. How did you step out and develop your own voice? What inspired you to start writing?

Once I started to understand that the White gaze was really just a figment of the imagination of people who do not want to see Black girls, Black women, Black people be in power, I started to release myself from really feeling like I was powerless. I realized that my truth and my experiences were powerful, and it was necessary to speak them out loud and have that agency. I could not allow anyone to try to speak for me. That is something that propelled me to put pen to paper and start this collection. I wanted other people, particularly other Black girls and women, to understand the power that happens when we just speak our truth and do so boldly.

Some people believe that religion and women’s rights are like oil and water, they do not mix. Can you speak to the intersection of faith and feminism in your work?

I love that you asked this question. For me faith and feminism are absolutely connected. I proclaim a Christian faith and have since I was about the age of five. When I think about Jesus and his ministry, women were the hallmarks of that ministry. Not just in the miracles he performed but at his resurrection. Who were the first people to proclaim that he had risen? It was women. There are so many ways that you can read biblical text that make you think that women should remain silent in the church, that they have no business being in a place of authority, and that women’s rights would not be important. However, if you allow yourself to approach the biblical text with a feminist lens, one that really asks how a Black woman would experience this in our present-day context, you can see that there are many ways that Jesus was always looking out for women. Whether it was the woman who was “caught in adultery,” or the woman with the issue of blood, or the woman who was trying to seek healing for her daughter, he absolutely surrounded himself with women and wanted to include their gifts in his ministry. I really feel like there is room for faith and feminism to coexist and that religion and women’s rights don’t have to be oil and water. You just have to have a willingness to be in community with people who are different than you.

God be
keeping us
like auntie ‘nem.
and God
stay freeing us
like that sistafriend.

so, as for me—
i’ma call God
what God is.

“God, our mother-auntie-sistafriend”

The power of song is prominent in your work, some of which creates its own kind of music on the page. Can you expand on why song has been important for you personally and in your writing journey?

I think songs and music are so powerful because they can be portals to different times and dimensions. I can remember the first time I heard Whitney Houston’s albums riding in my mother’s car, in her 1992 Honda Accord, and I can just envision the details so vividly—the sounds, the smells, everything about that time in my life—simply from hearing that Whitney song, “I’m Every Woman.” Songs have a unique ability to connect us to not just different times and space but to different people. Even people who don’t speak English as their native language can enjoy Whitney or Chaka Khan or Aretha Franklin because there is something about the way the music speaks to the soul. In the same way that the music I grew up listening to spoke to my soul and edified my soul, I was trying to capture that in some of my poetry and in my stories. Whether you grew up as a Black girl or not, there is something in this story, in what the poem is telling you that connects with your soul. Hopefully you can listen to the music, and it can enhance that message even more.

There are many strong themes covered in small packages in your collection including several pieces where opposing ideas meet or converse, one example being the intersection of oppression within one’s own community and the support found there. Can you speak to the importance of acknowledging this dichotomy and how it has played out in your experience?

We must speak to those dichotomies because I feel that a lot of times, we stay silent about the ugly parts that we are experiencing. We feel that somehow, we are betraying our people, our community, our family, ourselves when we speak to those realities. But I do feel like the beauty of intergenerational dialogue, which is something that I hope you can really get a sense for in [Black girl magic & other elixirs], is that there is nothing wrong with critiquing and constructively building upon ways to get better. I think that we in the younger generation don’t want to stay silent about the things that we were told were shameful or that we should never speak about publicly. We want to see those things changed and I believe that there is power, there is so much power, in pulling down the strongholds of silence and speaking to what has happened to us. This allows for room for healing. That is a big reason why the oppression continues to persist and exist, because we haven’t talked about it, and we have not healed from it. How can you heal from something until you start to name the harm? I believe that speaking about both the oppression we feel in our communities and the amazing opportunities for support really just gives us a way to experience the fullness of our humanity, to experience healing, and also look toward to what a better and brighter future can look like.

“starshine and clay” is a powerful poem. Why did this phrase speak to you, and can you expand on how “Won’t you celebrate with me” by Lucille Clifton inspired your own poem?

“Won’t you celebrate with me” is a poem I read almost daily. I feel like as a woman of color, as a Black woman who lives in the South, every day something is really trying to make me second guess myself. Something that wants to make me feel like I am not enough, or that I am too much, or too angry, or too something, while simultaneously making me feel like I am not enough something. It is very hard to live in this reality sometimes. This poem reminds me that there is nothing in this world that can stop me from having what belongs to me. There is nothing in this world that can keep me from what the creator has destined for me. Just reading her poem where it says “what did I see to be except myself” and she talks about “this bridge between starshine and clay.” That part, that bridge, inspired [my] poem, with that image I take a step further into my own personal experience. I have a daughter now who is 18 months. While I am fearful about some of the things that are happening right now in our world, like with reproductive rights and all sorts of things that are not going well, I still have so much hope that she is going to be among the leaders and the warriors and the voices of the next generation who will say, “No more.” The generation who will not allow for these kinds of things to keep happening. I may not get to see some of the freedoms that she will see in her lifetime for myself and so I really wanted to write that poem just as a head nod, as a thank you to Lucille, and also kind of like a future-casting for what I hope will be true for my daughter one day.

starshine is not afraid of darkness
and clay is not afraid of contortion
that’s why we know them well.

“starshine and clay”

I also wanted to talk about “get out the galaxy, Black girl.” I love its placement before “starshine and clay,” and I would love to hear more about its inspiration and its form.

I am a huge Afrofuturism and science fiction nerd. I love N.K. Jemisin, I love Black Panther, Wakanda, I love The Woman King (although it is not Afrofuturist but more like an alternate view of history). There is something about imagining new worlds and getting beyond what sometimes we get stuck in here on earth. I wrote this poem as a play on words, like a joke, but also an encouragement for us to think futuristically. It is a call to realize that what we experience here in the United States doesn’t have to be this way, honestly. It really doesn’t. If thinking about what an otherworldly experience would look like for you helps you imagine what changes need to be made here in this present time, then that is what I hope this poem can do for you.

What is Black girl magic? Can you define the concept for your reader and how it shaped the collection?

Black girl magic is so much more than words on a paper, and I don’t even know if I can do it justice by trying to articulate it with a definition. I will try to describe it in ways that readers in my audience may understand it better. Black girl magic is the way that you see young Black girls Double Dutching between two jump ropes as if they are just having a conversation. They make it look easy. Black girl magic is the ways that you see a young Black woman or teenager have a bit of sass; there’s an essence to her that you can’t describe that you know is absolutely a part of her Blackness. Black girl magic is the way we can look at somebody and that other person, particularly if it is another Black person or Black woman, knows exactly what we are saying. It is a way of being and a way of existing that invites others to be fully who they are. It also gives us space and agency to just be fabulous in every single way possible. I think Black girl magic defies stereotypes and defies subjugation and logic. A lot of times people like to make it seem like it is something that can be bottled up, but it cannot be coopted. It is cultivated within us and within this communal experience we are all having as Black people, particularly in America right now. I can see it already in my daughter and she is only 18 months. She has a little attitude, and I am like, “Yes, girl.” Even though I want her to do what I want her to do, she has her own ideas about how things should be already. It’s like, “Ok, alright, I’ll give you that.” It’s just this pureness of spirit that cannot be squashed. In its best form it gives people permission to be their best selves.

Has writing (this collection and in general) shaped your outlook as a parent, a mother, and vice versa?

Yes. It has been a mirror for me because that idea of being seen and not heard has been so ingrained in me that there are times where I have to catch myself from being so heavy-handed with my daughter. First of all, she is too young to fully understand. Secondly, I am super clear along with my husband that we do not want to break her spirit in the ways that, unfortunately, older generations did with us. Whether it was making us be silent, or giving whoopings all the time when we don’t know why we are getting whoopings, or just all the superstitions and the ways of being that we were brought up in, we are really careful to not do that with her. I do think that writing this collection allowed me to be way more conscious about how we are building her agency and how we are asking ourselves hard question about our willingness to say “I am sorry” for things. Or how early we want to share with her the truth about gender and racial oppression. What are the things we want her to know and what are the things that we want to keep her safe and protected from as long as we possibly can? The collection has absolutely been a mirror for me as a new mom and hopefully it is something we can have a conversation about when she is old enough to understand the contents.

What advice do you have for other women writers?

I recently watched a movie on Netflix called The Luckiest Girl Alive. It was such a good movie. Mila Kunis’ character is a writer and at the end of the film she is having a conversation with her editor. He tells her the least she can do in her writing is to be honest. Don’t think about how they want to read it. Don’t think about what they want to say. What you have to do is be completely honest with every single part of it and give the people that. It resonated with me so much and it actually is how I approached the collection. It was just bare, it was raw, it was vulnerable and uncomfortable in some of the poems, but it was honest. I give that advice to other women writers: just be honest. We have had enough people writing for us, creating characters that do not explore our fullness and the range of our identities, and we have had enough of men telling us who and how we should be. I want to encourage women to write and write honestly.

because we
know the sky
ain’t all there is
to see here.

so we’ll just
keep on walking
with our own secret
headed to another galaxy.

full
of worlds
where we are
already free.

“get out the galaxy, Black girl”

Tell us about your vision for the cover?

It was really important to me that the cover be representative of the nostalgia and nuances of Black girlhood in the ‘90s. The roller skates, cassette tape, and perfume all communicate a certain essence of “being” that one can feel, smell, and hear. Likewise, the pictures of my younger self and my present-day self represent much of my journey of becoming and self-possession—signifying the power in reclaiming the little girls that live inside of us while empowering the women we have fought tooth and nail to belong to ourselves.

How did you connect with Yellow Arrow and what did the process of submitting your work feel like to you?

My publishing journey has been long and filled with rejections. I’ve written so many manuscripts across varying genres and have not found a home nor an agent. I thought I’d take a break from the grind and try something new, so I began writing a few poems. When I realized how much I loved it and that there was a noticeable theme tracing girlhood to womanhood, I decided to research opportunities to publish the collection that would honor my voice and the fullness of the collection. I came across Yellow Arrow and was encouraged by the mission and vision of the organization. And I have not been disappointed by the publishing process with them at all . . . working with Yellow Arrow (after being selected) has been one of the most pleasant and supportive experiences I’ve ever had as it related to my writing. They truly do prioritize women’s voices and provide a care-filled approach to walking alongside writers. I am forever grateful for this experience.

We currently have open submissions for chapbooks we would like to publish in 2024. Do you have any advice for the women-identifying authors submitting their chapbooks?

Just be yourself, write your truth, and do it even if it’s scary. I found that vulnerability in my writing was both freeing and debilitating, but it became so beautiful to see the finished product. Trust your instincts. There is a still, small voice inside you that will guide your pen and give you power, if you let it.

Do you have any new projects or current projects you are working on that you would also like to share with Yellow Arrow readers?

I am in the middle of writing a proposal for a book called Love Auntie: Parables and Prayers for Abundant Whole Being. It is a nonfiction book for people of faith who want to explore decolonizing their spirituality and cultivate new disciplines for a faith that shifts and really wants to be more inclusive and open-minded to people. That is my next project, and I am hopeful a publisher will pick it up soon.

You can find more about shantell hinton hill and her work for radical good at shantelhhill.com and can preorder your copy of Black girl magic & other elixirs from Yellow Arrow Publishing. Thank you, shantell and Melissa, for sharing your conversation.

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Kapua Iao 6/6/23 Kapua Iao 6/6/23

Review of Becoming by Michelle Obama

Read Bailey Drumm’s review of Becoming by Michelle Obama, published in Yellow Arrow Journal’s Vol. V, No. 3 (Re)Formation issue (fall 2020). Information about where to find Becoming and (Re)Formation is below.

By Bailey Drumm

“Are you enough? Yes.” This mantra rings throughout Becoming by Michelle Obama, as she navigates the reader through the benefits of being truly, honestly one’s intended self. In order to address this, she chose to split her book into three sections: “Becoming Me,” which discusses her childhood leading up to her dating Barack Obama; “Becoming Us,” which encapsulates the beginning of their relationship up to President Obama’s inauguration in 2009; and “Becoming More,” which summarizes the Obama family’s time spent in the White House. She’s been a daughter, a mother, a wife, an attorney, a first lady, and an author, but what Obama assures readers is that being their genuine selves is their most attractive form. That’s what others want, and what they should want for themselves. A person will shine once their core being is defined.

Obama opens the book with “Becoming Me,” mentioning that she used to love when people would ask her, as a child, what she wanted to be when she grew up, because she had the perfectly constructed answer to impress adults. Now, as an adult, she hates the question, because growing up isn’t finite. Who we are, and what we are, are many things. We become different people as the world around us changes, and we form and reform ourselves around it.

After being stuck inside for months, I, as I’m sure many others have, became all too acquainted with my ‘alone’ self, versus who I became in a crowd. Currently, we are shedding our work masks and learning not to apologize for the inconveniences we have chosen to love. An essential part of being yourself according to Obama. We all have families to take care of and passions to support. Obama even brings up a time when her husband missed a flight back to Washington, D.C., to vote on a crime bill because of a sick child. Though professionally it may have been frowned upon, his family was (and is) his core value. And it is these small decisions and sacrifices explored in “Becoming Us,” that serve as a nice reminder that as humans, sometimes it’s okay to disappoint others, as long as we are following what we truly believe in.

Finally, in “Becoming More,” Obama discusses the lack of a guidebook to being the first lady, just as there is no guidebook to navigating life. Pointing this out is the first step to acknowledging that you have to make your own path. During her time as first lady, distributing information on nutrition, the process of food production, and general public health was Obama’s priority. Unfortunately, the world around her took more notice to what she was wearing than what she cared to address. To combat this, Obama made a point to present herself well—she even got a ‘glam squad’—in hopes that the public would notice the initiatives she was promoting as much as her image.

From a young age, Obama was encouraged to learn and advocate for herself. In fact, this mandate became another platform of hers, along with advocating for female role models, while in the White House. Over time, she came to realize not all children had the advantage of being helped at home. This lack of guidance caused some children to be devalued at school. She states, “Hearing them, I realized that [those with at-home guidance] weren’t at all smarter than the rest of us. They were simply emboldened, floating on an ancient tide of superiority, buoyed by the fact that history had never told them anything different.” A desire to impress (to emulate) can lead a child to accomplish things they may not have had the drive to do alone. Not only do her initiatives teach children the skills they are seeking out, but also the confidence to succeed in areas and situations they may feel intimidated by, rather than doubtful of their own worth. Obama wanted to make sure children who may have hidden potentials have the chance to speak and be heard through advocacy and mentoring programs.

In Becoming, she expresses that, growing up, her family was a group of planners, which made her an avid planner as well. Throughout the book though, she does not shy away from recalling difficult scenarios she was unable to plan around. In her mid 20s, she lost both a good friend and her father close together. Around the same time, she was assigned to be Barack’s mentor at a Chicago law firm, Sidley Austin LLP; at first she was less than impressed by him, but over time began to fall in love, changing the course of her career and the life she had originally planned. Though she studied her hardest, at one point, she even failed the Illinois bar on her first try. And, in her mid 30s, she even had to go through the heartbreak of a miscarriage.

Though these events are hard to read about, especially at a time like we are currently experiencing, and as a planner myself, it does offer a sense of comfort. There is a vast amount of ideas currently evolving around us, in our country and culture, that have to be taken in stride. But we can plan only day by day and take the unexpected on the chin. We aren’t perfect, we are just ourselves. These stories she presents, and Becoming itself, explore the fact that we need to get rid of the failing stigma in order to truly succeed. We can try to plan, but sometimes the universe has its own plan. People function better when honest, when we express our downfalls, rather than when we put up a front and go through trauma alone.

In owning your true self, you need to allow your mind to wander at night, be it thinking about a lost relative or income inequalities. You must own your story. No one else can for you. Approach the world as it should be, rather than complain about the world as it is. That’s how change is created. We learn from each other, and in learning we transform. “Becoming isn’t about arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim,” Obama writes. “I see it instead as a forward motion, a means of evolving, a way to reach continuously toward a better self. The journey doesn’t end.” In other words, never stop changing in order to continue being (becoming) true to your genuine self. Never stop reforming.

A PDF of (Re)Formation is available in the Yellow Arrow bookstore or you can find the issue as a paperback or ebook through most online distributors. Becoming was published by Crown Publishing (2018; 448 pages). For more information, visit Becomingmichelleobama.com.

Bailey Drumm is a fiction writer whose written work has been featured in Grub Street and Welter, and digital art displayed as the cover art for the 2017 edition of Welter. She is an MFA graduate from the Creative Writing and Publishing Arts program at the University of Baltimore. Her collection of short stories, The Art of Settling, was published in the spring of 2019 and can be found at bailey-drumm.square.site.

*****

Kapua Iao 5/30/23 Kapua Iao 5/30/23

Show Us Your Spark: Chapbook Submissions Open at Yellow Arrow Publishing

At Yellow Arrow Publishing, we believe every woman has a story to tell and every story is worth telling. And with that sentiment, we are excited to reopen submissions for chapbooks to be published in 2024. From May 29 to June 30, Yellow Arrow will accept submissions of poetry chapbooks and, *new* this year, creative nonfiction chapbooks by authors who identify as women from around the world. Given this and changes to the process this year, we wanted to provide some details here. We can’t wait to see what you send to us.

Chapbook submissions may be poetry, creative nonfiction (e.g., personal narratives, essays, reflections, flash prose, and micro memoirs), or hybrid, no more than 50 pages long and written by authors who identify as women. In general, creative nonfiction should be between 15,000 and 25,000 words total (there is no minimum or maximum number of pieces to include, use your discretion) and poetry between 20 and 50 poems; hybrid can be any combination.

This year, we have also added a sliding scale fee to chapbook submissions. We aim to ensure that the journey to publication is accessible to all writers, but also want to have the ability to support and promote our authors throughout the year. When we publish an author, that writer becomes a member of the Yellow Arrow community, and we do all we can to promote their voice, share their story, and nurture their creative journey to publication.

$0: Reserved for BIWOC authors (by checking this box, you acknowledge that you are a BIWOC author and will not attach a receipt)

$5: Reserved for those experiencing financial hardship (financial hardship means this is what you can afford right now, no questions asked)

$10: Standard submission fee

As a small, independent press, our ability to compensate authors has been limited in the past, but with the addition of a small fee, we anticipate being able to provide our authors with a monetary incentive to go along with the editorial and promotional support we have always offered.

Finally, as our volume of submissions has grown over the past few years, we have decided to accept submissions through a Google form (here) rather than email. The form is simple with required and optional questions, including name, bio/personal introduction, and demographics. You will be asked to upload your submission as an attachment to the form along with your fee receipt (if required). By sending your completed submission you agree to the following statements:

You are a writer who identifies as a woman
You have read and submitted within the guidelines

Our writers and readers come from all walks of life and so do we. We are taking steps across our portfolio to increase representation and give greater visibility to the voices of underrepresented women-identifying storytellers and take much into consideration when creating our procedures and guidelines. When we review submissions we look for writing that tells your story. We love pieces that feel authentic, that give us a window into who a writer is and what has shaped them, and that connect us to them.

You can find our guidelines and some FAQs at yellowarrowpublishing.com/cbsubmissions along with the YAP Chapbook Submissions form. We can’t wait to see how your piece sparks our inspiration along with yours. If you have any questions, please contact us at submissions@yellowarrowpublishing.com.

*****

Yellow Arrow 5/26/23 Yellow Arrow 5/26/23

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

“Girl on a Beach” BY Sara Palmer from Baltimore, maryland

Genre: poetry

Name of publication: The Ekphrastic Review

Date published: May 15, 2023

Type of publication: online

ekphrastic.net/the-ekphrastic-review/girl-on-a-beach-by-sara-palmer

Find Sara on Facebook @sara.p5455 and @sara.palmer.5455.

“Finger Painting” BY Heather Brown Barrett from Virginia

Genre: poetry

Name of publication: Bubble Literary Magazine

Date published: May 19, 2023

Type of publication: online

bubblelitmag.wixsite.com/bubble/jobs-4/heather-brown-barrett

Find Heather on Instagram @heatherbrownbarrett.

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!

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Kapua Iao 5/23/23 Kapua Iao 5/23/23

Art as Lifeline/Embracing Art: A Conversation with L.M. Cole

By Melissa Nunez, written March 2023

I am as polished as silver,

which is to say, only with great effort.

I am as folded as paper planes,

which is to say, carefully, carelessly creased. – “Which is to say”

Have you ever wondered what people from the Renaissance or Reformation era would look like with pastry for heads? Or decided red-winged butterflies are best suited bursting forth from anatomical hearts? What about creating a cento poem out of lines from a movie like Balto? These are just a few of the innovative works of artist, author, and editor L.M. Cole. Her work covers topics like self-discovery, the nature of relationships, and the defining moments of life. She balances weighty themes with a lighthearted flare in her hybrid works. Cole’s first chapbook SALT MOUTH MOSS QUEEN debuted in September 2022. We were also pleased to publish her work in Yellow Arrow Vignette AWAKEN, a Yellow Arrow online series. L.M. and I were able to connect over Zoom in March for an inspiring video chat where we bonded over a love of nature and the way writing helps us through the chaotic tides life can sling our way.

Who are some women-identified writers who inspire you?

I am really drawn to other nature writers. I didn’t intend to become one, but apparently, I am one. Mary Oliver and Edna St. Vincent Millay really inspire me. I love the work of Lucille Clifton. Ada Limón speaks to me as well. These are some powerful voices that have a lot of important things to tell us.

What would you pinpoint as the moment you knew you were a writer/artist?

I have had a nontraditional tumble into writing. I didn’t consider myself a writer at all until high school when I took a creative writing class. There was a poetry section at the end where we made a chapbook collection of different forms and my teacher wrote on the back page of it, “You should never stop writing.” That really touched me, but I was not in a place when I was younger to believe in myself at all. Like a lot of women, with my upbringing and sense of self, I didn’t have the confidence to really channel that into anything useful. I didn’t pursue writing until around 2021. My whole world exploded personally. My family was very low income and writing was a thing that my husband at the time felt wasn’t going to make money and so wasn’t worth doing. I had gotten older and wanted to get back into writing, but he felt it would not lead anywhere productive. After eight years of that, everything changed. He was out of the picture, and I had to learn to be the best me I could be for myself and my kids. It has been a rocky journey this past year. Learning and relearning how best to handle everything. Poetry during this time really was a lifesaver, a buoy in life’s storm. Poetry and writing kept me from drowning. Somewhere in that last year and a half is when I decided I needed this, writing, creating, for myself. That makes me better in all aspects of my life. I really embraced poetry, exploring it, and developing my craft from there.

I was bottled green and seasick

salted in the waves and you

have pulled me to shore

to say oh lovely thing – “Post-Vitrification”

What drives your visual art?

Visual art is new for me. I feel I have developed a recognizable style over the past year. I was playing with it for a few months before the start of my magazine, Bulb Culture Collective. When my coeditor Jared [Povanda] and I started this project, I decided I wanted to make custom art for promotion on Twitter. I make all those images myself and I feel that has really homed in on what I’m trying to do. For me, the aesthetic is bringing classic Old World into modern thinking. All my images are found from public access books. I don’t take images from things later than 1950. I will spend hours every week going through these sources. I clip whatever speaks to me and go back in later and start putting things together. The aesthetic is full of warm tones: oranges, reds, yellows. I like warm tones and classic 1950 style.

When do you feel a concept necessitates the hybrid form, both visual and textual?

Many times, if I am going to make a hybrid, I have a micro piece, a very short poem, or some page of text that I feel is going to make a good erasure. I think it can be compared to people who title their poems in a way to give you more insight into the text. That is what you are doing for those hybrid pieces. You are pulling images to give more context to the poem and the words, even if it is unexpected. I have some pieces that are from a physical textbook called Meat Through the Microscope. I have a bunch of erasure sourced from there. I found one phrase I really liked but it was very short so I started looking around to see what I could do with it. The phrase itself was something about time immemorial and this universal truth: absence. This made me think of things leaving and fading away. I ended up with images of leaves in the process of dying and drying out. It became a very autumnal poem. Without that, there are a lot of ways to read into it and it could be very heavy. Tying back into nature gives it more of a universal feeling and less of a mourning feeling. You can do that a lot with images when adding to small poems and snippets. You can take it in different directions and experiment. Sometimes it does not turn out how you imagined. I might not like these leaves and will instead find something like an empty doorway. There are a lot of things to explore with that. It opens more avenues for furthering poetry as well. You might start and find an image and in the process of tying it together you might become inspired to expand on it and then it is not a micro anymore. Art and poetry speak very well to each other. I love to experiment with it.

What advice do you have for those interested in creating hybrid works?

There are no hard and fast rules for it. The way it works for me is starting with an image or poem/phrase that I love. I think you need to have clear idea of one or the other before you can get going. I have a lot of drafts and messes in folders that aren’t quite right because I did not have that clear direction and it got all jumbled. What works for me is to have that direction from the start with at least one of the components.

What is it like to work at different magazines? How did you get involved? And how do you balance the work of editor/reader/creator?

I started with reading for Moss Puppy Magazine. That was my first foray into working with magazines. They were looking for readers during their last issue, Blades, and I had already submitted poems that were accepted into the issue. I worried that might be a problem, but it was not at all. It was a very natural transition into the team. They are all so welcoming and kind. The editor is great to work with and they have multiple readers to help balance things out. Life happens sometimes and things do slip through the cracks. I have three kids and five pets, and everyone has appointments and activities and sometimes I can’t get everything done. Everyone being so understanding is the amazing thing in this writing community we have. I think the same would be true of most places. We are all writers with our own lives, and we respect that.

I also read briefly for Tree and Stone which was a cool experience. I was reading fiction, which I don’t have a lot of experience writing. I made it clear that I was interested in the position and came with more of a lyrical poetry slant but would like to learn more. I think that is the key to getting into many of these opportunities. You must be open and willing to learn because things evolve, and you see so many different perspectives and work from so many writers. It is important to stay open to that.

I started Bulb Culture with Jared because we both had work that had lost their publication, were in magazines that had disappeared. What do people do then? What do we do because things like this do happen and keep happening? We saw this need for people losing the publication of their works, now technically previously published but the original magazine is gone so it’s in a weird limbo. We started [it] because we needed a place in the community to send previously published work that is no longer available to an audience, a place where writers know their work is going to have a good home. That is what we’ve been striving to do. At first, we were only taking work from places that had closed, gone dark, or appeared in print only. Recently we opened to any previously published work, regardless, as long as it is over two years old. We’ve had a good response, steady submissions, not huge by any means, but it has been nice. It can be hard with decision-making because Jared and I are both so accommodating of each other and can go back and forth at times, but we are also very encouraging, and we manage to get it all done.

It can be difficult to balance all of that and right now, but I’ve surrounded myself with very understanding people whom I consider my friends as well. Everyone is generous about giving me some slack when I’m scrambling to meet deadlines. We make it work.

I am what I am making myself

green brown gold in the wilderness

salt mouth moss queen

I am forest path

I am refracted shine

I am made

I am in the making. – “I Am”

Let’s talk about your debut chapbook. What inspired the title and order of collection?

Salt Mouth Moss Queen came from a poem in the chapbook that I had written for Messy Misfits Club. It was a way of writing about my transition and growth as a person and also my connection in nature. The poem itself travels along the same lines my life has. I grew up in the Midwest where everything is flat and gray, but I still consider it beautiful. Wheat fields and gravel roads are still very much a part of me. Then it transitions into now. I live in North Carolina, which is a recent change. I haven’t even lived here a year, but things are so different. It felt like a new beginning and a new me and I was learning these new things about myself.

“Salt mouth” is an idea that resonates and comes back and echoes in a few poems I’ve written. I have always been very drawn to the ocean, but I never lived close enough to it to see it. I had never visited the ocean until after my move last year. On my first visit, after climbing over the sand dunes, the first time I saw the water, heard it, and smelled it, I just started crying. My partner and kids were asking me if I was OK. I was like, “It’s everything.” It was such a transformational thing for me. I was always drawn to it even though I had never seen it and to have that affirming experience with it was huge.

“Moss queen” just encapsulates my desire to lay out in the grass all day, that connection to the earth. It came from trying to describe myself as a person in poem form and give people a glimpse into my identity. The pieces in this collection follow a trajectory of my move and the ups and downs of my life over the last year or two. There is loss and pain and a rediscovering of love and hope. It shows that even through all that very human experience the link with nature is still there. I wanted that connection very prominent throughout.

I love the way you laid out the significance of salt and the ocean. Can you expand a little on the meaning of moss for you?

I think moss for me is a symbol of resilience because it is always there. I was recently out at Sundress Farm for my residency, and everything is gray out there. It is still cold in Knoxville, but there is just moss everywhere. It is vibrant, green, constant. I feel like the last year I’ve really had to embrace resilience where I can find it, so I think moss really became a symbol for me for persisting.

Nature imagery in general is rich in your work. Why does it speak to you?

The reason nature always crops up in my poetry is because I am disabled. I suffer with chronic pain and mental illness so a lot of times nature, experiencing it, writing about it, works as kind of a grounding exercise for me to get out of my own pain. I can think about cardinals instead of how much my back hurts right now. It is very much distracting and also healing to interact with nature and converse so deeply with it.

I’ve been letting things slip

from behind my teeth, through

my clenched jaw, like ants

through crack in the concrete

trying to get to the flower bed

I’m holding onto for dear life. – “Ants in the Begonias”

In a piece like “Ants in the Begonias,” the metaphor is everything. How do you go about finding the metaphor? Is it something that just happens to do have to work at it at times?

Usually if there is going to be a strong metaphor in a poem that is the thing that comes to me first before I even start writing. I will think, “oh, that one is good,” and I’ll write around it. This poem holds a lot of my experience with healing and going to therapy after everything went down in my personal life in 2021. It has that connection with nature for grounding. I think you can see that here very prominently. This connection with nature is really the driving force of the healing and is intertwined with the emotion. It just happened, which is not always the case, but when I have a good metaphor, I start there.

How much of yourself do you think you can encapsulate in any one poem or collection?

That’s a good question. I think that there are a lot of parts of me that haven’t made it into poetry yet. I don’t know if it is because I am afraid of being that vulnerable or I feel it is not going to be relatable to anybody. I think that poetry is a very unique vehicle for putting yourself onto the page. There are so many ways that you can capture yourself through a thought, a word, an image, a memory. Looking at “Ants in the Begonias” again, it only happened because the house I grew up in when I was little had a stone deck and two begonias on each side of the stairs. I always thought they were so pretty but there were ants everywhere. That is why that became such a central image for that poem. There are so many ways you can put yourself into a poem that I feel are unique. I know you can do it with CNF and memoir, but poetry lets you kind of wink and nod at the part of yourself you are putting out there. There is always that mystery of the identity of the speaker. Is it the poet or just a persona? Are you the I? You can be a little more vulnerable. In September, I was flying back to North Dakota to see my dad for his birthday, and I was sitting next to someone on the plane who asked me what I do. We had some sort of sixth-degree connection to someone in my hometown, and then you have to make idle chitchat in this tiny tin can in the sky. She asked me what I do, and I told her I am a poet. She said, “That is so cool.” And my response was, “You just have to be really willing to embarrass yourself in public.” Which made her kind of back track on that. To put your writing out there is a very vulnerable act. People are so nuanced and complex it is hard to fit everything of yourself in one poem unless you are writing an epic. However, if you are in a certain headspace, you can definitely put 100% of that self in that moment into that piece. It is a matter of unlocking that space and staying open to the resulting vulnerability.

What is the best writing advice you can share with our readers?

Don’t be so demanding of yourself. For many women-identified creatives, we really want to be amazing at something or not do it at all. If it is not perfect, if it is not living up to a perceived standard that we have, we can get disheartened and be afraid to put ourselves out there. But we just have to. Writing and art are so important, and everyone has a different perspective. Don’t be so hard on yourself! Make your art and put it out there. You put yourself in it, your love in it, and it is going to resonate with somebody. I don’t think I will ever be poet laureate or anything, but I put my little poems out there. If three people read them, then I am good! Somebody read it. That’s great. Just don’t have such rigid expectations for yourself. I fall into that same trap of thinking I need to be X amount successful or else, but it is not true. Embrace the art for art’s sake.

What makes writing worth it? For L.M. Cole it is knowing she is being true to herself, her best self, and following the inner call to create. Connecting with people through art, however big or small the amount, is powerful. You can follow L.M. Cole as she continues her writing journey by connect with her on Twitter @_scoops_ or her website at poetlmcole.com. You can purchase a copy of her chapbook SALT MOUTH MOSS QUEEN on Amazon.

Melissa Nunez is a Latin@ writer and homeschooling mother of three from the Rio Grande Valley. Her essays have appeared in magazines like Hypertext and Scrawl Place. She has work forthcoming in Musing Publications, The Hooghly Review, and others. She writes an anime column for The Daily Drunk, interviews for Yellow Arrow Publishing, and is a staff writer for Alebrijes Review. You can follow her on Twitter @MelissaKNunez.

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Kapua Iao 5/16/23 Kapua Iao 5/16/23

Immersion in the Arts: Yellow Arrow Publishing Writers-in-Residence 2023

Since 2019, Yellow Arrow Publishing has been proud to offer a residency program that enables us to support, uplift, and amplify the voices of women-identifying writers residing in the Baltimore area. We are excited to announce the transformations to our 2023 Writers-in-Residence program. Applications are open June 1-30.

Residency programs are appealing to writers for many reasons, but some of the highlights are often the freedom from distractions offered, additional support in the way of mentorship or community resources, and the opportunity to immerse yourself in an artistic atmosphere, sharing and exploring with other creatives while you work at your craft. As writers, we dream of ideal writing Edens: a secluded cabin in the woods, a rocking chair on a wraparound porch at an old farmhouse, a writing desk surrounded by shelves packed full of vintage classics. A residency is sometimes viewed as an escape, a way to step away from our lives and immerse ourselves in nothing but the writing.

In reality though, we often find such ventures logistically challenging. Whatever our daily burdens may be—professional occupations, caregiving, busy schedules, financial obligations—it’s tough to convince ourselves that making time and space for our writing is what’s best for those around us. How can we step away, entirely, from our lives for days or weeks at a time? How can we achieve complete immersion?

Yellow Arrow began its Writers-in-Residence program for just this reason. We have always emphasized that our focus is around supporting and empowering emerging writers, but what is an emerging writer? To us, it is the writer who, when we meet you at a book festival and ask, “Are you a writer?” your response is, “Well, I write. I’m not sure I would call myself a writer.” An emerging writer is someone who has maybe been published, but is still working their way into the literary world. An emerging writer is someone who isn’t making a living on their writing in a way that affords them the opportunity to step away for a lengthy period of time. An emerging writer is someone who considers writing a passion, a vocation, a calling.

With this focus on emerging writers, we have reimagined our residency program to provide you with all the things an emerging writer should have without the burden of leaving home: a place free from the distractions of daily life to write, a community of resources and fellow creatives to support you, and an immersion in the vibrant Baltimore arts scene.

Yellow Arrow Publishing is thrilled to announce our Writers-in-Residence program for 2023. One writer will serve as a writer-in-residence for the months of August and September, and another will take residency for the months of October and November. This year, thanks to a partnership with Bird in Hand Café, our residences will have a space to write surrounded by books (and coffee!). Bird in Hand is providing both of our 2023 writers-in-residence a $200 gift card to provide sustenance while writing in the Charles Village bookstore and café. In addition, Yellow Arrow is granting the writers a $200 stipend to use toward expenses—childcare, transportation, writing supplies—whatever your needs are. We’ve also added in free Yellow Arrow writing workshops during the course of your residency. And we will continue to advocate for our writers-in-residence by doing all we can to amplify their voices and support their creative endeavors.

Our residency is not an escape, but it could be the opposite. It could be an arrival. The spark to start the fire within.

There is no application fee. No genre limitations. All Baltimore-area writers who identify as women are encouraged to apply. Questions? Email admin@yellowarrowpublishing.com. View the full residency program description here.

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Kapua Iao 5/9/23 Kapua Iao 5/9/23

Healing the World with a Spark: Yellow Arrow Journal (Vol. VIII, No. 1) KINDLING

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.

Matilda Young (she/they), guest editor of just released Yellow Arrow Journal Vol. VIII, No. 1 KINDLING, began her introduction of the issue getting straight to the heart of the topic: advocacy and community care. And how both terms weave their way through the pages. The pieces within explore various facets of advocacy and community through changemaking. Included poems and prose speak about the author’s connections to others, to bearing witness, and to visions of paths to brighter days ahead. Matilda professes, “These are writings steeped in love. These are writings filled with purpose. And in so many ways, they remind us that the kindling can and must start with us.”

And with that thought, we are excited to release the latest issue of Yellow Arrow Journal and privileged to share the voices included within our KINDLING issue. Paperback and PDF versions are now 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 print and electronic books, including Amazon and most other distribution channels.

Matilda 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.

The beautiful artwork on the cover (cover design by Alexa Laharty), “Doña Sedona (a gradual elevation)” by Violeta Garza (who also contributed a poem!), was created of wool, acrylic, and cotton. For Violeta, their weaving has been the kindling to help not just fuel creativity but also cope with multiple brain injuries.

We hope you enjoy reading KINDLING as much as we enjoyed creating it. Thank you for your continued encouragement of Yellow Arrow Publishing and the women involved in KINDLING. And on June 1 at 8:00 pm EST, please join Matilda and some of our authors for the live, virtual reading of KINDLING. More information is forthcoming but you can let us know you plan to join us at fb.me/e/RMrS7pvs.

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Kapua Iao 5/2/23 Kapua Iao 5/2/23

Meet a Board Member: Patti Ross

Yellow Arrow Publishing would like to introduce our director of author support, Patti Ross. Patti graduated from The Duke Ellington School for the Performing Arts and The American University. She also holds a MS from Keller Graduate School of Management. After a brief career in the arts and freelance work with the Washington Times and the Rural America newspapers. Patti settled on a career in the corporate dot com arena gaining President’s Club recognition with multiple entities. Having traveled abroad and throughout the U.S., she chose to raise her two daughters in Columbia, Maryland. Thirty years later she is sharing her voice as local spoken word artist, “little pi.”

Her debut chapbook, St. Paul Street Provocations, was published in July 2021 by Yellow Arrow Publishing. Patti also hosts EC Poetry & Prose Open Mic at the Baltimore County Arts Guild’s Catonsville, Maryland, location. She is the founder of the online series First Fridays under the organizational umbrella of Maryland Writers Association of which she is a former board member. She also actively supports several Baltimore youth nonprofits as both board member and advisor. A lifelong advocate for the disenfranchised and homeless, Patti writes poems about the racially marginalized as well as society’s traumatization of the human spirit. Her poems are published in the Pen in Hand Journal, PoetryXHunger website, and Oyster River Pages: Composite Dreams Issue, Writing the Land: Foodways and Social Justice Anthology (2022), as well as other online zines.

Patti writes, “Nelson Mandela said it best, ‘. . . as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.’ This is what I hope for Yellow Arrow in 2023, that we may liberate as many writers as our pages can hold, and then some.”

Tell us a little something about yourself. I have been collecting fountain pens lately. I am enjoying the feel and historical relationship to writing that the pens remind [me of].

What do you love most about Baltimore? Baltimore has “charmed me.” I am originally from Washington, D.C., and the “grittiness” (if I may) of Baltimore reminds me of my D.C., my “chocolate city” of the 60s and 70s and 80s. I moved from Silver Spring, Maryland, just outside D.C. to Howard County in 2000 and since have enjoyed exploring Baltimore and discovering it’s nuances. Ten years ago, from 2011 to 2012, I lived at the corner of St. Paul and Lafayette streets, one block south of North Avenue. Because of my work in Montgomery County, I moved back to Howard County where I currently reside.

How did you get involved with Yellow Arrow and what do you do? I wrote a pleading email to Gwen [Van Velsor, Founder] about this little collection I had written and was using as my spoken-word pieces around town and the county. I was exploring being a performing poet. Gwen was gracious and shared my plea with Kapua [Iao, Editor-in-Chief], and they took a chance on me. I am forever grateful. The publication of my collection gave my speech legitimacy and audiences have paid attention to my challenges to them.

What are you working on currently? I have my own collective: EC Poetry & Prose, a nonprofit of about a dozen poets who regularly perform together throughout the region. I also am part owner in a micropress, Fallen Tree Press, that is committed to publishing poetry only and supporting other nonprofits through a donation of book proceeds.

What genre do you write (or read) the most and why? I read everything from poetry to nonfiction. I have only written poetry and essays (a few speeches). I am challenging myself this year with the writing of a children’s book. I wrote a poem, and a children’s book author suggested I use phrases within the poem to create an historical fiction children’s book—is there such a thing, lol! I also hope to put together another collection of poems about the women in my life both real and make believe.

What books are on the top of your to-be-read pile?

Mean Spirit by Linda Hogan

A Bound Woman is a Dangerous Thing by DaMaris B. Hill

Several chapbooks by friends such as Kathleen Hellen’s Meet Me at the Bottom

Hiram Larew’s Mud Ajar

The Maryland Writer’s Association’s recent publication of Pen in Hand

Who is your favorite writer and why? Audre Lorde, there is a haunting within her writing that makes the reader think deeply about women and their plight in the world and how a writer captures trauma and its lingering effects and how women go on existing with so many scars. One of my favorite poems if not my favorite is the “Poem for a Poet”; its opening words are “I think of a coffin’s quiet when I sit in the world of my car . . .” That is riveting, pulling you in immediately reminding you of life’s chance.

Who has inspired and/or supported you most in your writing journey? My daughters. They are women who have persevered beyond challenges with dignity beyond what I instilled in them. They inspire me everyday to recognize the “queen” in every woman both young [and old]. Amazingly, they have taken the ugliness of the world and what it has shown them and still have hope and [still] embody beauty in all they do.

What do you love most about writing? I enjoy the freedom of expression. I can write and I am free to say, feel, be how and what I want. No strings attached.

What advice do you have for new writers? Just do it! It is a cathartic process in which frees you from the lament of life and brings you joy . . . that’s if you let it.

What’s your vision for Yellow Arrow in 2023? Zeal, zest, and zing! A year of joy. A year of growth and vitality about writing and sharing our voices.

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Welcome to the team Patti! We are so excited to work with you this year. Patti is on our fundraising committee putting together Celebrating Creativity, Cherishing the Woman, an event on May 13, 5:30-7:30 pm at Ceremony Coffee Roasters at Cross Street Market. Get your ticket at yellowarrowpublishing.com/store/may2023fundraiser.

Guest User 5/1/23 Guest User 5/1/23

Igniting a SPARK: Yellow Arrow Vignette Submissions Now Open

By Siobhan McKenna

Welcome to the first day of open submissions for Yellow Arrow Vignette! Now in its second season, Yellow Arrow Vignette is an online creative nonfiction and poetry series developed to better feature women-identifying writers and share their voices beyond Yellow Arrow Journal and our single-author and collaborative publications. In 2022, the inaugural season of Vignette on the theme AWAKEN, authors meditated on the spaces where the unknown comes into light. The poetry and prose published last July through to September awakened us to the shape our love can take for a parent who we didn’t see eye to eye with, the healing power of carrying on ancestors’ legacy long suppressed by colonialism, and the beauty in the “glowing yolk” of a sunset as it slides into the ocean among many other stories.

This year, submissions for Vignette are open from May 1 to 31 and will align with the 2023 Yellow Arrow yearly value: SPARK.

SPARK

: to set off in a burst of activity

: someone or something that ignites an idea

The German novelist and philosopher, Thomas Mann said, “If you are possessed by an idea, you find it expressed everywhere, you even smell it.”

What notion or thought has you reaching for your pen or keyboard?
How do you keep that idea or spark lit when faced with interruptions that tell us creative work is frivolous or a luxury rather than a necessity?
From whom or what do you harness your inspiration to maintain your spark? In strangers on city sidewalks, blooming sculpture gardens, daily WORDLE rituals, in the words of fellow writers or ?

Through the guiding theme of SPARK, we invite you to reflect on what ignites your creativity and how you see that reflected back as you move throughout your daily life.

After assembling a collection about awakening, I love that SPARK is our 2023 yearly and Vignette theme as it is a natural next step. An awareness can only lead to a certain point; then there must be an inciting action to propel an idea into being. Yellow Arrow board president, Mickey Revenaugh, spoke of a spark earlier this year as “a precondition, necessary but not sufficient.” When an idea arrives, sparks are vital—they are the lifeblood for creativity. Yet, sparks sometimes fade when it comes to the nitty-gritty, the long hours that must be undertaken in order to have an idea come to fruition. It is then, within the drudgery of labor, when faced with self-doubt and fear (who even wants to hear what I have to say?), that it is essential to remember the spark that drove you to begin your journey.

I’m also fond of SPARK because of the word’s sensory associations. When I think of a spark, I hear the sound of July nights when the fizzing hum of a lit firework shoots into the sky and erupts with a loud crack. I feel the heat on my fingertips from the fleeting flame of a matchstick. I see the pyrotechnic emissions from a sparkler marking the end of a wedding reception and smell the smoky mix of burnt residue rising into the air. I’m just not sure of what a spark tastes like—although Pop Rocks, the fruity flavored popping candy, could be similar to tasting a spark: a frenetic tap dancing on my tastebuds. Yes, perhaps that’s it.

No matter what you conjure when you think of SPARK, I hope you are encouraged to find that impulse behind your work and submit to Vignette! With the pieces in this issue, we want to nudge each other into remembering the reasons for crafting emotions from letters and symbols; the motivation for sharing a slice of worldview that is wildly different from another’s and still, resonates in our core.

For Yellow Arrow Vignette 2023, we are looking for creative nonfiction and poetry by writers who identify as women on the theme of SPARK. Submissions can be in any language as long as an English translation accompanies them. For more information regarding submission guidelines and how to submit, please visit yellowarrowpublishing.com/vignette/submissions. Make sure to read the guidelines carefully before submitting. If you have any questions, send them to submissions@yellowarrowpublishing.com. Vignette will publish two pieces each week beginning on July 3 and ending with our authors coming together for a reading on September 6.

We look forward to reading the submissions for Yellow Arrow Vignette and sharing these stories with you. Since its founding in 2016, Yellow Arrow has worked tirelessly to make an impact on the local and global community by advocating for writers that 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.

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Yellow Arrow 4/28/23 Yellow Arrow 4/28/23

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

“Chritmas Call” BY Christine C. Hsu FROM San Francisco, California, for the Winter Wonderland Monologue Festival

Genre: monologue, performed by Laura Uyeki

Name of publisher: Shiny Unicorns Productions, Winter Wonderland Monologue Festival

Date published: January 2023

youtu.be/8k26EVh0b30

Find Christine on Twitter @HsuChristineC.

“On Becoming the Type of Person Who Yells: Dinner!” BY REBECCA BROCK FROM LEESBURG, VIRGINIA

Genre: poetry

Name of publication: Sheila-Na-Gig Online

Date published: Spring 2023

Type of publication: online

sheilanagigblog.com/the-poets-volume-7-3-spring-2023/rebeccabrock/

“RIDDLE” BY Ann Quinn FROM CatonsvillE, Maryland

Genre: poetry

Name of publication: THE MADRONA PROJECT: The Universe Is a Forest, Empty Bowl Press

Date published: April 2023

Type of publication: print

emptybowl.org/store/the-madrona-project-the-universe-is-a-forest

“When Honey Wouldn't Do” BY REBECCA BROCK FROM LEESBURG, VIRGINIA

Genre: poetry

Name of publication: Bellvue Literary Review

Date published: April 2023

Type of publication: print

blreview.org/product/blr-issue-44/

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

“One For Your Mother” BY Annie Marhefka FROM Baltimore, Maryland

Genre: poetry

Name of publication: The Citron Review

Date published: April 2023

Type of publication: online

citronreview.com/2023/04/02/one-for-your-mother/

Find Annie on Instagram @anniemarhefka.

PRIZES/AWARDS

“A Conversation with Henri Rousseau about his ‘Vue de Bois de Boulogne’” BY Joanne Durham FROM Prince George's County, Maryland

Prize/award: Winner of Annual Poetry Contest

Genre: poetry

Name of publication: Third Wednesday Magazine

Date published: March 2023

Type of publication: print and online

thirdwednesdaymagazine.org/2023/03/30/a-conversation-with-henri-rousseau-about-his-vue-de-bois-de-boulogne-joanne-durham/

Find Joanne on Instagram @poetryjoanne and Twitter @DurhamJoanne.

“Ten Days” BY Kay Smith-Blum FROM SEATTLE, Washington

Prize/award: Winner of the 2023 Black Fox “Siblings” Writing Contest

Genre: creative nonfiction

Name of publication: Black Fox Literary Magazine

Date published: April 2023

Type of publication: print and online

blackfoxlitmag.com/2023/04/17/issue-24-winter-2023-is-here/

Find Kay on Instagram @discerningKSB, Twitter @kaysmithblum, Facebook @kay.smithblum, and LinkedIn @Kay Smith-Blum.

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!

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Kapua Iao 4/25/23 Kapua Iao 4/25/23

Gratitude is a Divine Emotion: Yellow Arrow Interns

By Kapua Iao

“Gratitude is a divine emotion: it fills the heart, but not to bursting; it warms it, but not to fever.”

from Shirley by Charlotte Brontë

One of the many ways Yellow Arrow Publishing encourages women writers and women in publishing is through inclusion within the organization itself. We welcome (and thrive with) our volunteers and interns, not only for our own benefit but to also (hopefully) provide a prospective future publisher with some necessary tools and knowledge about the publishing world. And even if a volunteer/intern does not plan to continue within the publishing world, the tools and knowledge of working in a women-led, collaborative organization. One that champions the different and the unique. One that looks for partners and allies rather than simple connections (see our growing list of partners here).

As Editor-in-Chief, it would be impossible to organize, create, and publish without the incredible help of our volunteer staff and interns. They provide the thought process behind each journal by picking each issue’s theme and reading/voting on each submitted piece. They then read through the chosen submissions and edit them carefully and thoughtfully, not to change the voice of the author but to ensure that the voice flourishes. They provide continuous feedback and proofread the final product before release. And the same goes for our published chapbooks; the process of forming something for publication is thoughtfully long but fulfilling, nonetheless.

We try to find each volunteer, each intern, space in our organization to grow and flourish in the area they are most interested in (and of course where we need the most help!). Past staff members have worked at our live events and at Yellow Arrow House. They hand bound our publications and put as much love and tenderness into each copy as we could hope. Now that we are a mostly virtual publishing company, they focus on copyediting and proofreading as well as writing blogs and press releases. They create promotional material and images for our authors and create marketing campaigns. They help at live and virtual events and readings. And above all else, they support. Not only me but our authors as well. I am so thankful to have had them with me on this journey.

So let’s introduce the spring 2023 interns. Each has my appreciation.

Natasha Saar, publications intern

From New York City but lives in Baltimore, Maryland
*What do you do*? I assist with everything to do with publications. This includes writing blog posts, running social media campaigns, and working with the Editor-in-Chief to copyedit and proofread exciting and upcoming publications.
*Where do you go to school?* I’m currently a senior at Loyola University Maryland, and if all goes to plan, I’m going to be graduating this May.
*What are you currently working on*? I’ve been working on my university’s literary magazine, *Corridors*, and have also been working as a resident assistant for one of my university’s resident halls. Most of my current spare time is spent either with my hobbies, job hunting, or working for classes in advance.

Natasha Saar (she/her) is a senior at Loyola University, Maryland, pursuing a BA in English, and the spring 2022 publications intern at Yellow Arrow Publishing. She’s in charge of editing submissions at her university’s literary magazine, Corridors, and also works as a resident assistant. In her free time, she enjoys doing origami, baking, and playing niche video games.

After graduating, she intends to continue pursuing publishing, but is also happy pursuing any career that involves writing, preferably in some sort of creative fashion. Natasha has always loved working with language, it’s just a matter of making a comfortable living with it . . .

Why did you choose an internship with Yellow Arrow?

Everyone who likes reading and writing falls down the “what if I work with books” pipeline, and I figured a hands-on internship with a smaller company could give me a bigger insight into the publishing process. I also really resonated with Yellow Arrow’s mission and wanted to assist with it.

Beck Snyder, program management intern

Lives in Towson, Maryland

What do you do? I put together social media posts and schedule them, work on the monthly newsletter, copyedit Yellow Arrow Journal, and research for grants.

Where do you go to school? I go to school at Towson University, and I’ll be graduating in the spring of 2023, provided everything goes to plan.

What are you currently working on? As of right now, I’m mainly focused on graduating, as that’s coming up very quickly, but I’m also working on my own writing in my spare time. I completed a first draft of my own novel right before this semester, so I’ve started looking back through it and finding ways I can make it better.

Beck Snyder (she/they) is a student on the creative writing track at Towson University and is currently figuring out where they’re going in life. When they’re not knee-deep in homework or their own writing endeavors, you can usually find them playing video games, reading, or making stupid jokes with their friends.

Their future plans are a bit up in the air right now. Beck is planning on moving to New York City after graduation since the publishing industry is fairly big there, and they think they’d like to get a job in the industry while working on getting their own work published. Fingers crossed things go well!

Why did you choose a second internship with Yellow Arrow?

I chose to do a second internship with Yellow Arrow because I really loved Yellow Arrow’s mission and working with Annie Marhefka and Kapua Iao has been really great. I always feel like I’m contributing and that my schedule outside of Yellow Arrow is being taken into consideration so I don’t get overworked. This semester has been a bit different because now that I know the basics of how Yellow Arrow works as an organization and what we do here, Annie has trusted me with more responsibilities, like the newsletter and working on grants. It’s definitely cool to be back for a second semester and to be trusted to work on bigger things than I did last semester.

When not on Towson’s campus, you can find them in the tiny town of Clear Spring, Maryland, on Instagram @real_possiblyawesome or on Twitter @PossiblyAwesom if you’d like to hear the thoughts that pop into their head at three in the morning.

*****

Thank you to everyone who supports these women and all writers who toil away day after day. Please show them some love in the comments below or on Yellow Arrow’s Facebook or Instagram. If interested in joining us as an editorial associate or intern, fill out an application at yellowarrowpublishing.com/internships.

Kapua Iao 4/18/23 Kapua Iao 4/18/23

What’s in a Name: Women in Literature

By Jackie Alvarez-Hernandez, written October 2022

When we think about women in literature, famous names come to mind. The Brontë Sisters. Mary Shelley. Toni Morrison. Emily Dickinson. Zora Neale Huston.

We know them by their names today, but these women (and many more) had their own struggles when it came to publishing their work. Sometimes, the only way to get their work published and taken seriously was to take on a new name—a pen name that leaned more masculine or androgynous, of course.

Stephen Smith, in his book An Inkwell of Pen Names (2006), was able to find a lot of these pseudonyms and the history behind them. For instance, the Brontë Sisters—Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë—became the Bell Brothers when they first published their work. Charlotte became “Currer Bell,” Emily became “Ellis Bell,” and Anne was “Acton Bell.” Their first stories—Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and Agnes Grey, respectively—were originally published under these male pseudonyms.

According to Charlotte, in the introduction she wrote for Wuthering Heights, they did it because they did not want to face prejudice for having written pieces that were not “female-like.” They did not want their words used as weapons against them by critics of the time. They also did not want to receive praise for the mere fact that they were women writing, as it would not be “true praise.”

(What’s funny is that the only reason the ruse was discovered was because, at that time, the critics assumed all the novels written by the sisters were by Charlotte or Currer Bell. That is, they thought the other two “brothers” didn’t exist. When a publisher wished to publish a work of Anne’s or Acton’s in the United States under Charlotte’s pen name, the two chose to head to the publisher’s office in person to clear the matter. In her account of the meeting, Charlotte claims she laughed at his expression when he realized who she was.)

Another famous writer who used a masculine pen name, Louisa May Alcott, did so whenever she wrote stories revolving around darker and more serious themes, under the name of A.M. Bernard, though sometimes she also wrote them anonymously.

Meanwhile, Louisa saved her real name for her children’s and young adult books. Since the discovery of this occurred after her lifetime, we can only assume her reason for doing so: to ensure no one would associate her, a family-friendly writer, with works that were considered sensational for society back then—something unfit for women.

The works under the A.M. Bernard pen name include a short story titled “Pauline’s Passion and Punishment,” which is a psychological thriller that explores the roles of men and women in society, and Behind a Mask, or A Woman’s Power, a tale about a governess who isn’t what she claims to be. It also includes short stories such as “Countess Vororoff” and “Dr. Dorn’s Revenge” that were published in Lady’s Magazine, edited by Henry Carter, who also went by a pen name—Frank Leslie—at the time.

This trend of women writers having to take on a new name—even a unisex one—to have their work judged without bias is something that continues even to the current day.

Nora Roberts, famed for her romance novels, began writing the In Death series in 1995 under the pen name J.D. Robb. As stated on the author’s website, Roberts was not only “ready for a writing challenge” but also eager to reach a new audience with her futuristic crime series. With a new genre, she felt a need to switch the name out. Eventually, she revealed the truth and to this day continues to write the series under the pen name.

The VIDA Count, which is an annual report that complies data from publications, journals, and press outlets regarding the diversity of the work they publish and review, revealed that in 2019, only three out of 15 of the largest publications had published at least 50% or more of women and nonbinary writers (which were Tin House, The New York Times Book Review, and Poetry Magazine.). Meanwhile, publications such as Harper’s Magazine, The Nation, and The Atlantic remained low, not reaching beyond 40%.

The VIDA Count also showed only 18 of the 24 literary magazines they reviewed had published at least 50% or more of writing by women and nonbinary authors.

So, what does this all mean, then?

It means a lot of what past women writers worried about during their time—bias, prejudice, and unwarranted criticism—are something women writers still worry about today. It means that even now, we still have a lot of work to do when it comes to getting words written by a woman seen by the world.

But every day, more women come forward, unafraid to write what they want, in the form they want, with the name they want. And that’s what makes Yellow Arrow Publishing’s mission even more important. Because with every publication we make, another woman gets to tell her story, without worrying about being silenced.

So hopefully, as time goes on, and more women get published, the less we’ll need to worry over the influence of a name.

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.

*****

Kapua Iao 4/11/23 Kapua Iao 4/11/23

Living Life to the Fullest: Lifecycle of a Beautiful Woman by Ann Weil

Yellow Arrow Publishing announces the release of our latest chapbook, Lifecycle of a Beautiful Woman, by Ann Weil. Since its establishment in 2016, Yellow Arrow has devoted its efforts to advocate for all women writers through inclusion in the biannual Yellow Arrow Journal as well as single-author publications and Yellow Arrow Vignette, and by providing strong author support, writing workshops, and volunteering opportunities. We at Yellow Arrow are excited to continue our mission by supporting Ann in all her writing and publishing endeavors.

Lifecycle of a Beautiful Woman by Ann Weil dives head first into a life lived to its fullest, exploring both small and large moments, deftly demonstrating how our experiences and memories create who we were, who we are, and who we will be. From bedroom closet to funky island town, from salsa lessons to riding out a hurricane, Ann weaves us through painful and joyful personal learning moments, using her poetry to tell her powerful and reflective story. Ann compels us to consider our own moments, our own secrets, our own beauty, reminding us that “We aren’t meant to sleep through a tread-water life.”

Ann writes at her home on the corner of Stratford and Avon in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and on a deck boat at Snipe’s Point Sandbar off Key West, Florida. Her work has been nominated for Best of the Net and appears in more than 45 journals and anthologies including Crab Creek Review, Bacopa Literary Review, Whale Road Review, Shooter Literary Magazine, Eastern Iowa Review, and DMQ Review. Ann earned her doctorate at the University of Michigan and is a former special education teacher and professor of education.

Through this collection, Ann conveys that it is possible to survey multiple facets of oneself to find beauty within. Whether reflecting on womanhood, exploring the pain of loss, the complexities of marriage, the intimacies of friendship, the unspoken truths about pleasure, or the desire to love a body as one ages, she tells us that no matter what, we are more than okay as is. In a sense, Lifecycle of a Beautiful Woman is a love letter from Ann to every woman out there as well as to herself.

Cover and interior photography were taken by Jillian Mayotte and Kelsey Orr while cover design was by Alexa Laharty, Yellow Arrow Creative Director. Ann wanted the cover “to reflect the content of the book,” particularly through its quirky, playful imagery. According to Ann, “I like to have fun—I don’t like to take life too seriously.”

Paperback and PDF versions of Lifecycle of a Beautiful Woman are now available from the Yellow Arrow bookstore. If interested in purchasing more than one paperback copy for friends and family, check out our discounted wholesale prices here. You can also search for Lifecycle of a Beautiful Woman wherever you purchase your books including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo. To learn more about Ann and Lifecycle of a Beautiful Woman, check out our recent interview with her.

You can find Ann on Instagram @annweilpoetry or annweilpoetry.com and connect with Yellow Arrow on Facebook and Instagram to share some love for this chapbook. You can also share a review to any of the major distributors or by emailing editor@yellowarrowpublishing.com. We’d love to hear from you.

*****

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.

Yellow Arrow 4/7/23 Yellow Arrow 4/7/23

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: Joanne Durham

Tell us about yourself: I am a retired educator living on the North Carolina coast. My poem “BABY!” was published in the RENASCENCE issue of Yellow Arrow Journal (spring 2021). I wrote a short piece on the Yellow Arrow blog about revision in May 2022. My first book was To Drink from a Wider Bowl, winner of the Sinclair Poetry Prize (Evening Street Press 2022), and my new chapbook is On Shifting Shoals (Kelsay Books, January 2023). You can find my poems also in Poetry South, CALYX, NC Literary Review, Ocotillo Review, Whale Road Review, and many other journals and anthologies. I consider myself incredibly lucky to be retired, living by the ocean with time to write and explore poetry with many poets I’ve met online.

Where are you from: Prince George’s County, Maryland

What describes your main writing space: expansiveness, ocean, immensity

Tell us about your publication: On Shifting Shoals (Kelsay Books, January 2023) includes 24 poems I’ve written over the past decade of living by the ocean. It explores my experiences of life in a southern beach town—the amazing beauty and sense of renewal of the ocean, environmental concerns in a time of climate change, and the sometimes humorous, sometimes uneasy relationships among the people who live there.

Why this book? Why now? How did it happen for you: When I moved to the North Carolina coast a decade ago, I started walking on the beach or riding my bike around my small town almost every day. I would take photos and started writing poems from those snapshots. The ocean, the people, the seasons—everything changes and invites new connections. Pretty soon I had a collection and I hoped it would appeal to anyone who never gets tired of the ocean.

What is your writing goal for the year: Erik Campbell once wrote, "I write poetry because I have a soul that needs a periodic tune-up." My goal is always that tune-up.

What advice do you have for other writers: Write as much and as often as you can, even if it’s just jotting thoughts in a journal. Take workshops if possible from poets whose work you admire and you will meet other poets with similar tastes to yours and they will be invaluable for supporting your writing and giving you honest feedback.

What else are you working on/doing that you’d like to share: I just keep writing. Lately it’s a lot about my concerns for the world we live in, how to live with the immense beauty and the immense cruelty that is everywhere.

You can find Joanne on Twitter @DurhamJoanne and Instagram @poetryjoanne.

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 4/4/23 Kapua Iao 4/4/23

Meet a Staff Member: Allyson Waldon

Yellow Arrow Publishing would like to introduce our publication sales manager, Allyson Waldon. Ally’s entire world revolves around books. She recently received her MFA in creative writing and publishing arts from the University of Baltimore (UB). While at UB, Ally served as an editor for Welter, a literary magazine. When she isn’t writing, she manages operations at The Book Rack, a woman-run educational book distributor. In her free time, Ally performs with Baltimore-area community theaters and choirs. She is currently working on the creation of a new collaborative musical at Fells Point Corner Theater. She is also working on keeping her dog and cat from eating one another. Interior Lives, a self-published collection of short prose, can be found at allywaldon.com.

Ally states, “I’m excited to work with other creative people who share a similar vision. Lately, I’ve not been writing as much and I feel like working with Yellow Arrow will light up that area of my brain again. I also believe I have a lot to offer to the organization. My current workplace is sometimes reluctant to try new things to connect with a wider audience. It would be great to try and implement these ideas to build relationships with bookstores and to increase readership. I am eager to learn and to be able to use both my organizational workplace skills and my creative skills together in a productive way.”

Tell us a little something about yourself:

I really enjoy making, creating, performing. My MFA culminated in the creation and design of my own book (this includes everything except for physically printing them) and then a reading, which tapped into all of my interests. Who knew there were so many typefaces!

While at UB, I worked on a short-lived podcast for Welter in addition to serving as fiction editor. After graduating, one of my pieces was published in the magazine.

An interesting thing about my writing is that the basis of many of my stories come from a dream journal I keep in the Notes app on my phone. They can get very weird, but it is a great springboard for ideas.

What do you love most about Baltimore?

Baltimore has such a rich literary history (F. Scott Fitzgerald, Lucille Clifton, Edgar Allan Poe) and a great arts scene in general. It also is in close proximity to other east coast cities . . . no reading or concert or museum is more than a day trip away.

Baltimore has a certain quirkiness that many people don’t get, so it’s also a point of pride that I’m from here. Baltimoreans have a strong work ethic. We are resilient and resourceful, but we also know how to have a good time! Also, crabs are delicious. I mean, come on.

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

Annie Marhefka (Executive Director), my childhood babysitter, has known me since I was seven years old. Our mothers were best friends and coworkers who bonded over books, so this is in our blood! Annie mentioned to me that there was an opportunity to get involved with publication sales and building relationships with bookstores, which is a large part of my day job. It was meant to be.

What are you working on currently?

I’m collaborating with three other writers on a new musical at Fells Point Corner Theater about what it means to “try.” I’m also in the process of taking the helm at my workplace as the current owner retires. Daunting, but exciting.

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

I find that I’m most generative after reading memoir. Perhaps there’s some sort of lightning rod in the reality of someone else’s personal history that helps me tap into my own thoughts. I write flash and short fiction, but I also think flash can sometimes overlap with poetry. The lines are blurry for me.

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

Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw is next on my list.

Who is your favorite writer and why?

Even though I’m a short form writer, I love and admire John Irving. It makes no sense why an elderly, white, male writer would resonate so deeply with me, but good craft is good craft, I suppose. I find myself getting fully absorbed in his books. The World According to Garp is probably my favorite of his.

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

My mother has always encouraged me to pursue the things that I enjoyed doing rather than the things that would be the most lucrative. She has worked in books for many years and made sure I had access to anything and everything I wanted to read. My father was never ashamed to pick up a book that wasn’t necessarily written for him—a YA dystopian romance or a Hollywood memoir. It set a great example. I think wide exposure leads to better writing, so I have them both to thank for that.

What do you love most about writing?

Writing and creating in general is therapeutic to me. It helps me to dissect and even work out the things in my head. I love the research that comes along with writing. It takes everything in my power not to go off on tangents researching moon phases or the geography of Senegal (these are both real life examples), but I enjoy it immensely.

What advice do you have for new writers?

I would tell new writers to read beyond their genre. It broadens your worldview and helps your writing to be less insular. The best writers are good readers. I’ve been inspired by nonfiction and cookbooks and comic books and even Twitter threads.

What’s your vision for Yellow Arrow in 2023?

There is a lot to SPARK! This year, I hope to have a fire lit within me. I hated high school, but there were some good takeaways. Our school motto was “Lucem accepimus, lucem demus.” We have received light, let us give light. It might seem a little pretentious or even hokey, but it’s an ideal worth exemplifying. When creativity is sparked, it spreads. I hope the creative spark is lit within me, and I am able to tend to the flame in order to pass it on.

*****

“rebirth” BY tess kay from minneapolis, minnesota

“I am, you are” BY Rebecca Brock from leesburg, virginia

“Poetry Translation Folios with Work by Chinese Poet Zhang Zhihao” BY Yuemin He from chengdu, china

“How Can a Culturally Responsive Discussion of the Five-Paragraph Essay Help Asian American Students Write Well?” BY Yuemin He from Chengdu, China

PRIZES/AWARDS

“Scientists Determine Time Perception Varies in Animals” by rebecca brock from leesburg, virginia

“Girl on a Beach” BY Sara Palmer from Baltimore, maryland

“Finger Painting” BY Heather Brown Barrett from Virginia

“Chritmas Call” BY Christine C. Hsu FROM San Francisco, California, for the Winter Wonderland Monologue Festival

“On Becoming the Type of Person Who Yells: Dinner!” BY REBECCA BROCK FROM LEESBURG, VIRGINIA

“RIDDLE” BY Ann Quinn FROM CatonsvillE, Maryland

“When Honey Wouldn't Do” BY REBECCA BROCK FROM LEESBURG, VIRGINIA

“One For Your Mother” BY Annie Marhefka FROM Baltimore, Maryland

PRIZES/AWARDS

“A Conversation with Henri Rousseau about his ‘Vue de Bois de Boulogne’” BY Joanne Durham FROM Prince George's County, Maryland

“Ten Days” BY Kay Smith-Blum FROM SEATTLE, Washington

Natasha Saar, publications intern

From New York City but lives in Baltimore, Maryland

What do you do? I assist with everything to do with publications. This includes writing blog posts, running social media campaigns, and working with the Editor-in-Chief to copyedit and proofread exciting and upcoming publications.

Where do you go to school? I’m currently a senior at Loyola University Maryland, and if all goes to plan, I’m going to be graduating this May.

Beck Snyder, program management intern

Lives in Towson, Maryland

What do you do? I put together social media posts and schedule them, work on the monthly newsletter, copyedit Yellow Arrow Journal, and research for grants.

Where do you go to school? I go to school at Towson University, and I’ll be graduating in the spring of 2023, provided everything goes to plan.

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