Yellow Arrow Publishing Blog

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

Meet a Staff Member: Jill Earl

Yellow Arrow Publishing would like to introduce editorial associate Jill Earl. Jill is a writer based in Maryland. As a past member of the Maryland Writers Association, she served as a proofreader then later editor of the membership publication Pen in Hand. She was a contributor and newsletter editor for WOW! Women on Writing, an online magazine for women writers. She was published in Pen in Hand, Topology (formerly catapult magazine), WOW! Women on Writing, and on the website Your Tango.

Jill says, “I’m looking forward to getting to know the staff as we work together to help women publish and gain recognition for their writing, enhancing and improving my own writing skills as I get back into writing myself, and continuing to learn about the publishing industry.”

Tell us a little something about yourself:

I’m an avid reader continuing the tradition inherited from my mom of having stacks of books and magazines in the living room and bedroom. I’m a major fan of film and the arts, enjoy traveling, cooking, baking through my massive collection of recipes, learning Spanish, and seeing what develops as I continue to learn photography. I’m also learning about the ins and outs of chinchilla sitting. Not all at the same time, of course.

What do you love most about Baltimore?

I like living in Catonsville, which is right outside of Baltimore City. There’s something about the small town/village feel of the area that’s resonated with me.

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

I became involved with Yellow Arrow when I was hired for the editorial associate role.

What are you working on currently?

I [was] working on a Christmas-related latch hook rug. Pretty sure it won’t be finished in time.

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

I’m noticing it’s a tie between nonfiction and cookbooks. With nonfiction, there have been so many book releases in the last several years regarding historical events and authors that I want to learn about. As for cookbooks, I love learning about different cuisines, culinary traditions, and techniques and the reimagining of them all. On top of that, I love to study the images in those books because I’m interested in food photography. Finally, making recipes helps hone my skills, as well as keep me fed.

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

Right now, it’s Susan Cain’s Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole. I’ve followed her since she released Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking a number of years ago. Her extensive research on introversion continues to help me understand how I see and interact with society as an introvert and how embracing sorrow and longing can be healing.

Who is your favorite writer and why?

I’d have to say Kathleen Norris. She’s a poet and memoirist based in Hawai’i but much of her work is about her life in South Dakota. My favorite book of hers is The Cloister Walk, which recounts her two extended residencies at a Benedictine abbey in Minnesota. It was fascinating that I found her experiences, which could be considered outdated by today’s standards, relevant. I was even inspired to do a weekend retreat at a local convent, which I enjoyed a lot.

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

My first inspiration was my mother who nurtured me for as long as I can remember. She saw that I had a vivid imagination and encouraged me to use it. Our library held numerous books in a range of topics and genres, and I spent hours learning and writing about various topics, authors, and genres. She always supported me, cheering me on as I competed in my first writing contest as a child and that continued into adulthood as I took on a number of writing roles as an adult.

What do you love most about writing?

Being able to lose myself in the process of using thoughts, ideas and imagination to create characters, scenarios and alternate worlds for fiction; or presenting facts, perspective and lived experience for nonfiction. I also appreciate that now writers can veer off to create work that doesn’t fall under established genres.

What advice do you have for new writers?

Regardless of age, we live in a world where there’s a plethora of resources available to explore. Read about that author or genre you’re curious about. Practice your writing. Take that class or workshop. Go to that conference. Have coffee or a meal with that author you’ve been following if you can—not in a stalkerish way, because who wants that? Enter that competition. Then rinse and repeat because it’s a never-ending process.

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

Kapua Iao 1/16/24 Kapua Iao 1/16/24

The Color Purple: Still Evolving After 40 Years

Yellow Arrow Publishing would like to announce the next guest editor for Yellow Arrow Journal, Jennifer N. Shannon. Jennifer will oversee the creation of our Vol. IX, No. 1 issue.

This next issue of Yellow Arrow Journal gives creatives who identify as women the opportunity to be their authentic selves by exploring and embracing their voices within its pages. With this issue, we want our authors to reach higher — move forward — live proudly. To learn more about this idea, read Jennifer’s words below. Mark your calendar! The theme will be released next week. Submissions open February 1 and the issue will be released in May.

Jennifer N. Shannon has self-published three books: Silent Teardrops, for the LOVE, short stories and poems, vol. 1, and for the LOVE, short stories and poems, vol. 2. Her poetry, short stories, photographs, and essays have been in lit magazines such as North Dakota Quarterly, Yellow Arrow Journal, Deep South Magazine, Auburn Avenue, and others. In 2022, she curated the six-month artist exhibition “Black Joy Is My Protest,” which featured 12 artists from across the country and was showcased at Busboys and Poets in Baltimore. Jennifer was also a 2022 Baker Artist Awards finalist, a poetry fellow at The Watering Hole, and in 2023, she was selected as a Maryland State Arts Council Triennial Artist for Literary Arts. Jennifer is a proud South Carolinian and Gamecock who now lives in Maryland with her son and partner. Visit Jennifer’s website jennifernshannon.com or follow her @writerjns on Instagram and Facebook. Jennifer previously served on the Yellow Arrow board as marketing director and her poem “We Smile” was included in Yellow Arrow Journal RENASCENCE (Vol. VI, No. 1).

Please follow Yellow Arrow on Facebook and Instagram for the theme announcement. Below, you can read more about Jennifer’s perspective on the importance of amplifying one’s own voice. We look forward to (re)working with Jennifer over the next few months.

By Jennifer N. Shannon

I recently started reading the beautiful hardcover book Purple Rising: Celebrating 40 Years of the Magic, Power, and Artistry of The Color Purple. It’s about The Color Purple, a book written by Alice Walker who won a Pulitzer Prize for her work. Purple Rising celebrates The Color Purple’s 40-year journey from the written piece to the 1985 film, its reinvention as a musical on Broadway, and finally to its latest transformation as a musical movie.

There is so much about Purple Rising that I already love . . . finding out more about Alice Walker’s motivation for writing what is one of my favorite books (the 1985 film is also a favorite), the photographs that span decades and capture the evolution of each iteration of The Color Purple, and the paths of all who have been involved in the various projects.

“If it is true that it is what we run from that chases us, then The Color Purple (this color that is always a surprise but is everywhere in nature) is the book that ran me down while I sat with my back to it in a field.” – Alice Walker, preface to the 1992 edition

In 2021, I gave birth to a baby boy. Nothing could prepare me for the bevy of emotions I’ve felt since that moment. I’ve doubted myself as a mother and questioned who I was becoming as a woman. Not to mention feeling as though I had lost my voice as a writer and poet. That has been one of the most difficult things about transitioning into motherhood; the losses I’ve felt even though I have gained so much. However, the process of rediscovering who I am at this moment, during this time, has brought me to hidden places. Watching my son’s curiosity, his zest for all things “Christmas,” such as Elmo and Tango’s Nutcracker, and his fearlessness, pushes me to be more fearless in my writing. To explore my entrance into this world, my family history, and the stories that I’ve been reliving in my head—real and imagined. As I journey through my past, there is a reckoning that’s happening which is making me face what has been chasing me.

“I was dealing with some skeletons in the closet in the family, wanting to bring light to very murky corners.” – Alice Walker from Purple Rising

My paternal grandmother was physically abused by her husband for 30 years. Many years ago, she told me about it, matter-of-factly, as I sat with all the wonder in the world at how she survived and why she didn’t leave sooner. Although I didn’t realize this before, in many ways she was Celie from The Color Purple. And like Celie, she found her way out of that marriage and forged ahead making a life for herself. She wasn’t bitter and she’s still one of the nicest people I have ever met.

The Color Purple is a revelation of what women, Black women, have been experiencing since forever. It is an example of what it is to be courageous—to bellow out for the world to hear. Back when it was first published, it brought to light so much about women’s concerns, abuse, mistreatment, and beauty while showcasing love and tenderness. That’s what makes it timeless and inspiring. It is gentle but harsh, truthful yet fictitious. It is the epitome of vulnerability. And it is an example of the type of writer and artist I aspire to be.

I am proud of my becoming, as a mother and writer and friend and daughter and partner. I am also excited about the honesty I am searching for even when it’s scary. The Color Purple did that. The latest version of this masterpiece still does that for me. It makes me want to be brave, live in my truth, evolve into who I will become, and share my voice as loudly as I can. It makes me want to help other women do the same, and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to do just that, with my curatorial work and with Yellow Arrow Journal, Vol. IX, No. 1.

*****

Kapua Iao 1/9/24 Kapua Iao 1/9/24

Amplify: Reinforcing Women’s Voices with Yellow Arrow Publishing’s 2024 Yearly Value

By Nikita Rimal Sharma

“We are fighting misogynists in every culture. My solution is to listen to the women in each community and amplify their voices.”
~Mona Eltahawy

Choosing one word to exemplify 2024 for Yellow Arrow Publishing is a ritual we have followed since 2020. I think of it as being an intentional way to reflect on the past year and take those experiences forward with a new energy.

Previous yearly values include REFUGE for 2020, EMERGE for 2021, and AWAKEN for 2022—watchwords that trace not only Yellow Arrow’s experience of the last few years but the culture as a whole. Last year we chose the word SPARK to rekindle our fire. We used that flame and that sparkle to light a flame. We hosted 39 workshops, published three chapbooks and two journal issues, released our second edition of Yellow Arrow Vignette, organized two fundraisers, one in-person in our home town of Baltimore and one online, represented Yellow Arrow in four local and one national conference, and the list goes on.

The root that we established in our beloved Baltimore City is growing, spreading its branches and leaves to so many more writers beyond borders. We are proud of the growth while remaining committed to our home base and are ready to capitalize on what we have created. For 2024, we are ready to AMPLIFY, to get women-identifying voices out loudly and proudly into the ethos.

When I think of amplify, I think of taking what we have and going to the next level: supporting more women-identifying writers to bring their creation to the world through publications; inspiring seasoned and aspiring writers to take up more space and share their stories without any inhibition through our workshops. As we work on our mission and bring beautiful morsels of writing into life, we find that each piece we publish or showcase brings us and our humanity together and helps us nurture our emotions with vulnerability and grace. There is so much power in creation.

Our 2024 will be about amplifying women-identifying authors with our biannual Yellow Arrow Journal, our chapbook series, and our online publication Yellow Arrow Vignette. We can’t wait to introduce you to our first guest editor in the new year and open submissions to Vol. IX, No. 1 in February, release our first 2024 chapbook Beyond the Galleons by Isabel Cristina Legarda, or find new voices to showcase with Vignette. With 2024, we also look to strengthen the voices of women-identifying authors (those taking and those teaching the workshops!) with our 2024 workshop offerings, such as, for the spring, the revamped Poetry is Life, The Written Womb, Write Here Write Now, and Ekphrastic Poetry (SOLD OUT!). And finally, we’re using 2024 to intensify our presence within the Baltimore community and beyond with more in-person and virtual events, festivals, and get togethers.

The word AMPLIFY fills me with a sense of pride and gratitude. It is a sign that we have come a long way fighting through adversities, changes, and challenges to a place where we can dream a little bigger. I am truly thankful for every staff member on the team who has continued to work tirelessly for women-identifying authors. And all of this would not be possible without our readers and supporters. Your faith in the power of creativity, storytelling, and writing was our spark in 2023 and will be our energy to amplify in 2024.

Now, let’s go!

Nikita Rimal Sharma (she/her) currently lives in Baltimore, Maryland, with her husband, Prashant and dog, Stone. She works at B’More Clubhouse, a community-based, mental health nonprofit organization focused on psychosocial recovery. She graduated with a master’s in public administration from Wichita State University, Kansas, which is where she landed when she first moved to the U.S. in 2013. When she is not working, Nikita is busy reading, writing and reflecting, hiking, or spending time with family and friends. She has been involved with Yellow Arrow Publishing through the Poetry is Life workshop, her first poem ever published in Yellow Arrow Journal, and her first chapbook publication, The most beautiful garden. She loves being a part of this amazing women driven creative community. Nikita is on Yellow Arrow’s board as director of fundraising. Find her on Instagram @nikita.playwithwords.

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Yellow Arrow 12/29/23 Yellow Arrow 12/29/23

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

“Freight Train” by Emma Gawlinski from the United kingdom (living in spain)

Genre: poetry

Name of publication: Ink Sweat & Tears

Date published: October 2023

Type of publication: online

inksweatandtears.co.uk/emma-gawlinski

Find Emma on Twitter @EClinski.

PRIZES/AWARDS

“The Perseids” by Nancy Hugget from Ottawa

Genre: creative nonfiction

Name of award: Best of the Net and Pushcart Prize

Winner of last year’s American Literary Review’s essay contest

americanliteraryreview.com/2023/03/27/nancy-huggett/

Connect with Nancy on Twitter @nancyhuggett, Instagram @nanhug, or Facebook @huggett.35.

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

Single-author publications: here.

Single pieces and awards/prizes: here.

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

*****

Yellow Arrow Publishing is a nonprofit supporting women writers through publication and access to the literary arts. You can support us as we SPARK and sparkle this year: purchase one of our publications from the Yellow Arrow bookstore, join our newsletter, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter or subscribe to our YouTube channel. Donations are appreciated via PayPal (staff@yellowarrowpublishing.com), Venmo (@yellowarrowpublishing), or US mail (PO Box 65185, Baltimore, Maryland 21209). More than anything, messages of support through any one of our channels are greatly appreciated.

Kapua Iao 12/19/23 Kapua Iao 12/19/23

2023 Year in Review: We Belong Here, and You Belong Here, Too

Dear Yellow Arrow Community,

It is hard to believe I have only been a part of this incredibly warm community of writers for just a few years when it often feels like I have always belonged here. This year, I had the great honor of representing Yellow Arrow Publishing at many conferences and literary festivals in Baltimore (and beyond!) and every Yellow Arrow writer and reader I meet tells me the same thing: Yellow Arrow made me feel like I belong here. Friends: you do belong here. We are so incredibly grateful to have you on this journey with us. Let’s take a moment to look back at all we have done in our 2023 Year in Review.

Each year we select a yearly value that embodies the energy we want to bring into our work, and this year, we selected SPARK. Yellow Arrow Vignette managing editor Siobhan McKenna reflected on what spark means to her and to Yellow Arrow when she introduced the focus for Vignette SPARK this summer:

“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.”

The words and stories we published this year all orbited around this idea of why we write, what stories we have to tell, and who is listening? I can tell you, Yellow Arrow community, we are listening. We love reading your submissions, and though the final selection process is often difficult, and we can’t publish everyone, know that your words stay with us. Vignette SPARK authors used the theme to take on a variety of forms of the word from literal to the meta, exploring the influences in their lives that have ignited their creative pursuits.

With Yellow Arrow Journal this year, we first explored the theme of KINDLING with guest editor Matilda Young. Our KINDLING cover artist and contributing poet Violeta Garza captured the theme of the issue perfectly: “I see kindling as the grouping of individual pieces that, with enough chemistry and action, create an explosion.” What a stunning metaphor she has articulated for just how we feel about the work we do here at Yellow Arrow! Then, our second release of Yellow Arrow Journal Vol. VIII, EMBLAZON, focused on life’s fleeting moments and how we make them last. Guest editor Leticia Priebe Rocha shared, “What is writing and creating if not an attempt to emblazon those moments on the page? And are we not all simply stumbling around, feverishly trying to emblazon ourselves onto this world?” We are so honored to emblazon and kindle the stories of our contributors onto the page in Yellow Arrow Journal. (P.S. If you don’t have copies of either issue yet or want to gift them to someone for the holidays, you can buy them at a discount of $25 here). We published 77 incredible writers in Yellow Arrow Journal and Yellow Arrow Vignette this year and are so happy to have had the chance to hear so many diverse, rich voices.

In addition to these creatives, we published three incredible poetry collections: Lifecyle of a Beautiful Woman by Ann Weil, Black girl magic & other elixirs by shantell hinton hill, and Swimming in Gilead by Cassie Premo Steele (you can share in the happiness of these three authors as they saw their books for the first time on YouTube!). We enjoyed meeting with these chapbook authors in a cohort this year to collaborate on how to share their stories. For the remainder of 2023, you can support Ann, shantell, and Cassie by purchasing a bundle of all three 2023 chapbooks for a discounted price. Note that we recently announced our 2024 chapbook authors and are eagerly looking ahead to their publications next year and can’t wait to support them.

With our Writers-in-Residence program, we are able to build community amongst local writers by offering access to our workshops, one-on-one meetings with team members, and more. We were also able to add a stipend and a gift card to Bird-in-Hand to our Writers-in-Residence program this year and were thrilled to have Kat Scott and Tramaine Suubi join us on their creative journeys this fall. Stay tuned for information about an in-person reading featuring their work in early 2024!

We were also (finally) able to get out and about in Baltimore and beyond this year! In March, board president Mickey Revenaugh and I took a trip to Seattle to check out the AWP (Association of Writers & Writing Programs) conference for the first time, and wow, were we blown away by the presence of so many amazing small presses and writers! And beyond that, we were overcome with the feeling that we, the Yellow Arrow Publishing team, belong there, too. That we were finally able to really spark and sparkle. We are delighted to share that we’ve decided to attend AWP as official participants with a Yellow Arrow table in the book fair in February 2024. We hope to see writers from our community in Kansas City! We also spent a lot of time connecting further with our Baltimore-area community at the Washington Writers Conference, the Waverly Book Festival, The Lost Weekend Festival, and the Baltimore Writers Conference. It is truly inspiring to see the love for reading and writing so present across so many thriving local arts neighborhoods. Now that we can transition many of our programs from fully virtual to in person (hooray!), we are excited to solidify our Baltimore-area presence in 2024. Our roots are in Baltimore; Baltimore is where we belong, even if we are supporting writers beyond our region (which we love to do!). Stay tuned for exciting updates about how you will be able to engage with us locally. If you know a Baltimore creative who isn’t connected with us, please encourage them to subscribe to our newsletter for updates!

Finally, this year, we had a goal of expanding our workshops and are so thrilled that we were able to host a total of 39 workshops on craft writing topics! One workshop participant shared, “I enjoyed the instructor’s blend of reading poems for inspiration, sharing her unique thoughts on the subject, and allowing time for writing and sharing. I felt connected to the other workshop participants and appreciated the diversity of thought and writing styles represented.” We just released our 2024 winter workshop schedule which includes four incredible workshop series: Ekphrastic Poetry, Poetry is Life, The Written Womb, and Write Here Write Now. You can sign up for sessions one at a time or buy the full series at a discounted price. We also introduced the Gift of Writing Card so that you can prepay for workshops (or gift them!) and choose which ones to attend as your schedule allows. This is a great way to kick off the new year by honoring your writing intentions in our supportive community! Our writing workshops are accessible, affordable, and foster a sense of community and support among writers in all stages of their creative journey. No matter where you are on your writing path, we welcome you to our workshop community. You belong here, too.

We could never do this incredible work without our tremendous team that collaborates so diligently behind the scenes. Every single team member, whether volunteer, staff, workshop instructor, intern, guest editor, or board member, is focused on supporting and empowering women-identifying writers at every stage of their artistic journey. We are excited to be expanding our amazing team in 2024 and look forward to sharing more information about our new team members with our community in the coming months.

We are ever so grateful for your continued support of women-identifying writers. We always welcome donations that support our mission, especially as we wrap up the year and begin planning for 2024 (get ready for the release of our 2024 theme in January!). Donate today to support our 2024 initiatives!

Yellow Arrow depends on the support of those who value our work; your continued support means everything to us. Donations are appreciated via PayPal (staff@yellowarrowpublishing.com), Venmo (@DonateYAP), or US mail (PO Box 65185, Baltimore, MD 21209). You can further support us by purchasing one of our publications from the Yellow Arrow bookstore, joining our newsletter, following us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, or subscribing to our YouTube channel.

Once again, thank you for supporting independent publishing and women writers. See you in the new year!

Warmest Wishes,

Annie Marhefka and the Yellow Arrow Publishing team

Kapua Iao 12/18/23 Kapua Iao 12/18/23

Please Tell Me: Write Here Write Now with Yellow Arrow Publishing

By Kerry Graham

Granted, I don’t know what it is. When it happened. Where.

But I know you have a story—many stories, in fact. I know the world will be made better (more whole, more hopeful) when you tell what only you can tell.

No, I don’t know who was there. Who wasn’t. How, or how much, what happened affects you. I just know that it’s a story we’re eager for you to share.

Maybe you’ve heard this before, this urging to tell your truth. Maybe you’d like to but are worried you won’t do your story justice. Maybe you don’t know where to start—or where to end.

Please don’t let that stop you from trying.

I am a seasoned writer of creative nonfiction; I write personal essays and vignettes, offering my readers glimpses of what and who matter to me. This genre shows me, time and again, that what appears to be the most unique is also often the most universal; narrating the nuances of our lives can be how we best connect to others.

I am also an instructor of creative nonfiction; I lead virtual workshops to support fellow writers—or fellow humans, folks with stories simmering within, whether or not they know how to tell those yet—in creating a narrative out of their lived experience.

I write creative nonfiction because it’s one of the most reliable ways to share what I find most precious. I teach creative nonfiction because I want as many people as possible, especially those with the least amount of experience, to have the option to do the same.

My quickest advice to anyone interested in writing creative nonfiction is to use the same level of imagination and intention to write as you would in other genres: a piece of fiction. Poetry. The fact that you’re recounting something that actually happened doesn’t change that it’s art. Your words are the color and shape of the scene unfolding on the page; you just need to know how to wield them. How to use your words to show. Evoke.

Starting in January, I will teach a monthly workshop series with Yellow Arrow called Write Here Write Now. Each session will be a new opportunity, a chance to work with a different skill, to craft creative nonfiction. We’ll discuss, practice, and have the opportunity to receive feedback on character development so that your readers will come to love or loathe the people in your story just like you do. In another session, we’ll cover setting—what it contributes to a scene and how. We’ll also travel through time, playing with flashbacks and flash forwards to figure out the most compelling way to reveal what it is that you have to say.

Write Here Write Now is designed for anyone eager to share their truth, regardless of previous writing experience. The first three sessions are on January 9, February 13, and March 12, which you can sign up for at yellowarrowpublishing.com/workshop-sign-up/whwn2024. While each session stands alone, they’ll be most valuable if you attend all three; you’ll see the cumulative impact of the skills, as well as how they can be used alongside one another to make your words even more resonant.

I don’t know your story, but I want to. And if you’ll have me, I’d be honored to help you tell it.

Kerry Graham is a Baltimore-based writer, book coach, and former high school English teacher. Her newsletter, Real Quick, offers solidarity with, and strategies for, the writer ready to become more confident and capable in their craft. Kerry is a Creative-in-Residence at The Baltimore Banner.

*****

Kapua Iao 12/12/23 Kapua Iao 12/12/23

Where to Submit: Spring Edition

Part of our mission in supporting and uplifting women writers is to promote those around the Yellow Arrow community with like-minded missions. We’d like to show our support by highlighting submissions open by sister presses throughout the year. This blog will list spring submissions from January to April, 2024 for:

journals/anthologies/zines
chapbooks
full-length manuscripts
online publications

We searched for submissions that have similar beliefs about inclusivity and diversity; they don’t necessarily only publish women but advocate for women-identifying authors in their own way. All listed are for poetry, creative nonfiction, and/or hybrid work.

If you think we missed something, please send the information in an email to editor@yellowarrowpublishing.com. We hope you find the list useful and good luck!

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

Journals/Anthologies/Zines

Archetype (online and print): accepts essays, poetry, fiction, interviews, reviews, impassioned musings, photography, and art; submissions open from November 1 to January 7 for the spring issue, June 1 to August 6 for the fall issue; no reading fee; no payment

humana obscura (online and print): accepts poetry, prose/short fiction, and art; submissions open until end of February, no payment

Lavender Review (online and print): accepts poetry and art by lesbians; submissions open year round; no reading fee

Levitate Magazine (online and print): accepts fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and visual arts on the theme of Insomnia; submissions open until end of February; no payment

Yellow Arrow Journal: accepts poetry, nonfiction, and cover art by creatives who identify as women (theme TBA); no reading fee; $10USD payment

Chapbooks

Backbone Press: accepts poetry chapbooks of 20-40 pages for competition; submissions open from January to March; $20USD reading fee; winning prize of $250USD

Game Over Books: accepts novels, novellas, short story collections, poetry chapbooks, hybrid; prose submissions open March 1 to 22, poetry submissions open May 1 to 31; no reading fee; 30% royalties paid

Kelsay Books (Alabaster Leaves Publishing): accepts chapbooks and full-length manuscripts; submissions open year round; $12USD reading fee, 12% royalties paid

Full-length manuscripts

Apprentice House Press: accepts manuscripts of a variety of genres (not poetry or children’s); submissions open now until January 30

BlazeVOX [books]: accepts poetry and fiction manuscripts (and actively developing a book series that promotes the work of women); submissions are currently open; 10% royalties paid

Game Over Books: accepts novels and full-length poetry manuscripts; prose submissions open March 1 to 22, poetry submissions open May 1 to 31; no reading fee; 30% royalties paid

Kelsay Books (Alabaster Leaves Publishing): accepts chapbooks and full-length manuscripts; submissions open year round; $12USD reading fee, 12% royalties paid

She Writes Press: accepts manuscripts of a variety of genres (not children’s books); submissions for spring 2025 publication is open; $35USD reading fee

Online Publication

ARTWIFE: accepts literary art, visual art, and video art; submissions open year round; no reading fee; no payment

Black Sun Lit digital vestiges: accepts poetry, prose, essays, translations; submissions open monthly (up to 100 accepted per month); no reading fee

Decolonial Passage: accepts essays, creative nonfiction, short stories, flash fiction, and poetry engaged in the decolonial project; submissions open for poetry in January, March, May, July, September, and November, all other submissions rolling; no payment

diode: accepts poetry, book reviews, interviews, and essays on poetics; submissions open year round; no reading fee

Five South: accepts poetry, short fiction, nonfiction, flash, and humor; submissions open year round; reading fees vary by genre

Glint Literary Journal: accepts fiction, nonfiction, poetry, hybrid, review, art, audio, and video; submissions open from November to April; no reading fee; no payment

Literary Mama: accepts fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction from self-identified mothers; submissions open year round; no reading fee; no payment

Minerva Rising Press’ The Keeping Room online magazine: accepts short stories, essays, free writing, and photo essays; submissions open year round; reading fee unknown; $25.00 payment

NELLE: accepts poetry, short fiction, nonfiction written exclusively by women; submissions open January 1 to September 1; $3USD reading fee

Raising Mothers: accepts experimental and traditional fiction, flash fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, interviews, book reviews, photo essays, and comic/graphic narratives from BIPOC people exclusively; see website for open call periods; payment a small honorarium

Text Power Telling Magazine: accepts memoir, plays, poetry, nonfiction, and art; submissions open January 3, 2023 to January 3, 2024

Waxing & Waning (online and print): accepts poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, plays, art, graphic stories, and short films; submissions open year round; reading fees vary by genre

Willow Springs: accepts fiction, poetry, nonfiction; submissions open September 1 to May 31; $3USD reading fee; payment varies by genre

Wrong Turn Lit: accepts fiction and creative nonfiction; submissions open year round; no payment

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Yellow Arrow 12/5/23 Yellow Arrow 12/5/23

Meet the 2024 Yellow Arrow Publishing Pushcart Prize Nominees

The Pushcart Prize honors the incredible work of authors published by small presses and has since 1976. And since then, thousands of writers have been featured in its annual collections—most of whom are new to the series. The Pushcart Prize is a wonderful opportunity for writers of short stories, poetry, and essays to jump further into the literary world and see their work gain recognition and appreciation.

The Prize represents an incredible opportunity for Yellow Arrow to further showcase and support our authors. Our staff is committed to letting our authors shine. Every writer has a story to tell and every story is worth telling. We are so proud of everyone we publish at Yellow Arrow. Without further ado, let’s meet the 2024 Yellow Arrow Pushcart Prize Nominees!

SHANTELL HINTON HILL

“i’m every woman”
from *Black girl magic & other elixirs*
~ it was third grade
when i finally discovered
the lyrics of my favorite song
were an incantation
to ward off evil
pale-faced women. ~

shantell hinton hill is the ultimate Renaissance woman. An engineer turned pastor, shantell situates her work at the intersections of social justice, public theology, and Black feminism/womanism. A native of Conway, Arkansas, shantell is married to Rev. Jeremy Hill. They recently welcomed their first child, Sophie June, to their growing family. shantell obtained a master of divinity from Vanderbilt Divinity School. She also earned a bachelor of science in electrical engineering from Vanderbilt University and a master of science in electrical engineering from Colorado State University.

She is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and the National Society of Black Engineers. She is also an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Her vocational experiences include work as a process control engineer, a Bible teacher, and as Assistant University Chaplain at Vanderbilt. At Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, shantell focuses on community engagement, faith-based coalition building, and narrative change to imagine more just communities in Arkansas. In her spare time, shantell is also a freelance writer/author and curates digital content that centers on wholeness and thriving.

shantell’s chapbook Black girl magic & other elixirs was released in July 2023 and can be found in the Yellow Arrow bookstore.

SARAH JOSEPHINE PENNINGTON

“Myths and Lore”
from *Yellow Arrow Journal* Vol. VIII, No. 2 **EMBLAZON**
~ We told tall tales and fish tales and jack tales and dog tails, too, family lore we called little dead dog stories, stuffed full of wonder and padded with big lies that came natural in the dark country night. ~

Sarah Josephine Pennington (she/her) is a queer, disabled writer and artist currently living in Louisville, Kentucky, though her roots are in Appalachia. She studied creative writing while attending Bellarmine University and the University of Louisville, as well as through the Appalachian Writer’s Workshop and the Carnegie Center in Lexington. Recently her writing has been included in Still: The Journal, and she has been awarded a 2023 writing residency through the Kentucky Foundation for Women. Her art, which includes ceramics, printmaking, and fiber arts, can be frequently found in venues throughout Louisville.

Sarah contributed her piece, “Myths and Lore,” to Yellow Arrow Journal’s Vol. VIII, No. 2 issue, EMBLAZON and can be found in the Yellow Arrow bookstore.

CASSIE PREMO STEELE

“Volcano Woman”
from Swimming in Gilead
~ Proud, out, loud,
Fire, feisty, you
Woman of waves. ~

Cassie Premo Steele is an accomplished American writer celebrated for her profound contributions to literature and ecofeminism. Her extensive body of work encompasses evocative poetry, insightful essays, and explorations of ecofeminist philosophy. Cassie’s writing resonates with readers by intertwining themes of women's experiences, spirituality, and nature, forming a tapestry of thought-provoking narratives. As an advocate for environmental consciousness and gender equality, her words bridge the gap between the personal and the ecological. Her acclaimed works, such as We Heal from Memory and Earth Joy Writing, reveal her deep-rooted connection to the natural world and her commitment to inspiring change. Her latest books are the novel, Beaver Girl, and the poetry collection, Swimming in Gilead, from Yellow Arrow Publishing. Find her at cassiepremosteele.com.

Cassie’s chapbook Swimming in Gilead was released in October 2023 and can be found in the Yellow Arrow bookstore.

JANNA WAGNER

“Sun City: Témoignage”
from *Yellow Arrow Journal* Vol. VIII, No. 1, **KINDLING**
~ It is a place known to Haitians as the worst place to live in the country, a place described by locals and outsiders alike as a human tragedy, a place where poverty is feral ~

Janna Wagner has been a nurse with Doctors Without Borders since 2014 and writes from her home base at the end of the road in Homer, Alaska. Janna's essays exploring humanitarian work, grief, and body image have been published or are forthcoming in The Forge Literary Magazine, Spectrum Literary Journal, Yellow Arrow Journal, Exposition Review, and others. She recently won joint first place in The Letter Review Prize for Poetry and The Letter Review Prize for Short Stories. She can be reached at janna.e.wagner@gmail.com.

Janna contributed her creative nonfiction piece, “Sun City: Témoignage” to Yellow Arrow Journal Vol. VIII, No. 1 issue, KINDLING and can be found in the Yellow Arrow bookstore.

ANN WEIL

“Lifecycle of a Beautiful Woman”
from *Lifecycle of a Beautiful Woman*
~ Sixty-one.
I used to be what I no longer am. The switch—no, the electricity—
that lit the room. Powered the whole damn city. ~

Ann Weil is a former special education teacher and professor of education who now writes with the squirrels of Ann Arbor, Michigan, and the manatees of Key West, Florida. Her most recent work appears in Maudlin House, Pedestal Magazine, DMQ Review, 3Elements Review, and The Shore. Her chapbook, Lifecycle of a Beautiful Woman, debuted in April 2023 from Yellow Arrow Publishing. Read more of Ann’s poetry at annweilpoetry.com.

Ann’s chapbook Lifecycle of a Beautiful Woman can be found in the Yellow Arrow bookstore. Ann also contributed her piece “The Unraveling” to Yellow Arrow Vignette AWAKEN, which can be found on the Yellow Arrow website.

*****

Kapua Iao 11/28/23 Kapua Iao 11/28/23

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 fall 2023 interns. Each has my appreciation.

Adhithi Anjali

From California
*What do you do*? I primarily work on developing and executing our social media fundraiser: Blazing the Path Forward. Working with Yellow Arrow’s other fall interns, we figured out a concept, contacted authors, and created posts to go out during November with the hopes of attracting more donors and followers to Yellow Arrow. I also research and contact potential donors and look into various arts grants that Yellow Arrow can apply for in the coming year. Aside from these financial tasks, I draft various graphics for upcoming publications and provide some additional copyediting help.
*Where do you go to school*? I am currently studying at the University of California, Davis, and I am expected to graduate by June 2025.
*What are you currently working on*? I am developing an independent study in medieval Telugu literature with one of my professors. Also, I am working as the undergraduate assistant to the Medieval and Early Modern Studies program at my university.

Adhithi Anjali is a third-year student at the University of California, Davis, majoring in English and comparative literature. She is inspired by nearly everything she reads to channel her own creativity through the pen. In the future, she hopes to continue working with literature and other writers to help them bring their creativity to light.

Why did you choose an internship with Yellow Arrow?

Yellow Arrow stood out to me because of its clear mission and how it understands the benefits of a small press. I think Yellow Arrow attempts to fill in the gaps that larger publishing houses do not care about, or at least provide meaningful attention to. But Yellow Arrow helps to allocate resources to a smaller community of writers and artists who do not want to publish extensive novels. Yellow Arrow helps women who choose to write alongside their current responsibilities, allowing a space for shorter, but intensely meaningful, publications.

Samantha Pomerantz

Currently lives in Elon, North Carolina (for school), but from Germantown, Maryland
*What do you do*? I work with Kapua Iao, Yellow Arrow’s Editor-in-Chief. I am also working with the other fall 2023 interns, Adhithi [Anjali] and Beverly [Yirenkyi]. My role has involved copyediting for *Yellow Arrow Journal* **EMBLAZON**, creating the Her View Friday and .W.o.W. posts, and running the October National Book Month/Diversity Awareness Month campaign. I am also working with the other interns on a fundraising project.
*Where do you go to school*? I am a senior at Elon University. I will graduate in the spring of 2024.
*What are you currently working on*? I am working toward my bachelor of arts degree in English in creative writing. For this, I am working on a portfolio of creative work. When I am not in class, work, or interning, I am likely in the ceramics studio, learning how to turn claybody into vases, plates, mugs, and boxes.

Samantha Pomerantz (she/her) is a writer and a student at Elon University, class of 2024. She is working on a degree in English with a concentration in creative writing, while minoring in psychology and women, gender, sexuality studies. Samantha is an award winning poet, and a lover of stories. She spends the nonacademic part of the year in Germantown, Maryland, usually hanging out with trees. She is grateful for the opportunity to intern with Yellow Arrow.

At this point, her future plans remain to be seen. She would like to find something where she can engage with and uplift stories in the world and add healing value. Samantha plans to move to the west coast and figure out how to live life without the identity anchor of being a student for the first time ever.

Why did you choose to do an internship with Yellow Arrow?

I was struck by Yellow Arrow’s commitment to putting writers first and celebrating diverse writers who identify as women. I wanted to be part of an independent organization that is working to share and celebrate the stories that have been historically underrepresented. I resonate deeply with Yellow Arrow’s tagline, “Every writer has a story to tell and every story is worth telling.”

Beverly Yirenkyi

From Maryland

*What do you do*? Create monthly Yellow Arrow newsletter content, support with workshop administration as needed, create social media graphics in Canva for events and publications, write social media captions and plan/schedule posts, and create events for our website calendar on Squarespace and Facebook.
*Where do you go to school*? Towson University, class of 2023.
*What are you currently working on*? I have two other jobs: one at Towson University’s Writing Center and the other as a Resident Services Coordinator at an apartment building. I am currently working on graduate school applications.

Beverly Yirenkyi is a current honors undergraduate student at Towson University, majoring in philosophy. She is from the D.C. metro area. Beverly is planning to continue her education with a JD/PhD in philosophy in the fall of 2024. She has loved reading and writing since she was in sixth grade and hopes to help marginalized voices be amplified in this field. You can find her on LinkedIn @beverlyyirenkyi.

Beverly hopes to be enrolled in the JD/PhD in the philosophy program next fall. In the meantime, she will be hopefully working full-time remotely and traveling to increase her conversational fluency in Spanish, Twi, French, and Japanese.

Why did you choose to do an internship with Yellow Arrow?

I wanted to dip my toes in the publishing world.

*****

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.

Yellow Arrow 11/24/23 Yellow Arrow 11/24/23

Her View Friday

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

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

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

“At the Corn Maze, I Wait—” by Rebecca Brock from Leesburg, Virginia

Genre: poetry

Name of publication: THRUSH

Date published: November 2023

Type of publication: online

thrushpoetryjournal.com/november-2023-rebecca-brock.html

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

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 11/21/23 Kapua Iao 11/21/23

Emblazoned with Love: Reflecting on the EMBLAZON Issue

By Leticia Priebe Rocha

I stumbled upon Yellow Arrow Journal as a writer submitting my work. I officially joined the Yellow Arrow family when my poem “Lost In” was selected for the PEREGRINE (Vol. VII, No. 2) issue. A few months later, I was featured on the March 2023 edition of the .Writers.on.Writing. series. Then, in the early warmth of June where everyone starts coming alive, I was asked to be guest editor for Yellow Arrow Journal’s fall 2023 issue. I was equal parts thrilled and confused. I knew nothing about editing a journal. I had only ever been on the writer’s side of things—a constant stream of rejections interrupted briefly by acceptances at merciful intervals. Despite my initial doubts, excitement won out as I pondered the possibilities of a theme that would do the incredible mission of Yellow Arrow justice.

This opportunity came at a point in my life where I often found myself meditating on the self, all the versions of myself and what I had lived that created them. I could easily identify big catalysts, like my family’s migration from Brazil. What truly interested me, though, was digging deeper into those catalysts and beyond to find the parts of a whole, all the fleeting moments that make up a life. Being overcome with wonder at the waterfalls near Santo Antonio do Pinhal. Witnessing my baby sister sit up and sway to the theme music of a novela on the TV for the first time. Hugging a dear friend when he gifted me a graduation stole with the Brazilian flag on it. Watching a lover make us mouthwateringly perfect banana walnut pancakes to the tunes of Grant Green. A myriad of ephemeral instants colored with people, places, images, and sensations that are irrevocably inscribed into my being—this is how EMBLAZON emerged.

It was a daunting task to capture the entire spectrum of the human experience in a single journal issue. As I began working alongside the amazing Yellow Arrow team to mold EMBLAZON into all its glory, my fledgling fears dissipated entirely. It was profoundly heartening to see the level of care that was invested at each step of the process by every member of the team. I knew that as long as I treated every submission with that same level of care, EMBLAZON would take the shape it was meant to. One of the most important lessons I learned during this process was that when an editor tells you they had to make very difficult and incredibly subjective decisions, they are not simply trying to spare writerly feelings—it’s the truth!

In the issue’s introduction, I describe every piece in EMBLAZON as a testament to writing as an act of love. I struggle to find the words to articulate what an honor it has been to be let into such vulnerable and quintessentially human expressions of love and aliveness. EMBLAZON opens with Alli Tervo’s gorgeous “The Field,” its last line “Love is to stand in the sun where the risk is” echoing throughout the issue as it takes us through a journey of the most precious aspects of living. There are vividly tender celebrations of the people and places that raised us, like in Sarah Josephine Pennington’s “Myths and Lore”: “The feel of that hateful winter with its insistence on freezing, the snow piling in drifts against the river rock my daddy had pulled from the lake and mason’d onto the house, stays engraved into my bones, a permanent mark saying this is who and where yer from.”

The poet in me simply could not shy away from depictions of the transformative power of romantic love, like in Emma Conlon’s “GENESIS: revision”: “two fallen angels laughing as we slipped / from the precipice, a silver moon of sky / on the eve of our damnation / I’ve never felt closer to heaven.” EMBLAZON is also a monument to resilience and the journey toward one’s most radiant self, exemplified perfectly in Elizabeth Birch’s “Bloom”: “It may take [a cactus] forty years to bloom a flower. / I’m in my mid-thirties now. The New England sky is gray, / but I’m pointed toward the sun, waiting.”

The issue closes with K.S. Palakovic’s stunning “If I had two hours to live,” the piece’s last line encapsulating what we all strive to make of the brief time we have in this life: “and it would be enough.” I am ardently proud of EMBLAZON, our contributors, and the Yellow Arrow team. Above all, I am deeply grateful for the gift of leading the curation of such a glowing tribute to the transient nature of our time on this earth. If you haven’t snagged your copy of EMBLAZON, I sincerely hope you do. It is so incredibly special to encounter a collection of work that not only moves and inspires but radiates love. May this love be emblazoned (I couldn’t resist . . .) in your life and memory.

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.

I will see you all alongside many of our phenomenal contributors on November 29 at 8:00 p.m. EST for the official EMBLAZON reading! Find out more information at yellowarrowpublishing.com/calendar/emblazon-live-reading. Let us know you will join us at fb.me/e/14zRYBxCi.

Leticia Priebe Rocha earned her bachelor’s from Tufts University, where she was awarded the 2020 Academy of American Poets University & College Poetry Prize. Born in São Paulo, Brazil, she immigrated to Miami, Florida, at the age of nine and currently resides in the Greater Boston area. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in Salamander, Rattle, Pigeon Pages, Protean Magazine, and elsewhere.

*****

Kapua Iao 11/14/23 Kapua Iao 11/14/23

Meet the Yellow Arrow Publishing 2024 chapbook authors

By Kapua Iao

From 2020 to 2023, Yellow Arrow Publishing has had the privilege of publishing 11 poetry chapbooks. In 2020, we released our first two chapbooks: Smoke the Peace Pipe (Roz Weaver) and the samurai (Linda M. Crate). Learning how to navigate the world of single-author publications and getting to know the authors was truly rewarding. Roz and Linda were and are fantastic writers and fantastic women. In 2021 we published three more incredible collections, No Batteries Required (Ellen Dooling Reynard), St. Paul Street Provocations (Patti Ross), and Listen (Ute Carson). And in 2022, as we formalized our chapbook submissions process, we had the privilege of working with three local, Baltimore authors with their collections The most beautiful garden (Nikita Rimal Sharma), when the daffodils die (Darah Schillinger), and What is Another Word for Intimacy? (Amanda Baker). This year, we found three more amazing poets who published Lifecycle of a Beautiful Woman (Ann Weil), Black girl magic & other elixirs (shantell hinton hill), and released last month, Swimming in Gilead (Cassie Premo Steele).

With 2024, we wanted to spark and sparkle and made some changes to our submissions process. First, we opened submissions to not only poetry chapbooks but also creative nonfiction and hybrid chapbooks. And second, we added a sliding scale fee so that we could better support and promote our authors while remaining accessible to all writers. We are thrilled to use the fees collected to pay our 2024 chapbook authors and to give a stipend to our creative director, Alexa Laharty, who designs each of our beautiful covers.

In two rounds over several months, we read through the beautiful submissions we received, first creating a longlist, then shortlist, and eventually selecting the three authors we would love to publish in 2024. It was difficult to email submitters to let them know our decision (writing an acceptance email is as hard as a decline as you never know how either message will be received), but the process is done, and we are so excited to work with the three chosen.

So, without further ado, let’s meet the 2024 Yellow Arrow chapbook authors!

**Isabel Cristina Legarda**

*Beyond the Galleons*
coming April 2024

Isabel Cristina Legarda was born in the Philippines and spent her early childhood there before moving to Bethesda, Maryland. She holds degrees in literature and bioethics and is currently a practicing physician in Boston. She enjoys writing about women’s lived experience, cultural issues, and finding grace in a challenging world. Her work has appeared in America Magazine, Cleaver Magazine, The Dewdrop, The Lowestoft Chronicle, Ruminate, Sky Island Review, Smartish Pace, Qu, West Trestle Review, and others. Find Isabel on Instagram and Twitter @poetintheOR.

Beyond the Galleons is a meditation on Filipino experiences of colonization, language conflict, loss of homeland, finding footing in new homes, ancestral connection, family, alienation, cultural agility, and the ghosts that haunt people living in geographic or psychologic diasporas. The poems within contemplate longing and resilience, and the need to hold fast to memory even while moving forward beyond pain. It is Isabel’s hope that this small collection can become part of the diasporic voices and joined multicultural histories that are not currently so well known or talked about.

What sparked your interest in writing?

Reading! My elementary and middle schools had wonderful libraries and librarians, and my parents actively modeled and encouraged a love of books, so I contracted bibliophilia at an early age. My father also recited poetry by heart, not infrequently, and between that and the word-centered liturgical traditions I grew up with, I was surrounded by reverence for language. Finally, I was fortunate to have had teachers who helped me find ways to channel some of that love of words and story into creative writing pretty early. (Thanks, Mrs. Riederer, for the journals you made us keep!)

What sparked your interest in Yellow Arrow Publishing?

When I found Yellow Arrow’s website, I was immediately drawn to [its] woman-centered ethos and active valuing of underrepresented voices. I felt a real sense of writerly community reading through the blog posts and the .Writers.on.Writing. section. I was also so impressed by the quality of work showcased in the journal. Yellow Arrow felt like the kind of safe space so many women writers are looking for.

**Candace Walsh**

*Iridescent Pigeons*
coming July 2024

Candace Walsh is a PhD candidate in creative writing at Ohio University. She holds an MFA in fiction from Warren Wilson College. Recent/forthcoming publication credits include for poetry, Sinister Wisdom, Vagabond City Lit, and HAD; for fiction, The Greensboro Review, Passengers Journal, and Leon Literary Review; and for creative nonfiction, March Danceness, New Limestone Review, and Pigeon Pages. Her craft essays and book reviews have appeared in Brevity, descant, New Mexico Magazine, and Fiction Writers Review. She coedits Quarter After Eight literary journal. Find her on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook @candacewalsh.

Queer love, so often mischaracterized, contains multitudes. The poems within Iridescent Pigeons represent it in romantic, maternal, filial, platonic, symbiotic, erotic, and sylvan modes. They also hold love and loss in cupped hands. We are mortal; so is love. We have life spans; so does love, whether measured in dog years, golden anniversaries, or the number of hours of a tryst that will expire at dawn. Amid the loss, retrieval and rebirth stir within the included poems that inhabit and annex traditional and endangered forms, such as a [William] Wordsworthian ode, an homage to Gerard Manley Hopkins’ “Pied Beauty,” a cento composed of phrases from Virginia Woolf’s Jacob’s Room, and a triptych of Sapphic stanzas.

What sparked your interest in writing?

Before I could read and write, I scribbled in a marble composition notebook and proclaimed it writing. In first grade, I asked my teacher for an “empty book” so I could write a story in it and illustrate it. My guess is that listening to and reading stories sparked my interest in writing; my mother read to me every night from birth on. I wonder if architects, as children, look at buildings the way I looked at books: without a barrier between the object and one’s admiration, enjoyment, and the desire to create. A thread that has unspooled alongside me my whole life is at the root of writing as resistance: to make an indelible record of what has been ignored, diminished, gaslighted, or stonewalled in the form of conversation—or seems too volatile to say aloud.

What sparked your interest in Yellow Arrow Publishing?

I happily stumbled across Yellow Arrow’s call for submissions when I was researching poetry chapbook publishers while procrastinating finishing my novel. One of the best things about being a writer is that you can procrastinate very fruitfully if you put that energy toward another writing project. I also noticed a sense of readiness in the poems—that they were talking to each other and would be amplified in each other’s company. Yellow Arrow’s mission of supporting women-identified writers and honoring poets’ voices really landed with me, as I hold those values dear as well.

And, after receiving [the Editor-in-Chief] Kapua Iao’s wonderful, dream-come-true email, I learned that one of my dear friends and writing colleagues, Cassie Premo Steele, is also one of Yellow Arrow’s authors. I published Cassie’s gorgeous essay “Pregnant with Myself” in Greetings from Janeland: Women Write More About Leaving Men for Women (2017), a Lambda Literary finalist. Cassie and I are both queer women writers who are also mothers. We have a special bond.

I didn’t want to marginalize my mother self as a poet any more than I’d want to marginalize my queer self as a poet, and I feel so affirmed that Yellow Arrow Publishing enthusiastically accepted Iridescent Pigeons in an iteration that unabashedly reflects the ways motherhood and mother love are muses.

**Julie Alden Cullinane**

*Ghosts Only I Can See*
coming October 2024

Julie Alden Cullinane is a poet, author, neurodivergent, and mom in Boston. Her first publication was a poem in The Boston Globe at age 8; she has been writing ever since. After raising a family and working full time for many years as a young mom, she was able to return to her graduate studies later in life and earned her master’s in 2021, during the pandemic. Under the guidance of many amazing and supportive female professors, she began submitting her work for publication. She has published poems and short stories in 20+ literary magazines since 2020. She currently works in academia full time when she is not writing. Julie’s focus of writing is often on the untold seasons and shades of a woman’s life. She loves to highlight the dichotomy of the modern pressures on women and mothers, between having a successful career and an expected perfect domestic life. Her favorite writers are Eavan Boland and Anne Enright. When she is not writing she enjoys long naps on the couch with her beloved dog. She is currently knee-deep in a midlife crisis. It takes up all her time. She will definitely be writing about it. Find Julie at julie.wildinkpages.com/poetry or on Instagram or Threads @HerLoudMind and Twitter or Blue Sky @AldenCullinane.

Ghosts Only I Can See is a look back into the past, present, and future of women’s lives. It focuses not on literal ghosts, but the ghosts of our former selves as we navigate the world as women. Growing up in a world filled with many amazing, strong women, I was an avid spectator of their lives, their passions, and their trauma. Only when I was older and began experiencing life myself did I realize the tender weaving of women’s lives and the multitude of shared experiences that often do not get told because of societal shame and the pressures of perfection put upon them. But women have universal yet intimate experiences that are better understood when shared, which is why this collection of poetry and creative nonfiction peeks back in time to my younger self, the ghosts through time that only I can see. Ghosts Only I Can See unites and shares the painful and wonderful experiences of what is means to be a modern woman.

What sparked your interest in writing?

As a woman in the literary world and the real world, I am trying to tell my stories about the personally felt struggles that are uniquely experienced by women of all ages, colors, shapes, sizes, and economic backgrounds. As modern women, we often strive to do it all, have a career, be a great mom, be healthy and thin, be a good spouse, be a writer and a friend. The limits as well as the expectations put on women are exhausting, confusing, and rarely exposed in literature. I feel these stories often don’t get told because of fear of shame of not being perfect. In my chapbook, I examine many pivotal moments in a woman’s life that often get overlooked. Women who are going through postpartum depression, women who are grieving, women who are fighting their own bodies, and women who love, think, and are passionate. Living in the world as a grown woman is such a beautiful, colorful, and often heart-wrenching experience, reading each other’s stories about shared experiences with existence, pain, and love can only unite us and make us stronger. This is the ultimate goal of putting my stories out into the world. To let women know they are not alone in all the magnificent, strange, and painful things that happen in their lives.

What sparked your interest in Yellow Arrow Publishing?

I was immediately drawn to the message that Yellow Arrow believes in and posts on its website. Their support of woman-identifying authors and under-represented female voices perfectly aligns with the stories I am trying to tell in my chapbook. As I was looking for a press to send my work to I couldn’t have found a better fit for submission than Yellow Arrow.

We can’t wait to work with Isabel, Candace, and Julie next year but would like to acknowledge all the incredible collections we received in the summer. In particular, we would love to give a shout out to both our longlisted (part of the top 20) and shortlisted authors (part of the top 10).

Meet our shortlisted authors:

Elizabeth Crowell

Michele Evans

Laura Foley

Pauline Joyce Lacanilao

Francesca Moroney

Lore Nissley

Beth Oast Williams

Meet our longlisted authors:

Keidra Chaney

Nicole Friedman

Jessica Gregg

Wendy Kagan

Inna Krasnoper

Thomasin LaMay

Kathryn Paul

Amanda Russell

Terry Sann

Shizue Seigel

Thank you to everyone who took the time to send your words to us. Every writer has a story to tell and every story is worth telling. We are so proud of everyone we publish at Yellow Arrow.

Kapua Iao 11/7/23 Kapua Iao 11/7/23

Emblazing a Path of Love: Yellow Arrow Journal (Vol. VIII, No. 2) EMBLAZON

It is with . . . love that I strive to move about the world.

According to Leticia Priebe Rocha, guest editor of just released Yellow Arrow Journal Vol. VIII, No. 2 EMBLAZON, the pieces within this issue are steeped in love. Love for the people that adorn our lives as family, lovers, friends, and strangers. For the land that cradles our bodies. For the places and moments that inevitably carve themselves into our essences. For the self, ever reaching for radiance. For aliveness, and beyond. They explore those fleeting moments in life that anchor the human experience and make us who we are.

And with that beautiful thought, we are excited to release the latest issue of Yellow Arrow Journal and privileged to share the voices included within our EMBLAZON 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.

The artwork on the cover (cover design by Alexa Laharty), “Cycles” by Elizabeth Jiménez Montelongo, was created of acrylic, ink, and glitter on wood. “Cycle” serves to emblazon the interconnectedness of natural life and the place of humanity within the rest of nature. We are part of the cycles of life and nature and should strive to take our place as part of the balanced natural systems—giving as much as we take to the survival of all our sibling life forms on earth.

We hope you enjoy reading EMBLAZON as much as we enjoyed creating it. Thank you for your continued encouragement of Yellow Arrow Publishing and the women involved in EMBLAZON. On November 29 at 8:00 pm EST, please join Leticia, Yellow Arrow, and some of our contributors for the live, virtual reading of EMBLAZON. More information is forthcoming.

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Yellow Arrow 11/3/23 Yellow Arrow 11/3/23

Her View Friday

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

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

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

Author: Angela Acosta

Tell us about yourself: Angela Acosta (she/her) is a bilingual Mexican American poet and Visiting Assistant Professor of Hispanic Studies at Davidson College. Her creative and academic work center on imagining possible worlds and preserving the cultural legacies of women writers. Her writing has appeared in Copihue Poetry, Shoreline of Infinity, Apparition Lit, Radon Journal, and Space & Time. She is the author of Summoning Space Travelers (Hiraeth Publishing, 2022) and A Belief in Cosmic Dailiness: Poems of a Fabled Universe (Red Ogre Review, 2023). She has published on female life-writing, poetry, and literary personas in Persona Studies, Ámbitos Feministas, and Feminist Modernist Studies. She has published the poem “A Centennial for Herstory" as part of the Yellow Arrow Vignette SPARK series in July 2023.

Where are you from: Gainesville, Florida

What describes your main writing space: Eraser dust, lamp, simplicity

Tell us about your publication: A Belief in Cosmic Dailiness: Poems of a Fabled Universe is a bilingual English-Spanish collection of Latinx Futurist poetry. Celebrate the dailiness of multilingual and divergent Latinx futures while seated around a campfire. The 26 poems and six translations in this speculative chapbook travel from the solar system to Andromeda to envision coming of age rituals, companionship, and the responsibilities of work and daily life around distant stars. This book is published by Red Ogre Review via a grant from the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association. The book is available on Amazon; 100% of the proceeds go to the author.

Why this book? Why now? How did it happen for you: When I saw the call for submissions for Red Ogre Review’s speculative chapbook series, I was eager to finish putting together a collection I had been mulling over. After my full-length collection Summoning Space Travelers (Hiraeth Books, 2022), I wanted to put together a chapbook that leaned into possible Latinx futures and the dailiness of life in the future. As I share in my author's note, it was important for me to have this creative outlet while finishing the dissertation. Watching this collection take shape reminded me of the love and support I have received on my journey as a writer and now new faculty member.

What is your writing goal for the year: Right now I'm taking some time off after publishing this chapbook and completing my dissertation this spring. When I do have time to write, I've been honing my craft writing flash fiction and speculative short stories.

What advice do you have for other writers: I’d encourage writers to connect with writing groups. Joining Discord servers and Facebook groups helps newer writers find outlets for their work and hear opinions and options about publishers. I’ve appreciated having space to ask questions and gain an inside look at querying, writing, and editing.

What else are you working on/doing that you’d like to share: My chapbook Fourth Generation Chicana Unicorn will be published by Dancing Girl Press in the coming months!

You can find Angela on Instagram @aaperiquito.

Author: Ute Carson

Tell us about yourself: Ute Carson, a German-born writer from youth and an MA graduate in comparative literature from the University of Rochester, published her first prose piece in 1977. Writing since her youth, by the time she had found Yellow Arrow Publishing, she had widely published books, poetry collections, and essays. In the fall of 2020, Ute published with Yellow Arrow Journal (in Vol. V, No. 3, (Re)Formation) her poem "Risks Around Each Corner" and to her delight the following year her poetry collection Listen (2021) was published by them.

Where are you from: Ute resides in Austin, Texas, with her husband. They have three daughters, six grandchildren, a horse, and a clowder of cats.

What describes your main writing space: I write everywhere I can find space but as shown in the photo (right), I often have to share my desk with one of our cats.

Tell us about your publication: My new poetry collection In the Blink of an Eye has just been released by Kelsay Books. It contains a potpourri of themes from animals to children (grandchildren) and aging. It is available on Amazon and online with Kelsay Books. Signed copies are available from me directly.

Why this book? Why now? How did it happen for you: I am 83 and I won’t publish too many more books, but I will continue to write. I am never at a loss for subjects and images.

What advice do you have for other writers: For new writers, I have only one piece of advice. Believe in your work and if you are satisfied with what you have written share it with an audience. Never get discouraged in your search for a home!

You can find Ute on Facebook @ute.carson or on her website at utecarson.com.

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 10/31/23 Kapua Iao 10/31/23

Blazing the Path Forward with Yellow Arrow Publishing

By Adhithi Anjali

Starting tomorrow, November 1, Yellow Arrow Publishing will fire up our 2023 social media fundraiser: Blazing the Path Forward. Yellow Arrow is a nonprofit organization established to support, inspire, and publish women-identifying writers. Women’s voices have historically been underrepresented in literature, and we aim to elevate those voices and stories through our programs and publications. It is our hope that providing more opportunities for women to participate in the literary arts will stimulate social change by expanding literary norms. For every writer who gets published, there are a hundred more with equally valuable stories to tell.

With Blazing the Path Forward, we will provide writing prompts throughout November about creating, writing, and using poetry and prose to capture movement and growth. Prompts will be posted every Monday and Wednesday afternoon. Just in case you miss any of the prompts, you can find weekly recaps on Fridays. We would love for everyone to share the prompts and, if feeling adventurous, their own responses. Write alongside us in the Comments or in your own posts using the hashtag #YAPForward. Make sure to tag Yellow Arrow as well so we can see what you write.

We hope to bring awareness to Yellow Arrow programs and publications through this initiative and encourage community members to donate to support our mission.

DONATE NOW

If you are unable to donate, please share our posts and prompts to help spread the word about Yellow Arrow. We are so grateful for the continued support from our authors and our community and are especially happy to use Blazing the Path Forward as an opportunity to spark, strengthen, and build our relationships with the writing world, in Baltimore and beyond. We at Yellow Arrow are so excited to see what our community does with Blazing the Path Forward.

Make sure you take advantage of the creative energy of November and write with us. We hope these prompts inspire you to grab your pen (or Google Doc) and write freely and honestly. For yourself, for your friends and family. For your community. Thank you for supporting independent publishing.

Our three Yellow Arrow fall 2023 interns have worked hard on this fundraiser, and we are so appreciative of their time and thoughtfulness. Thank you Adhithi, Samantha, and Beverly for making this happen, and thank you Adhithi for spearheading Blazing the Path Forward.

Adhithi Anjali is the fall business development intern. She is a third-year student at the University of California, Davis, majoring in English and comparative literature. Samantha Pomerantz is the fall publications intern. She is a writer and a student at Elon University, class of 2024. Finally, Beverly Yirenkyi is the fall program management intern. She is a current honors undergraduate student at Towson University, majoring in philosophy. You can learn more about Adhithi, Samantha, and Beverly in another blog later in November.

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Kapua Iao 10/24/23 Kapua Iao 10/24/23

On Finding my Path: Musings of an (Unexpected) Creative Writing Student

By Cecelia Caldwell, written July 2023

“Let me live, love, and say it well in good sentences.”
from The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath

If you had told me in high school that I was going to end up majoring in English, I’d look at you like you were crazy. If you had told me, additionally, that within the field of English, I’d be specializing in creative writing, I’d think you were even crazier.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’ve always loved reading, but I never liked reading, if that makes sense. I liked to read for fun, for entertainment. I despised the type of reading that we did in English class. We read closely, analyzing all the nuances, contradictions, and hidden meanings a text had to offer. And after all that, we’d have to write an essay demonstrating that reading in a way that was concise, yet thorough. Daring, yet professional. I always hated English class, I think, because it made me feel stupid. I could barely even extract a deeper meaning from a text, let alone begin to write a thoughtful essay about it. I had resigned myself to the belief that English just wasn’t my thing and spent hours pouring over sample essays just to stay afloat in my AP Lit class.

I went off to college planning on majoring in anthropology. I had never taken an anthropology class, but I thought it would combine my love for human culture, storytelling, and history in a meaningful way. My first semester of school, I dove right into my planned major, taking cultural anthropology, the basic prerequisite for all anthro majors. I wanted to love the class, I did, but I just couldn’t. The readings and concepts were interesting enough, but it was all so objective, scientific. After a high school career filled with activism and advocacy, it felt weird learning about racism, colonialism, homophobia, and more without learning anything about how to combat these phenomena. I was utterly disappointed, and yet I pushed forth, hoping my spring semester classes would reignite this passion.

It didn’t. My linguistic anthropology class was dull and as I sat in a classroom filled with 40 other unmotivated students, I’d count the seconds until class was over. My other anthropology class, called Anthropology of Food, was a little more interesting, but I still didn’t feel a spark. I had, however, signed up for another class on a whim: a creative writing class called Writing the Self. The thought of studying English still felt undesirable for me but being a lover of books (and especially memoirs), I thought it could be fun to give writing a try. Writing the Self marked a milestone in my academic development; there was me before that class, and there was me during/after it. In the early weeks of our class, we read pieces of creative nonfiction from a wide range of authors. We dipped our (collective) toe into the world of writers like James Baldwin, Joan Didion, Roxane Gay, Lucy Grealy, Hanif Abdurraqib, and Mary Oliver. These works, so different in form, structure, and message, opened my eyes to the beauty and multidimensionality of personal writing. Through the reading process, we engaged in thoughtful conversation about each author, each work, and what it means to exist as an “I” in a piece of writing. As our observations drew to a close, we began writing our own pieces that we would later present to the class.

As excited I was to dive in, the open-endedness of the brief intimidated me. When I wrote essays for my anthropology classes, at least, I had an idea of the structure and sequence of my work. Here, the world was my oyster. After trying to draft several serious, melancholy pieces speaking about breakups and mental health, I decided to take a left turn. Drawing from my love for brilliant satirical essayist Samantha Irby, I decided to self-administer the New York Times’ famous 36 Questions that Lead to Love questionnaire, answering the questions in a way that was both self-deprecating and funny, and serious, vulnerable.

I padded into class timidly on the day my piece was to be workshopped. Already a generally anxious person, I found the idea of hearing criticism about my work absolutely dreadful. I was convinced that my peers would hate it, hate me, and that all my creativity and vulnerability would be for nothing. Boy, was I wrong. My classmates loved the piece. They thought 36 Questions was hilarious while still being honest, satirical, while at the same time sad. They had critiques, too, of course, but I was warmed and overwhelmed by the support I received, and left the class happy, creatively fulfilled, and hungry for more. At the same time, my anthropology classes were still giving me nothing. At one point, when tasked to write an essay analyzing a piece of poetry that utilizes African American English, or AAE, I was surprised to have only gotten a B+ on the assignment. My professor had left but one comment for me: Remember that this is an anthropology class. You just wrote me a book report.

By the end of the year, I had realized that my passion for anthropology would never grow. At the same time, though, I discovered that my school has a creative writing major. It’s a branch of the English major, except instead of studying solely literature, we’re required to take several semesters of writing classes. It seemed perfect for me. With this plan, I could write, read, and edit without needing to study Shakespeare or Chaucer or Homer ad nauseum.

I am writing now as a student about to enter her third year of college. I am a declared an English, creative writing, major with minors in Spanish and, yes, anthropology. I’ve spent the last academic year writing poetry and creative nonfiction, while also reading extensively in my spare time.

I am often asked what I want to do with my creative writing degree. I am asked if I want to become an author. The answer to these questions is that I do not know. I might write a book of my own someday, but I also might not. What I do know is this: by learning to write, I’ve opened a door into the world and into myself. I can wield my words as a sword to bring about social change. I can craft my words into mazes, discovering more about myself and healing past traumas, even if I get lost along the way. And, of course, I can use my words to help other writers (dreamers, activists, poets, etc.) realize their own goals. I [am lucky to be here, at Yellow Arrow Publishing, where I can do just that.

College is a time for exploration. It’s a time to get things wrong and to try again. It’s a time to discover ourselves, lose ourselves, and discover ourselves again. Words are everything to me. They’re endlessly powerful. Writing is, too. I will never regret the confusion and dissatisfaction I encountered when first coming to college, because all of that led me here. Right where I’m meant to be.

Cecelia Caldwell is a rising junior at Middlebury College studying English on the creative writing track. She is minoring in anthropology and Spanish. An avid reader and lover of words, Cecelia is passionate about publishing, editing, storytelling, literacy, and the diversification of all these fields. In her free time, Cecelia enjoys writing satire, working out, cooking, and tending to her garden. She lives in Western Massachusetts with her mom and two dogs, Ollie and Ernie.

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Kapua Iao 10/17/23 Kapua Iao 10/17/23

Hysterical Inspiration: A Conversation with Hannah Baker Saltmarsh

Hannah Baker Saltmarsh is a poet, essayist, educator, and author of the following books: Male Poets and the Agon of the Mother: Contexts in Confessional and Post-Confessional Poetry (2019) and Hysterical Water (2021). An alumna of the University of Maryland, College Park, and the University of York in the United Kingdom, her poems have been featured in The Yale Review, The Times Literary Supplement, Feminist Studies, The New Republic, The Kenyon Review, and many others.

Hysterical Water, Hannah’s debut book of poems, is a collection that focuses on the term “hysteria” and its connection and historical reference to women. Connecting through the common threads of hysteria and motherhood, Hannah bridges each work with themes of emotion, creativity, sexuality, and female thinking to highlight the dismissal of women being named as hysterical.

Recently, Yellow Arrow Publishing summer intern Vickie Tu interviewed Hannah about her experience as a female writer, her debut collection Hysterical Water, and her inspiration for literature and writing.

What was your inspiration for Hysterical Water?

The book is concerned with the notion that women have been stigmatized and silenced historically as hysterical, and yet being a complicated, sexual, and emotional person seems oddly quite fitting for a poet, so I tried to subvert the sexist idea of hysterical. I was moved and inspired to tell certain stories that were important to me and remain important to me. For instance, I tell stories about my birthing experiences, breastfeeding experiences, and alongside that, I reflect on my own mother’s stories and crucial family stories. Just as important as the confessional, personal threads of the book are also the stories of literary influences, archives, mother-writers, and even less literary forms like cookbooks or letters. Overall, I hope the feminist and maternal joys, rages, and grievances come across!

Why did you decide to write poetry/produce poems?

I began writing poems as a teenager, around age 14. I loved reading poems and had an anthology of “Outlaw Poetry” that I suppose I thought was very subversive and rebellious, with poems by [Allen] Ginsberg and others. Some of the mental health challenges in my family, as well as the typical teenage experiences of big feelings, led me to want to express myself in poems.

What do you love most about writing?

I love the way metaphors or imagery can create a sublime, elating feeling of deep understanding—even if the arrival of the reader is very different than the arrival of the writer. It’s really exciting as a reader to see yourself in the words of another person’s poem, and it’s validating as a writer if a reader can connect to your words. Since poems are windows and mirrors, showing us about very different experiences as well as leading us to better understand ourselves, I love reading widely.

What about your writing is the most unique?

That’s a humbling question, because I have a lot of literary influences, writers like Alicia Ostriker, Lucille Clifton, Audre Lorde, Allen Ginsberg, and many more who have all felt like extremely unique, idiosyncratic voices in my head! I’d like to think that I combine a kind of nerdy, scholarly interest with something very visceral emotionally.

Who is your favorite writer and why?

My favorite novelist is Toni Morrison, whose 11 novels I could reread over and over again, because I love the poetic language and imagery—the way she captivates an internal voice, and the way she explores mother-daughter relationships, family sagas, and women friendships. My favorite poet is too hard to say because I feel that sometimes certain poets feel louder or softer to me, depending on what I’m thinking about and working on or living through at the time—but right now, I’m really digging Adrienne Rich, Audre Lorde, Danez Smith, and Solmaz Sharif.

What are you currently working on?

I’m working on a second manuscript of poems entitled cures for deep wounds. It’s broadly about the intersections of motherhood, climate change, and wellness. I draw from a woman’s literary tradition of cookbooks to look at domestic cures and also reflect on the challenges of those in nurturing roles to care for others and to care for themselves. Especially with the post-Roe era we are now living in, I reflect on the demise of reproductive health care and the way our culture praises mothers yet denies basic healthcare and support. Although there are elegies for people in my life who died during the pandemic and some reflections about how fracturing the pandemic was for mothers, the book also suggests the healing powers of friendship, poetry, and nature. I’m also working on a critical book that is focused on motherhood and second-wave feminisms and have been working on book chapters about writers such as Toni Morrison, Elizabeth Hardwick, Adrienne Rich, and Audre Lorde—I will continue with this project and hope to add more chapters on Grace Paley.

Thank you Hannah for speaking to Vickie about your literary inspiration. You can find Male Poets and the Agon of the Mother at muse.jhu.edu/book/64957 and Hysterical Water at ugapress.org/book/9780820359007/hysterical-water.

Hannah Baker Saltmarsh is the author of the poetry collection Hysterical Water (2021) and a book of literary criticism, Male Poets and the Agon of the Mother: Contexts in Confessional and Post-Confessional Poetry (2019). She is currently working on a second manuscript of poems, cures for deep wounds, and a critical book about motherhood and second-wave feminisms in novels, letters, and poetry. She lives in Virginia with her partner Jay and their three children. She is an alum of the University of Maryland and the University of York in England. You can find her on Twitter @HannahSaltmarsh or Instagram @saltystudebaker.

Vickie Tu is a rising senior at University of Maryland, College Park, studying English with a minor in Classics. She was born and raised in Silver Spring, Maryland, and plans to move to New York City after graduation to start her career in the publishing industry. When she is not reading or working in her campus’ bookstore, she enjoys attending hockey games for her favorite team the Washington Capitals. You can find her on Instagram @vickie.tuuu.

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

Just Keep Being: Swimming in Gilead by Cassie Premo Steele

Yellow Arrow Publishing announces the release of our final chapbook from 2023, Swimming in Gilead by Cassie Premo Steele. 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 Cassie in all her writing and publishing endeavors.

Swimming in Gilead takes us through the journey of a woman who, empowered to express herself through the feminist spirit of a writing group, explores what it means to be a woman and an ally in an era of uncertainty. In the summer of 2020 as the pandemic was raging, Cassie joined a group of six women—three from Canada and three from the United States, four white and two women of color, and five lesbians and one straight—to sit and write remotely once a week. They called themselves the Sisters of Gilead, strangers who came together during the loneliness and terror of the pandemic and in the process, helped each other survive. And they helped each other write.

Cassie is a lesbian ecofeminist poet and novelist who lives in South Carolina with her wife. Her collection of poetry is her call to action, an invitation to each of us to examine what is within, and how, with the support of feminist advocates as friends, we can make something beautiful out of our “torn parts.” The poems within Swimming in Gilead were written under the loving kindness and acceptance of the Sisters of Gilead. By opening into vulnerability, the poems show readers how to “swim in Gilead” with hope and perseverance even as our rights as women are being ripped away.

The photograph used on the cover of Swimming in Gilead is by Sofia Tata (sofiatata.com) and cover design was by Alexa Laharty, Yellow Arrow Creative Director. According to Cassie, “The combination of sea and land formation creates an image of a woman in silhouette and draws readers into an intimate dialogue with the poems.”

Paperback and PDF versions of Swimming in Gilead 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 Swimming in Gilead wherever you purchase your books including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo. To learn more about Cassie and Swimming in Gilead, check out our recent interview with her.

You can find Cassie on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter 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.

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Guest User 10/3/23 Guest User 10/3/23

Meet the 2023 Yellow Arrow Best of the Net Nominees

The Best of the Net recognizes the work of writers published online by independent presses. The project was started in 2006 by Sundress Publications to create a community among the online literary magazines, journals, and self-publishing platforms. The award represents an incredible opportunity for Yellow Arrow Publishing to further showcase and support our authors. Our staff is committed to letting our authors shine. Every writer has a story to tell and every story is worth telling.

Here are our Best of Net nominees from Vignette AWAKEN for 2023. You can find some of our authors reading from AWAKEN on the Yellow Arrow YouTube channel.

L.M. Cole

“Lately I’ve Been Talking Too Much”
I, an object, shattered into fragments,
am searching for the phrase
that nobody would understand
but you, who have listened with
patience to myself in fractals of light and perspective

L.M. Cole is a poet and artist residing on the U.S. East Coast. She is the coeditor of Bulb Culture Collective and a poetry reader for Moss Puppy Magazine, and her work has appeared or is forthcoming in The Bitchin’ Kitsch, The Pinch Journal, CLOVES, Stanchion, Defunct Magazine, and others. Her debut poetry chapbook SALT MOUTH MOSS QUEEN (Alien Buddha Press 2022) is available on Amazon. Find her on Twitter @_scoops__ and on her website poetlmcole.com.

L.M. was also one of the contributing authors of Vignette SPARK with her poem “Just Make Art, They Say.” You can find an interview between L.M. and Melissa Nunez from earlier this year at yellowarrowpublishing.com/news/interview-nunez-cole.

Maggie Flaherty

“Tacoma”
Awake! Awake! The closer
I look, the more I see this earth—
this present moment—burning.

Where’s a gust of healing rain,
a soothing wind that lifts
or sets us down gently?”

Maggie Flaherty began writing poems in high school but stopped for a busy 50 years or so. In 2016, after retiring, she attended a workshop taught by the poet and essayist Lia Purpura at the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. There, her interest in poetry returned like a homing pigeon. In 2020, she graduated from the Rainier Writing Workshop at Pacific Lutheran University with a master’s in poetry. These days, she works in the garden or watches the birds. That’s where many of her poems begin: in the always-changing weather.

Kerry Graham

“Reminder”
Nudging my door open, I step into, on, among stillness. My eyes wander within the room’s four walls, where my lovelies and I will make another year’s worth of memories, magic, mistakes.

Kerry Graham is a Baltimore-based writer, book coach, and former high school English teacher. Her newsletter, Real Quick, is a monthly glimpse into her writer life. Kerry is a Creative-in-Residence at The Baltimore Banner.

Nancy Huggett

“I Am Full of Milk and Walking”
To make things right.
I stride,
eyes bright from sleepless nights
and this thin slice of freedom

Nancy Huggett is a settler descendant who lives, writes, and care-gives in Ottawa, Canada, on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg people. Thanks to Firefly Creative, Merritt Writers, and not-the-rodeo poets, she has work out/forthcoming in Braided Way, Event, Five Minute Lit, Intima, Literary Mama, Pangyrus, Poetry Pause, Prairie Fire, Reformed Journal, (RE) An Ideas Journal, and Waterwheel Review.

Janice Northerns

“Something Like Love”
But what has never faded is the piercing grief I felt that first visit when I stumbled into the kitchen in that predawn dark and discovered the bowl, the spoon, the oatmeal—the simple morning still-life my mother had laid out for my father. And with it, my realization that he was dying.

Janice Northerns is the author of Some Electric Hum (Lamar University Literary Press, 2020), winner of the Byron Caldwell Smith Book Award from the University of Kansas, the Nelson Poetry Book Award, and a WILLA Literary Award Finalist in Poetry. She grew up on a farm in rural West Texas and holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Texas Tech University, where she received the Robert S. Newton Creative Writing Award. Other honors include a Tennessee Williams Scholarship to the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, a Brush Creek Foundation writing residency, and a Pushcart Prize nomination. She lives in Kansas and is currently working on her second book, a hybrid collection of poetry and essays inspired by the life of Cynthia Ann Parker.

Shikhandin

“Epiphany”
. . . .But you are alive still. And so

is time and breath and your jam-jarred dreams. All
it needs is a flick of your wrist to open.

Shikhandin is the pen name of an Indian writer. Books include After Grief – Poems, Impetuous Women, Immoderate Men, and Vibhuti Cat. Honors include, runner up in the George Floyd Short Story Contest (2020, United Kingdom), Pushcart Prize nominee by Aeolian Harp (2019, U.S.), Pushcart Prize nominee by Cha: An Asian Literary Journal (2011, Hong Kong), winner of the 2017 Children First Contest curated by Duckbill in association with Parag, an initiative of Tata Trust, first prize in the Brilliant Flash Fiction Contest (2019, U.S.), runner up in the Erbacce Poetry Prize (United Kingdom), winner of the 35th Moon Prize (Writing in a Woman's Voice: USA), first runner up in the The DNA-OoP Short Story Contest (2016, India), second prize in the India Currents Katha Short Story Contest (2016, U.S.), first prize in the Anam Cara Short Fiction Competition (2012, Ireland), longlist in the Bridport Poetry Prize (2006, United Kingdom), and finalist in the Aesthetica Poetry Contest (2010, United Kingdom). Shikhandin’s prose and poetry have been widely published in India and abroad in online and print journals and anthologies. Her speculative novella, The Woman on the Red Oxide Floor, is forthcoming in 2023–2024.

Katarina Xóchitl Vargas

“The Ills of Invasion”
There are 25 million
slaughtered ancestors in my genes.
When the withering starts
they spill into my veins all at once:
ancient danzantes with phantom limbs—
feet stomping, ankles rattling,
reawakening my Earth with ayoyotes

Katarina Xóchitl Vargas (she/her) is an emerging Xicana poet, originally from Mexico. After her family moved to the U.S., she began composing poems to process alienation. A dual citizen of the U.S. and Mexico, today she writes resistance poetry and lives on occupied Tsenacommacah territory where she is working on her first chapbook. Katarina is the first-place recipient of the inaugural Mulberry Literary Fresh Voices Award. Her poems first appeared in Somos en escrito: The Latino Literary Online Magazine, Cloud Women's Quarterly Journal, The Acentos Review, Penumbra, and Barrio Panther. Follow her on Instagram @Cantos_de_Xochitl.

Ann Weil

“The Unraveling”

. . . .I still feel
the warmth of his arms, the heat between us
that made three new lives, the burning gut that knows
the pain of shared complicity. Love can melt
even as our fingers grasp for it.

Ann Weil writes in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and on a boat off Snipe’s Point Sandbar, in Key West, Florida. Her most recent work appears in Maudlin House, Pedestal Magazine, DMQ Review, 3Elements Review, The Shore, and New World Writing Quarterly. Her chapbook, Lifecycle of a Beautiful Woman, published by Yellow Arrow Publishing, debuted in April 2023. See more of her work at annweilpoetry.com.

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Yellow Arrow 9/29/23 Yellow Arrow 9/29/23

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

“Rough draft” by Annie Marhefka from Baltimore, MAryland

Genre: hybrid

Name of publication: HAD

Date published: September 3, 2023

Type of publication: online

havehashad.com/hadposts/rough-draft

Find Annie on social media @anniemarhefka.

“Blue Moon, October 31, 2020” by Heather Brown Barrett from virginia

Genre: poem

Name of publication: Visual Verse

Date published: September 23, 2023

Type of publication: online

visualverse.org/submissions/blue-moon-october-31-2020/

Find Heather on Instagram @heatherbrownbarrett.

PRIZES/AWARDS

Full Scholarship to Granta’s nature writing workshop, awarded to L.M. Cole from north carolina

Genre: writing workshop

Name of company: Granta Writers’ Workshop

Workshop Begins: September 25, 2023

workshops.granta.com/courses/nature-writing

Find L.M. on Twitter @_scoops__.

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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Now, let’s go!

“Freight Train​” by Emma Gawlinski from the United kingdom (living in spain)

PRIZES/AWARDS

“The Perseids” by Nancy Hugget from Ottawa

Journals/Anthologies/Zines

Chapbooks

Full-length manuscripts

Online Publication

SHANTELL HINTON HILL

“i’m every woman”

from Black girl magic & other elixirs

~ it was third grade

when i finally discovered

the lyrics of my favorite song

were an incantation

to ward off evil

pale-faced women. ~

SARAH JOSEPHINE PENNINGTON

“Myths and Lore”

from Yellow Arrow Journal Vol. VIII, No. 2 EMBLAZON

~ We told tall tales and fish tales and jack tales and dog tails, too, family lore we called little dead dog stories, stuffed full of wonder and padded with big lies that came natural in the dark country night. ~

CASSIE PREMO STEELE

“Volcano Woman”

from Swimming in Gilead

~ Proud, out, loud,

Fire, feisty, you

Woman of waves. ~

JANNA WAGNER

“Sun City: Témoignage”

from Yellow Arrow Journal Vol. VIII, No. 1, KINDLING

~ It is a place known to Haitians as the worst place to live in the country, a place described by locals and outsiders alike as a human tragedy, a place where poverty is feral ~

ANN WEIL

“Lifecycle of a Beautiful Woman”

from Lifecycle of a Beautiful Woman

~ Sixty-one.

I used to be what I no longer am. The switch—no, the electricity—

that lit the room. Powered the whole damn city. ~

Adhithi Anjali

From California

Where do you go to school? I am currently studying at the University of California, Davis, and I am expected to graduate by June 2025.

What are you currently working on? I am developing an independent study in medieval Telugu literature with one of my professors. Also, I am working as the undergraduate assistant to the Medieval and Early Modern Studies program at my university.

Samantha Pomerantz

Currently lives in Elon, North Carolina (for school), but from Germantown, Maryland

Where do you go to school? I am a senior at Elon University. I will graduate in the spring of 2024.

Beverly Yirenkyi

From Maryland

Where do you go to school? Towson University, class of 2023.

What are you currently working on? I have two other jobs: one at Towson University’s Writing Center and the other as a Resident Services Coordinator at an apartment building. I am currently working on graduate school applications.

“At the Corn Maze, I Wait—​” by Rebecca Brock from Leesburg, Virginia

Isabel Cristina Legarda

Beyond the Galleons

coming April 2024

Candace Walsh

Iridescent Pigeons

coming July 2024

Julie Alden Cullinane

Ghosts Only I Can See

coming October 2024

L.M. Cole

I, an object, shattered into fragments,am searching for the phrasethat nobody would understandbut you, who have listened withpatience to myself in fractals of light and perspective

Maggie Flaherty

Awake! Awake! The closer I look, the more I see this earth—this present moment—burning.

Where’s a gust of healing rain, a soothing wind that lifts or sets us down gently?”

Kerry Graham

Nudging my door open, I step into, on, among stillness. My eyes wander within the room’s four walls, where my lovelies and I will make another year’s worth of memories, magic, mistakes.

Nancy Huggett

To make things right.I stride,eyes bright from sleepless nightsand this thin slice of freedom

Janice Northerns

But what has never faded is the piercing grief I felt that first visit when I stumbled into the kitchen in that predawn dark and discovered the bowl, the spoon, the oatmeal—the simple morning still-life my mother had laid out for my father. And with it, my realization that he was dying.

Shikhandin

. . . .But you are alive still. And so

is time and breath and your jam-jarred dreams. Allit needs is a flick of your wrist to open.

Katarina Xóchitl Vargas

There are 25 millionslaughtered ancestors in my genes.

When the withering startsthey spill into my veins all at once:ancient danzantes with phantom limbs—feet stomping, ankles rattling,reawakening my Earth with ayoyotes

Ann Weil

. . . .I still feelthe warmth of his arms, the heat between usthat made three new lives, the burning gut that knowsthe pain of shared complicity. Love can melteven as our fingers grasp for it.

“Rough draft” by Annie Marhefka from Baltimore, MAryland

“Blue Moon, October 31, 2020” by Heather Brown Barrett from virginia

PRIZES/AWARDS

“Freight Train” by Emma Gawlinski from the United kingdom (living in spain)

“At the Corn Maze, I Wait—” by Rebecca Brock from Leesburg, Virginia

I, an object, shattered into fragments,
am searching for the phrase
that nobody would understand
but you, who have listened with
patience to myself in fractals of light and perspective

Awake! Awake! The closer
I look, the more I see this earth—
this present moment—burning.

Where’s a gust of healing rain,
a soothing wind that lifts
or sets us down gently?”

To make things right.
I stride,
eyes bright from sleepless nights
and this thin slice of freedom

is time and breath and your jam-jarred dreams. All
it needs is a flick of your wrist to open.

There are 25 million
slaughtered ancestors in my genes.

When the withering starts
they spill into my veins all at once:
ancient danzantes with phantom limbs—
feet stomping, ankles rattling,
reawakening my Earth with ayoyotes

. . . .I still feel
the warmth of his arms, the heat between us
that made three new lives, the burning gut that knows
the pain of shared complicity. Love can melt
even as our fingers grasp for it.