Get to know our authors, the foundation and heart of Yellow Arrow Journal, and what writing means to them through our monthly series.
W.o.W. #58
Samantha Chagollan
How did you first publish your writing and what was it?
My first published piece was a 100-word micro-essay written specifically for a contest when I was 11 years old. The national essay contest was sponsored by a stationary company for the 1984 Olympics. The question to answer was: What is the most important thing an athlete can bring home from the Olympics? My essay’s answer was “pride,” and it won the grand prize and was published in my local newspaper. In just the last few years, I’ve returned to loving shorter formats like microessays, and I recently realized it’s what I started with so long ago.
What does your inner writing voice tell you?
If I listen really closely, and get past my inner critic, my inner writer reminds me that my stories are worth telling. That what I have to say may bring comfort or inspiration to someone else, and that I should not let the inner critic stop me from pushing on.
What are you currently working on?
I’ve just completed the first draft of my memoir Homesick and am currently revising and editing to prepare for querying. I also have an idea for another creative nonfiction project about the disappearance of my maternal grandfather that I am anxious to dig into. I’ve been applying for residencies in 2024 and am really looking forward to AWP [which just happened!], where I’ll be featured on a panel about microprose.
If you could have dinner with anyone, who would it be and why?
I’m calling in a dream dinner party table of guests that are still of this world and one that has already passed: Cheryl Strayed, Frida Kahlo, Linda Ronstadt, and Jennifer Lopez. I would ask them all about courage, creativity, longevity, resilience, and confidence. I would be curious about the work that has felt the most rewarding to them and what they haven’t done that they wish they had.
Samantha Chagollan is a southern California writer and artist who centers much of her creative work around the themes of home, family, and her mixed Mexican and American heritage. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Cal Poly Humboldt, where she focused her studies on multicultural literature. Her work has been featured in Alebrijes Review, Lavender Bones, Latin@ Literatures, and in the anthologies The Covid Monologues and Nonwhite and Woman. Samantha was accepted for a residency this summer at Vashon Island and will be a recipient of their scholarship.
“End Credits” was included in Yellow Arrow Journal EMBLAZON, Vol. VIII, No. 2, fall 2023. You can find Samantha reading her poem with other EMBLAZON authors in Fleeting Moments, Inscribed: A Reading from EMBLAZON on the Yellow Arrow YouTube Channel. She also participated in an offsite reading for Yellow Arrow at AWP in Kansas City in February 2024. “Being a part of the offsite event at AWP was the perfect way to kick off the conference,” says Samantha. “It was wonderful to meet some of the other authors in person, and to hear them read their work aloud. It felt like we were truly in community together.”
Learn more about Samantha and her writing at samanthachagollan.com, on Bluesky, Instagram, and Twitter @samchagollan, or by contacting her at samchagollan@gmail.com.