.Writers.on.Writing.
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. #49
Violeta Garza
What book is on the top of your to-be-read pile?
I’m reading Moriana Delgado’s Peces de pelea, and it’s so intoxicating that I can only read one poem a day, several times, before I go to bed with my palm over my sternum.
Where do you go to find out about writing submissions opportunities?
At times it’s Submittable, and other times it’s word-of-mouth through my networks. Occasionally, it’s my Muses making sure certain emails surface in my inbox out of nowhere.
If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
The words and the discipline will come when you think there is no reason to go on, with no one behind you. That’s when you will see that the exact opposite is actually the truth.
What does your inner writing voice tell you?
You got this, baby gurl.
Violeta Garza (she/they/ella) is a Latinx poet, weaver, and artist from the Historic West Side of San Antonio, Texas. She has performed original poems and stories for Texas Public Radio, The Alamo Chapter for Human Rights, and The Curtain Up Cancer Foundation.
She is currently editing a poetry manuscript and getting their loom Josephine ready for their next tapestry—all while falling in love with their new feline soul sister, Mina Luz de la Rosa.
Find their poem “A Cringe-Worthy Slice of Wasted Energy, Denying My Queerness” in Yellow Arrow Journal, Vol. VIII, No. 1 KINDLING. Violeta’s beautiful tapestry “Doña Sedona (a gradual elevation),” wool, acrylic, and cotton, was also chosen as the cover of KINDLING. According to Violeta, “In the case of ‘Doña Sedona,’ we stared at each other for quite some time until we were on the same wavelength. The day she and I really gelled was the day we both listened to ‘The Ballrooms of Mars’ by T.Rex, and before we knew it, we were both overlooking electric landscapes.”
You can peruse their work at violetagarza.com or see more about them on Instagram @violeta.poeta. Make sure to join Violeta and other KINDLING authors for the reading (Scorching, Speaking: A KINDLING reading) June 1, 8 pm EST on Zoom.