Yellow Arrow Publishing Blog

Kapua Iao 2/25/25 Kapua Iao 2/25/25

Writing Process Notes: How Not to Dread Revision

By Isabel Cristina Legarda, written October 2024

I often get a little flutter in my belly when I turn on my laptop to open a work in progress. Revision can be exciting, but also dreadful. I totally get the well-known quip (often attributed, probably erroneously, to Dorothy Parker), “I hate writing. I love having written.” It’s a joke, of course. I love writing. What I actually dislike is feeling unable to translate what’s in my mind faithfully onto the page. The many stops and starts of finding the right words, the right structure, or the right direction fill me with anxiety. I’ve put my forehead on a desk surface many times and whined, “C’mon, you can do it. Keep going.”

Shirley Jackson claimed she wrote her masterpiece “The Lottery” in one sitting. Her essay about the process, “Biography of a Story,” used to fill me with envy. It describes what I (and I suspect many others as well) fantasize about when envisioning the ideal writing process: sitting in front of a blank page, a lone figure is struck by a compelling idea which then gives rise to streams of just the right words, all written in one great, almost unstoppable torrent, bringing the mental vision to perfect fruition. Inspiration with a captial “I” makes the words flow as if beckoned by some unseen power, and the author sits there writing or typing furiously, barely able to keep up. Jackson’s first version of “The Lottery” may have flowed out with the kind of unusual ease writers dream of experiencing, but in reality, writing it still involved drafts, feedback, and revision, as the process does for most writers.

Though this much-desired writing flow does happen once in a while, I think it’s rare—certainly for me. I might be an especially slow writer. I dread what I’ll euphemistically call the shoddy first draft; I wince at how inadequate it looks and sounds, how embarrassing it is in the ways it misses the mark. I procrastinate to avoid reopening it and seeing all its blotches, blemishes, and giant pores.

The truth, however, is that revision is the heart of the writing process. It’s the space in which the chiseling and shaping of a block of words can set free the hidden, essential work (to borrow from Michelangelo). Craft takes good writing and turns it into art. Although the creative process can be mysterious and elusive, craft is technical enough to lend itself to a methodical approach.

When I’m revising a piece, any piece, I comb through it line by line and ask myself the same six questions:

1. Do I encounter glitches reading it out loud? (e.g., stumbling, awkward pauses, unpleasant sounds, and bad rhythm)

2. Do I need this word (or phrase)? (I’ll question articles and weak verbs like “to be,” adverbs, adjectives, and redundancies.)

3. Can I replace groups of words with fewer words or one word?

4. Is each word the best word?

5. Is the piece “saying” what I want it to? (What do I want it to say?) Can I apply Flannery O’Connor’s well-known quote about stories to it, i.e. is it “a way to say something that can’t be said any other way, and it takes every word in the [piece] to say what the meaning is?”

6. Does the piece contain a DYBI moment? (DYBI = draw-your-breath-in. Often in the form of a fresh image, insight, use of language, or surprising way of seeing something. Examples from the poetry world include “How to Prepare Your Husband for Dinner” by Rachelle Cruz, “Cult of the Deer Goddess” by Caylin Capra-Thomas, and “Epithalamion for the Long Dead” by Danielle Sellers.)

I take heart that even the greatest writers of the past have wrestled, Jacob-like, with the Angel of Revision, like Victor Hugo and Emily Dickinson, whose home in Amherst contains a large interactive display of lines from “A Chilly Peace infests the Grass” for which she trialed different words to see if they would work.

*Interactive display at the Emily Dickinson Museum, Amherst, Massachusetts; photo by author*

*Facsimile of a page from Volume III, Book 1 of Victor Hugo’s* Les Misérables, displayed at an exhibit of his drawings, Maison Hugo, Paris; photo by author

I enjoy catching glimpses of a writer’s process. Images of manuscript pages, with the authors’ crossings-out and scribblings, and literary journals like The Account, where writers explain the backstories of their works, and Underbelly, in which first and final drafts of each work are printed side by side, inspire me and fill me with curiosity and wonder. There’s a kind of flow evidenced in these too—the unfolding of increasing clarity as writers draw ever-closer to the voice and words they want. When I look at the opening lines of my own poem “Boondocks,” published in Beyond the Galleons (2024), in their very first and last iterations, I am startled by how different the two are, yet pleased that the soul of the poem inhabits both:

“Boondocks” ~ opening lines as published

We hear the word and think

uncouth, naive, unsophisticated,

ramshackle huts off the grid,

prints of bare feet pressed

to dirt roads, scattered

corn husks, the smell

of burning wood, skin

prickling against the elements –

where a bad fall can mean

the end of life.

“Boondocks” ~ first draft of opening lines

If you’re from the boondocks

you might be stereotyped as uncouth,

naïve, unsophisticated, a fish

out of water in the civilized world.

We joke about the boonies –

how remote they are, how nothing

of any use can be found for miles,

just corn husks and the smell of wood

burning, ramshackle huts off the grid

along dirt roads carrying the prints

of the bare feet of unwashed, unschooled

children and the men who sired them,

who gather and cut firewood by hand.

Having crafted a piece for hours, days, or weeks, set it aside, revisited it, agonized, had the occasional break-through, and done as much as we think we can do, how do we know when a piece is “finished?” I don’t think we can ever be totally sure. Even the best writing samples could probably be tweaked or rewritten in a hundred more ways. I’ve had the experience of multiple voices offering feedback that led me to rework a piece many times, only to realize after some time away from the piece that my gut was still telling me the original “said it best” and later to have that very original accepted for publication. I’ve often wondered what would happen if I took a lesser-known work by a literary giant like John Donne or Virginia Woolf and distributed the piece without identification to a group of writers to workshop. I have no doubt there would be lots of eager critiquing. Someone always has a suggestion for even the greatest pieces of writing. At the same time, truly helpful feedback, from readers who understand and support the author’s vision, can elevate a work from good to great.

Flannery O’Connor wrote in The Habit of Being, “I am amenable to criticism but only within the sphere of what I am trying to do; I will not be persuaded to do otherwise.” I admire her strong faith in her own voice and work and strive to trust my own intention and vision for each piece that I write. In the end there’s nothing like applying a revision to a poem or short story, reading it to yourself, and exclaiming, “Yes!” in your heart. That feeling might even surpass the pleasure of writing that flows effortlessly onto the page by some “miracle” of Inspiration. With this in mind, I try to embrace revision. It is, after all, what makes us true writers, aspiring masters of our craft.

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, Massachusetts. 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, The Dewdrop, The Lowestoft Chronicle, Ruminate, Sky Island Review, Smartish Pace, Qu, West Trestle Review, and others. Find Isabel on Instagram and Twitter @poetintheOR.

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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 BLAZE a path for 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 or Instagram, 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 2/18/25 Kapua Iao 2/18/25

Meet a Board Member: Kelsea-Marie Pym

Yellow Arrow Publishing would like to introduce Kelsea-Marie Pym, board secretary. She started in October 2024, and we are excited to have her on the team. Kelsea is a political consultant primarily working in the nonprofit advocacy space, focusing for the past decade in nonpartisan civic engagement and democracy issues. Kelsea’s professional ghost writing has appeared in outlets from the New York Times to the Sacramento Bee, and everywhere in between. Kelsea has been fortunate to live on both coasts, from Portland to San Diego and from Boston to Washington, D.C., and to now reside in west Michigan. The perspectives from different cities in addition to a multitude of life experiences inform both her professional and personal work. Kelsea holds her BA from Boston University.

Kelsea’s hobbies outside of reading include baking, gardening, and running. Kelsea is a mother of a one-year-old son who keeps her on her toes. Kelsea and her husband are constantly running around after their son and after any of their three older pets (two dogs and one cat). It’s a busy life that doesn’t allow time for many hobbies, but above all else, Kelsea is still an avid reader who finds solace in all things written narrative.

Kelsea says, “I am inspired by others constantly. I love meeting new people and learning their stories. I am so excited to learn from the other women involved, to learn and be inspired by the work that is a part of Yellow Arrow, and to feel another thread of connection in a world that is somehow so wildly connect but disconnected at the same time.”

Tell us a little something about yourself:

My first award for writing came in 8th grade, when my anthology of poems titled “Ode to Oprah,” a middle-schooler’s ‘witty’ way of writing an anthology about social justice issues, won an award.

What do you love most about the Baltimore area and where you live in Michigan?

When I lived in D.C., I loved visiting Baltimore and going to the harbor. I’ve always been someone most inspired and at ease by the water, so that was a favorite. That is the only reason why I allowed us to move to the “landlocked Midwest” because I live within 35 minutes of Lake Michigan, which feels like a beach!

How did you get involved with Yellow Arrow and what do you do for us? Why did you want to join the Yellow Arrow team?

When I came across Yellow Arrow, I was immediately inspired. As a new mother, I cannot explain how many times essays, poetry, etc., have gotten me through some of the more difficult moments. Also, I have dedicated much effort in my professional life to uplifting the work of women, and to advancing opportunities for them in fields where we still do not have true opportunity equity.

Combining this love of uplifting women with this personal understanding of the importance of written word to inspire and connect us as women who have so many common experiences, is what led me to apply for the board.

What are you working on currently?

Right now, I am solely focused on the 2024 cycle. After November 5 and subsequent follow up, I will explore some more creative options to uplift the experiences of working mothers.

What genre do you write?

I write creative literary essays. My preferred writing is always poetry though.

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

I feel like I’m the only person yet to read “The Midnight Library.” I’m also a huge Lilian Moriarty fan, and she does have a new one out.

Who is your favorite writer and why?

I have read and reread and loved every word Frederick Backman has written. I find his writing to be poetry in long form. I will never not read Roxane Gay when looking for analysis. Finally, I read the work of rupi kaur monthly, selecting from different collections as I need them.

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

I was fortunate to grow up with two very creative parents, who were very supportive of any outlet that I chose to be creative.

What do you love most about writing?

There are seemingly finite ways to string together 26 letters into words and sentences, but seemingly infinite ways to then string those sentences or fragments together to actually evoke intense emotion, thought, or understanding. Writing is a true art form.

What advice do you have for new writers?

Don’t be intimidated by an industry that is not easy to navigate. Don’t think anything reflects the quality of what you have to offer other than your own feelings about your own art. The hustle and the work to get our writing out is not representative of the worth of our words. It unfortunately feels that way all too often.

What’s the most important thing you always keep near your computer or wherever you work?

Fluids (I always have at least three different drinks nearby because I get sucked into writing, creatively or professionally, and can be there for hours)
A notepad that has no purpose (not for work or anything dedicated) other than to scribble the many random ideas that come to me throughout the day
A mug with the Malala quote “Let us pick up our books and our pens, they are our most powerful weapons”

What’s your vision for Yellow Arrow in 2025?

I see no reason why Yellow Arrow can’t be a nationally known nonprofit, not just known in and around Baltimore. This mission, these women, this passion—all the components are there to spark true magic. I hope to add most to this . . . as I feel that [Yellow Arrow] has done the hard work setting up something so special and so critical.

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Kapua Iao 2/11/25 Kapua Iao 2/11/25

Down to Every Word: A Conversation Across Genres with Jennifer Martinelli Eyre

For Jennifer Martinelli Eyre, life comes with many hats. She is a wife, a mother, an employee, a daughter, a sister, a niece, and a writer, residing in Harford County, Maryland. At the end of a long day, you might find her tucked away in a home office, scribbling her next work on a vibrant pink chair. Jennifer’s poem, “If Barbie Were My Daughter,” was featured in Yellow Arrow Journal ELEVATE (Vol. IX, No. 1). You can also find her poem, “Better” in Yellow Arrow Vignette AMPLIFY.

Elizabeth Ottenritter, Yellow Arrow Publishing’s fall 2024 publications intern, and Jennifer engaged in a conversation through email where they discussed the craft of free-verse poetry and writing realities across genres.

You have resided in Maryland your entire life—do you have any early memories rooted in Baltimore that may have influenced your interest in writing?

I have been a fan of musical theater since early childhood. I was, and continue to be, drawn to the power of lyrics and the stories they tell. Seeing as though I cannot sing or dance, my admiration for the performing arts often took place in the seat of many Baltimore theaters such as the Morris A. Mechanic Theatre, Lyric Baltimore, and Hippodrome Theatre. I have countless memories of sitting on the velvet edge of my seat, mesmerized by the words being sung from the stage. Having access to these performances fueled my love for words and played a large role in my obsession with storytelling.

How would you describe the writing scene in Baltimore? Have you found a network of fellow artists?

I am just beginning to dip my toe into the Baltimore writing scene. Through social media, I have discovered local treasures such as the Ivy Bookstore, and I’ve long admired the city’s devotion to independent booksellers. I recently attended my first Baltimore Book Festival and was overwhelmingly inspired by the city’s love and support of the literary arts. The amount of joy and inspiration in the air was infectious, and I honestly didn’t want the day to end.

Prior to Covid, I joined the local Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) chapter where I connected with fellow Maryland writers all in various points of their writing careers. The resources and comradery were unlike anything I’ve ever experienced, and I’m proud to say I’ve made some lifelong friends through the SCBWI. I highly recommend seeking out the SCBWI if you write (or illustrate) for children and young adults.

I would love to hear about your MFA experience and how writing for children/young adults has influenced your approach to writing.

Writing for children and young adults has taught me the importance of unique character perspective. For example, an adult character walking down dark, basement stairs may view their surroundings differently than a child walking down the same set of steps. An adult may view the darkness as nothing more than an annoyance because their spouse failed to change a lightbulb. A child on the other hand, may feel like they are venturing down a dark tunnel to a deadly dungeon. A story can go in multiple directions when you take the time to analyze a character’s perspective. It’s so easy to write from the perspective of where we are in life (adults) but to step into the shoes of a child truly changes everything. This is just one of hundreds of lessons I took with me from the program.

When you write a free verse poem, where do you begin? What tends to come to you first?

My approach to free-verse poetry is rather unstructured. I view free-verse poems as internal thoughts. For example, we don’t think in complete sentences. We don’t process information internally with proper grammar or rhyme schemes. Thoughts come to us as an immediate reaction to a given event, and it’s those unfiltered moments that typically spark my entry point into a free-verse poem. From that point on, I work to fine tune the message or theme while striving to keep the vulnerability and honesty of the poem’s message.

Give me Better Homes and Gardens
without the strands of pearls.
Show me the woman bundled in a blanket, her golden strands now gone.
A warrior on a hospital bed throne, pulling the weeds of cancer from her garden
with grace, poison, and prayer.

“Better” from Yellow Arrow Vignette AMPLIFY

Your poem “Better” is unique in its framing and repetition. Do you feel that the poems you write reflect a certain headspace you were in at the time? Or a physical place?

I have had moments in my life that I was only able to process through writing. I find that these poems tend to be more for me than for sharing. It’s a way for me to face the truth of what I’m experiencing which is not always easy.

Poems such as “Better” come from a space held a little more at arm’s length. The line, “Show me the woman bundled in a blanket, her golden strands now gone,” wasn’t written from a specific personal experience, but more from a collection of experiences watching people I love battle cancer at various points in my life. However, pulling bits and pieces from my past for a poem doesn’t always feel intentional. Sometimes the truth I weave into my poems is so quiet that I don’t even realize I’m pulling from experiences until the words settle on the page.

You mentioned weaving pieces of yourself alongside vulnerabilities in “If Barbie Were My Daughter.” How do you move past fear of exposure while crafting a candid piece such as this?

Poems such as “If Barbie Were My Daughter” do expose a part of myself that isn’t always easy to see. I’d be lying if I said that I’ve never been afraid to share personal experiences and vulnerabilities in my poems. The fear and discomfort typically boil over in the drafting/revising phase. Having your truth stare back at you from a page can be disarming, and it’s in those moments that I allow myself to experience the fear.

However, when the piece is complete and ready to share, I no longer view the work as something private I’m revealing about myself. Rather, I take a few steps back from the piece and create space for others to connect to the work in their own way. My poems are bigger than me, and it would be selfish to think I’m the only one on the planet who’s felt a particular way. My hope is that by sharing my vulnerabilities, I can inspire others to come to the table with their experiences. Fear feeds of off loneliness and wilts in a crowd.

How do you approach revising your own poetry?

I approach my revisions by first determining what it is that I want a poem to convey. I then look for areas where I said too much or said too little. It’s important to me that my words not only share a thought or experience (whether fiction or reality) but that they also leave room for the reader to find their own connection and interpretation. I will rework a poem endlessly until I feel that I’ve created a space for both on the page.

What types of art do you feel you respond to the most? How do they manifest in your own work?

I enjoy contemporary prose fiction, and my nightstand is currently stacked with such books. In free-verse poetry, there is an overwhelming call for brevity that doesn’t exist on the same level in prose. Every word in a poem must serve a precise purpose. That’s not to say that prose allows for needless detail, but it does add a layer of storytelling that inspires me. For example, I will get lost in a chapter that talks about nothing but the smell of a fresh cut grass from the perspective of a man who’s just been freed from prison. I want to know every detail of what that grass smells like to this character because it’s significant to who this person is and what they’ve been through.

After I finish a story written in prose, I will always take a moment and ask myself if that same story could have survived in a free-verse format. Sometimes the answer is yes and sometimes it is no. Regardless of the answer, it’s the process of asking myself these questions that helps me become a stronger, more intentional storyteller.

At the Baltimore Book festival, you told me to write what I wanted and to not let anyone tell me what I should write. I think this is such a powerful notion. Do you have any more advice for young women writers who are new to the publishing/literary world?

Women continue to be challenged by those too afraid to hear what we have to say. We are told to be quiet, comply, and to not talk about the hard things because it makes others uncomfortable. In my experience, being silenced and censored has only strengthened my literary voice.

My advice to women new to the publishing world is to go with your gut when it comes to your writing. Only you know what drove you to pick up that pen and place those words on paper; it’s crucial that you hold onto this. It can be quite easy to let the opinions of others dim the spark that started the whole project, but don’t let it. You have something to say, and the world needs to hear it.

Jennifer Martinelli Eyre graduated with her MFA in writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts in January 2023, where she spent her time studying writing for children and young adults. Jennifer enjoys exploring various literary styles of writing, particularly free verse poetry. When she is not writing, Jennifer can be found behind a desk at her full-time job or reading one of the many books piled on her nightstand. Jennifer has resided in Maryland her entire life and currently lives in Harford County with her husband, daughter, and ornery cat. You can find her on Instagram and Thread at @jmeyrewriter.

Elizabeth Ottenritter (she/her) is a senior at Loyola University Maryland, where she studies writing. She is passionate about reading, crafting poetry, contributing to Loyola’s literary art magazine, Corridors, and traveling worldwide. Upon graduation, Elizabeth hopes to continue her love of learning and language in a graduate program.

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Kapua Iao 2/4/25 Kapua Iao 2/4/25

Tips on Submitting Your Work to Literary Publications

By Leticia Priebe Rocha

During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, I found myself (like many people) contemplating where my life was going after any semblance of a plan went out the proverbial window. I had an epiphany that I refer to as my Billy Crystal in When Harry Met Sally confession moment: “When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.” Except for me, instead of a stunning Meg Ryan as Sally, my beloved is poetry. I felt a great sense of urgency to share my work with others. I was also acutely aware of my inexperience—I’d been writing since high school, but I had virtually no exposure to the literary world and had no idea how any of it worked.

I vaguely remembered advice from a creative writing professor in college—typically people start their writing careers by submitting their work to literary magazines. I Googled around and eventually found some open submission opportunities. My head filled with questions. What on earth is a Submittable? How do I write a cover letter? Which poems should I even send in? Needless to say, it was quite the learning curve.

Five years and hundreds of submissions later, I’d like to share the knowledge that I picked up along the way. Over the last two years, I have also had the pleasure of working with Yellow Arrow Publishing as guest editor of the EMBLAZON issue of Yellow Arrow Journal, later joining their editorial staff. Seeing the other side of the submission process was incredibly illuminating, so I will share tips from the perspective of both a writer and an editor. Submissions to the next issue of Yellow Arrow Journal, UNFURL on the process people go through when finding and transforming into their authentic selves, are open until February 28. Learn more about the submissions process and how to submit at https://www.yellowarrowpublishing.com/submissions.

Submit with Care: Choosing Where to Submit

You’ve written some pieces, wrestled with revision, and you’re ready to share them with the world. Where do you start? There are thousands of literary publications out there and it can quickly get overwhelming.

I have three sources that I use to find submission opportunities. Many publications have a social media presence and post about their reading periods. I especially like being able to see the online community that surrounds a publication. I also use ChillSubs, which is an online database of literary publications. It’s a great tool because you can filter your search to find what works best for you. There are other databases, too, like Duotrope. I also look at the acknowledgments page of poetry collections that I read and research any publications listed that I haven’t heard about.

Aside from finding submission opportunities, I urge you to find publications that align with your values and will take care of your work. When I started sending out submissions, I was so excited by the prospect of someone liking my work enough to publish it that I was not especially concerned with who was publishing it. With more experience, I started thinking more about how where I choose to publish could be seen as a reflection of my own values. Since then, I’ve been more intentional about where I submit, evaluating each publication’s website to determine whether we are in alignment. Reviewing the “about” section for every publication, observing whether they’re transparent about their editorial team (often called “the masthead”), and checking their social media presence are a few ways that I vet a journal.

Once I feel comfortable with a publication’s credibility, there are a few other layers I’ve learned to consider. How you approach them is dependent on your preferences and writing goals:

Publications can be in print, digital, or both. I personally don’t prioritize where I submit with this in mind, though it is really exciting to see my work in print!
Many publications charge reading fees, typically ranging from $2.00 to $5.00. This is fairly standard in the literary world, though there are plenty of magazines that are free to submit to. Personally, I tend to submit to free publications.
While a lot of publications don’t have the funds to pay their contributors, there are many who do. How much they pay varies widely. Typically, more established and “prestigious” publications can pay more than others.

Reading is Fundamental: Submission Best Practices

Now you’ve found literary publications that you want to send your work to who are open for submissions. Yay! The most important advice I can give you on the logistics of submitting is to read and follow the guidelines on the submission call.

Each publication has its own rules about how many pieces you can send, formatting, and other important details to keep in mind when submitting, like a theme. Considering the number of submissions most places receive, failing to follow guidelines can be an automatic disqualifier. Reading the guidelines also helps me get a feel for the publication and whether it is somewhere I want to see my work in.

One aspect of the submission process that initially baffled me was the cover letter. Once you get the hang of it, it’s pretty simple, and you should not spend a lot of time writing it. I created a template for myself and adjust it as necessary to save time when submitting. Starting off with a simple “Dear editors” will suffice, unless an editor’s name is listed in the guidelines or easily found on their website. In the body of the letter, I list how many poems I am submitting, their titles, and any content warnings. Most publications ask that you include an author bio in the cover letter, which gives them a glimpse of your previous publications, background, and anything you want to include to give a glimpse of your personality. Additionally, if you have a personal connection with the publication, have published there before, or received an encouraging rejection in the past, these are all details you can include in the cover letter. Otherwise, keep it simple.

Before serving as an editor, I sometimes had a hard time remembering that there are other people on the end of the “submit” button who will actually engage with my work. While editors can feel intimidating, they are humans with their own busy lives. For many publications, editorial staff are volunteers. Be gracious and make the process easier by following guidelines.

The Waiting Game: Keeping Track of Your Submissions

You’ve read and followed all the guidelines, drafted a beautiful cover letter, then clicked submit or sent off that submission email. Now what?

The waiting game begins! Everything is out of your hands and all you can do is wait for a decision. Many literary magazines and journals list how long they take to reply. Transparency around waiting times is another factor that makes me more likely to submit to a publication. From my experience, most places take at least three months to send decisions, though six months is common. Usually, more “high-profile” publications will take at least eight months to respond, but don’t be surprised if over a year goes by due to the volume of submissions they receive. If you are eager for a piece to be out in the world, many journals offer “fast response” options and these typically cost more than standard submissions. I encourage writers to submit the same piece(s) to multiple publications (called “simultaneous submissions”) unless a publication explicitly indicates against it in their guidelines. If a piece gets accepted, be sure to notify any other publications and withdraw it from consideration.

Aside from waiting, you can also keep track of your submissions. When I first started submitting, I did it pretty sparingly and did not see a need to track them. I eventually decided to get more sophisticated with my system and created a spreadsheet, especially to avoid any snafus with simultaneous submissions. My spreadsheet is organized into the following columns: Title, Publication Name, Submission Date, Response Timeline, and Submission Status. I also have a column that notes whether this is a simultaneous submission. I’m a big fan of color coding, so whenever I receive a response, I turn each row (which corresponds to an individual poem) green for accepted, red for rejected, or yellow if I need to withdraw any poems from consideration.

While tracking your submissions is not essential, it has been a useful practice for me because it helps me stay organized. I’m in this for the long haul, and I appreciate having this kind of data to look at over the years. Do what works for you! It should feel useful, not like so much work that it discourages you from submitting.

Give Yourself Grace: Swat the Rejections Like Flies

One aspect of living as a writer that I was not initially prepared for was the magnitude of rejections sent my way. I had a difficult time not taking each rejection personally at first. My stubborn nature served me well in those early moments, because I refused to give up when the desire to create and share was so strong within me. Over time, I also built up a community of writers through social media and attending literary events. Being in community with other writers helped me understand that rejection is a universal writerly experience.

Now that I’ve been on the other side of the process as an editor, I also better understand how incredibly subjective these decisions are. Editors are just people, and they approach your work with all their lived experiences and personal tastes. Another layer of this is the sheer volume of submissions that most publications receive. Even relatively “small” journals receive hundreds of submissions per reading period. Resonant work inevitably gets turned away for reasons that have nothing to do with its quality. One thing to keep an eye out for is that some publications send out “tiered” rejections with feedback and encouragement to send more work their way. Even if you get a rejection from a publication, you should absolutely try again if it is somewhere you truly see your work in alignment with.

When I receive a rejection, I still feel a little sting, but I can brush it off easily now. I try to reframe every rejection as an opportunity. Perhaps the poem could use some revision. Sometimes revisions are obvious right away, sometimes it takes years to see a new direction. What matters most is how you feel about the piece. If you still believe in it without revising, keep submitting. If you have doubts or are less excited about it, try to revise or take a break from submitting that specific piece until your excitement returns. I also strongly believe that each piece has the home it’s meant to be in, so a rejection only means that specific publication was not its home. I recently received an acceptance for a poem I wrote nearly eight years ago that I revised very little. It simply had to make its way to this specific publication, even if that took time. I’ve also realized that a lot of getting published is a numbers game—the more you send out work, the more acceptances you will get.

While I’ve laid out the submission process in a linear way, I want to recognize that submitting your work is no easy feat. It can be time-consuming, tedious, and tiring, especially when rejections start piling up. Sharing your work with anyone is a vulnerable act, and sending your work to editors requires tremendous courage. With all of this in mind, it is essential that you give yourself grace. Don’t let rejections define your worth as a writer. Take a break from submitting when you need to (my longest break was almost a year) and come back when you’re reenergized. Don’t self-reject from publications by not sending your work out, even to the most “prestigious” places. What do you have to lose? Listen to your intuition. I wish you all the best on your submission journey—here’s to many acceptances coming your way!

Leticia Priebe Rocha is a poet, visual artist, and editor. She is the author of the chapbook In Lieu of Heartbreak, This is Like (Bottlecap Press, 2024). Leticia 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 in Salamander, Rattle, Pigeon Pages, and elsewhere. Leticia is an editorial associate for Yellow Arrow Publishing and served as guest editor for their EMBLAZON issue. You can find her on Instagram @letiprieberochapoems or her website, leticiaprieberocha.com.

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Kapua Iao 2/1/25 Kapua Iao 2/1/25

Yellow Arrow Journal (X/01) UNFURL Submissions are Now Open!

Yellow Arrow Publishing is excited to announce that submissions for our next issue of Yellow Arrow Journal, Vol. X, No. 1 (spring 2025) are open February 1-28, exploring the process people go through when finding and transforming into their authentic selves. In her introductory blog, guest editor Sara J. Streeter (she/her) recently explored her personal journey with her adoption and her Korean-American heritage.

“I gave myself space and tended to my pain, prioritizing self-compassion when grief gnawed at me. Like a tree burning from the inside out, a flame inside me flickered, begging for release, though once I let it out, I couldn’t go back to the person I had been. . . . Writing my story gave me permission to examine the parts and pieces that were at times too ugly, too dark, too broken to touch. When people read what I wrote, it felt like the fire leapt from my throat and danced its way out into the world.”

The first issue of volume X will be a survey of the unique journeys people take when experiencing and undergoing self-transformation, journeys that all start with a little fire, a desire, deep inside. This issue’s theme is UNFURL

: to release from a furled, coiled, or wrapped state
: to open out from or as if from a furled state
: to unfold

Do you need some help choosing the right piece to submit? Here are some guiding questions about the topic and theme:

What role did community play in finding yourself?
How has your sense of self changed due to your transformation? What about your relationships?
What did you find along the way?
What do you still need to be authentically you?
Was there something that forced you to be a different version of yourself? How did you internalize it?

Yellow Arrow Journal is looking for creative nonfiction, poetry, and cover art submissions by writers/artists who identify as women, on the theme of UNFURL. Submissions can be in any language as long as an English translation accompanies it. For more information regarding journal submission guidelines, please visit yellowarrowpublishing.com/submissions. Please read our guidelines carefully before submitting. To learn more about our editorial views and how important your voice is in your story, read about the journal. This issue will be released in May 2025.

UNFURL’s guest editor, Sara J. Streeter or 한혜숙 Hea Sook Han, is a writer and a Korean-American adoptee. Since starting her writing journey in 2021, Sara found her writing community through Adoptee Voices and developed a meaningful connection to readers, both within the adoption constellation and beyond. She mainly writes creative nonfiction prose and has been published in literary journals, such as Longleaf Review, Hippocampus Magazine, Peatsmoke Journal, The Rappahannock Review, GASHER Journal, Cutleaf Journal, and others. Sara has been nominated for Best of the Net, Best Microfiction, and Best Small Fiction. She joined the Yellow Arrow community when her piece “Bitter / Sweet” was included in Yellow Arrow Journal kitalo Vol. IX, No. 2. She lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, with her family and is an interior designer for a small hospitality firm. You can find her at sarajstreeter.com. We are excited to work with Sara on UNFURL over the next few months.

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

*****

Kapua Iao 1/31/25 Kapua Iao 1/31/25

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-identifying creatives 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, book reviews, and podcasts/interviews

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

PRIZES/AWARDS

Tangles by Kay Smith-Blum from Seattle, Washington

Genre: historical suspense

Name of award: Best (New) Debut Fiction from the American Writing Awards

americanwritingawards.com/american-writing-awards

TANGLES is Kay’s debut novel. You can find Kay on Twitter @kaysmithblum, Instagram @discerningksb, and Facebook/Linkedin @kay.smithblum. You can also find her on her website kaysmith-blum.com. Kay was one of our 2023 Pushcart Prize nominees for “On Edge” in Yellow Arrow Journal UpSpring.

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 as well as prizes/awards, book reviews, and podcasts/interviews: here.

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

*****

Kapua Iao 1/28/25 Kapua Iao 1/28/25

Writing About the Cure

By Charlie Langfur, written October 2024

I have written all my life and learned to trust important events in my life as apt subjects for my writing. One such event that impacted me in a big way was when I was asked to leave high school to be cured of being gay in 1964. The school was Northfield School, an old and distinguished prep school in the sweet rolling hills of northern Massachusetts. I was there on a scholarship from my mother’s boss even though I came from a family always struggling financially.

In 1964, you ask? Back then, being a lesbian was considered to be a disease with the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Psychological Association (APA), but no one told me about it until I was forced to return home to Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, to see a psychiatrist every week to be cured. In 1974, the medical establishment altered the diagnostic code for gay people (homosexuals at the time) so that the disorder was no longer considered pathological. The APA made the change first. The fact that there was no such disease (and therefore, no cure) in the 1960s emboldened me and gave me the courage to try and talk my way out of things without talking about being gay at all. The Harvard therapist from Northfield School told me what I said to him was private (between us), but then he and the headmaster sent me home anyway without any warning. “I did not say I was gay, the Northfield doctor did,” I told my New Jersey therapist, but he told me I had to say more to be cured, even though I had no idea what more was any more than he did.

A couple of years after all this, I wrote a short story about what happened called “Curing Sarah,” and in it I tried to make sense of what happened and also to memorialize it for me in some authentic way because it impacted my life in every way possible for many years. Writing about it saved me and helped me understand what happened in a way I could absorb. After I wrote “Curing Sarah,” I began to send it out for publication, even more so after the APA declared gayness was no longer a disease in the 1970s, but the story was always rejected (some with and some without comments). Some years ago, the editor of Zoetrope wrote me, “God, I think this is a funny piece, but I couldn’t possibly publish it.”

But finally in 2012, the University of Southern Kentucky accepted it for Ninepatch: A Creative Journal for Women and Gender Studies. The story is still online and last month my neighbor told me she read and loved it. I’ve reread it and feel it still holds up. The tone matches how it was back then, and it shows how it led me to my life today. I am still writing and sending out my work for publication and recently my poem, “The Way Back,” was nominated for the Best of the Net 2025 by Yellow Arrow Publishing, and I was asked to write a poem for Poetry East’s special issue on Monet (a plumb piece for an organic gardener like me).

Over the years I have learned with writing to never give up on what I have to say. Writing has helped me through good times and bad, reflecting my life as an LGBTQ and green writer, in times when what I had to say was okay and when it was not. Recently Paul Iarobbino, an editor for Bold Voices, who is putting together an anthology of defiant moments in gay lives asked me about putting a reprint of “Curing Sarah” in his publication. He said it had “historical value” but wanted his editors to rework it in a first-person narrative. I politely declined because even though a reprint is a good idea, I know the text is right the way it is now—at least for me it is as a writer and a person. The tone works and so does the style.

Writing helps me pave a way through the difficult, and I try to write my way out of difficulty every chance I get. Nowadays, aging presents many experiences for me to do this, and I finally wrote my first short essay about what an elder is. So, I keep writing and changing and learning anew, and as always I write on.

You can read “Curing Sarah” for yourself at encompass.eku.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1027&context=ninepatch.

Charlene Langfur is an LGBTQ and green writer, an organic gardener, a Syracuse University Graduate Writing Fellow in Poetry in 1970 and she has hundred of publications in poetry, fiction and creative non-fiction. She lives in the southern California desert in the Palm Springs oasis.

*****

Kapua Iao 1/21/25 Kapua Iao 1/21/25

Meet a Board Member: Susie Duong

Yellow Arrow Publishing would like to introduce Susie Duong, board assistant treasurer. She started in October 2024, and we are excited to have her on the team. Susie brings 15+ years of experience in accounting, finance, and academics to her role with Yellow Arrow. She has held leadership positions at a global professional organization and is currently working as a subject matter expert and instructor for a leading education company. She earned her PhD in accounting from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, an MPhil from the University of Hong Kong, and a BA from Fudan University. Susie resides in Kansas City, Missouri, with her husband, two daughters, and their miniature schnauzer.

Susie says that she “I look forward to contributing to the future growth of Yellow Arrow.”

Tell us a little something about yourself:

I enjoy reading, walking, exercising, and spending time with my family.

What do you love most about Kansas City?

It’s a very family friendly place. My husband grew up in Kansas City, and we have a big extended family here.

How did you get involved with Yellow Arrow and what do you do for us? Why did you want to join the Yellow Arrow team?

I serve as assistant treasurer on the board, and I’m committed to supporting Yellow Arrow’s mission of empowering women writers.

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

The books on this list by the Economist are my to-be-read books: economist.com/interactive/graphic-detail/2024/07/26/how-long-would-it-take-to-read-the-greatest-books-of-all-time.

Who is your favorite writer and why?

Haruki Murakami.

What’s the most important thing you always keep near your computer or wherever you work?

A water bottle.

What’s your vision for Yellow Arrow in 2025?

I believe there’s opportunity for the organizational to grow nationally, and even internationally.

*****

Kapua Iao 1/14/25 Kapua Iao 1/14/25

The Desire and Fire Within All of Us to Find Ourselves

Yellow Arrow Publishing would like to announce the next guest editor for Yellow Arrow Journal, Sara J. Streeter. Sara will oversee the creation of our Vol. X, No. 1 issue (spring 2025).

This next issue of Yellow Arrow Journal explores the process people go through when finding and transforming into their authentic selves. This issue will be a survey of the unique journeys people take when experiencing and undergoing self-transformation, journeys that all start with a little fire, a desire, deep inside.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS:

Theme announcement: January 20
Submissions open: February 1
Submissions close: February 28
Issue release: May 20

Sara J. Streeter (she/her), or 한혜숙 Hea Sook Han, is a writer and a Korean-American adoptee. Since starting her writing journey in 2021, Sara found her writing community through Adoptee Voices and developed a meaningful connection to readers, both within the adoption constellation and beyond. She mainly writes creative nonfiction prose and has been published in literary journals, such as Longleaf Review, Hippocampus Magazine, Peatsmoke Journal, The Rappahannock Review, GASHER Journal, Cutleaf Journal, and others. Sara has been nominated for Best of the Net, Best Microfiction, and Best Small Fiction. She joined the Yellow Arrow community when her piece “Bitter / Sweet” was included in Yellow Arrow Journal kitalo Vol. IX, No. 2. She lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, with her family and is an interior designer for a small hospitality firm. You can find her at sarajstreeter.com.

You can also find the video above on the Yellow Arrow YouTube channel. Please follow Yellow Arrow on Facebook and Instagram for the theme announcement. Below, you can read more about Sara’s self-reflection into who she is, where she came from, and who she wants to be. Her words below explore her self-journey, and we can’t wait to hear yours. We look forward to working with Sara over the next few months.

By Sara J. Streeter

Just a few years ago, you wouldn’t find me here, writing about my South Korean birth family or the unyielding adoption industry. I was out wandering in the fog—a soft, cozy place of adoption unawareness I inhabited nearly my entire life. I hadn’t yet “come out of the fog,” or in other words, I had not gotten to a place where I accepted the realities of my relinquishment and familial displacement. The fog protected me from emotions I couldn’t quite process and from complex concepts I had yet to understand. It probably saved my life though, in turn, it kept me from understanding who I was, a cruel bargain.

So, what happened when, as an adult, I emerged from that comfortable bubble—when I came to consciousness about my adoption? I reluctantly began to understand my story was made of the “both–and”: By both love and structural systems of oppression. By both self-sacrifice and the lucrative business of adoption. The both–and was, and still is, difficult to hold with both hands. I had to come to terms with the idea that adoption starts with loss, and I had lost so, so much. Who I was as a person began to fundamentally change, but I still had to wake up, drive to work, attend the meeting, make dinner, maintain conversation, laugh when I was supposed to, pay taxes, dress myself, survive. I had to settle for being unsatisfied in knowing both too much and yet not enough.

I gave myself space and tended to my pain, prioritizing self-compassion when grief gnawed at me. Like a tree burning from the inside out, a flame inside me flickered, begging for release, though once I let it out, I couldn’t go back to the person I had been. I was scared that if I let it, the blaze would consume me. On the heels of 2020, as a working parent nearing middle age, I began to write. Writing my story gave me permission to examine the parts and pieces that were at times too ugly, too dark, too broken to touch. When people read what I wrote, it felt like the fire leapt from my throat and danced its way out into the world. Support came in the form of connection with readers and writers within the adoption community and beyond. I could breathe again. To become, I learned, I had to unbecome who I had been, and writing became a sanctuary for my transformation.

We are all shaped by the things in our lives. Allowing ourselves to be vulnerable and open to possibilities of a new self is brave and hard. In this issue to Yellow Arrow Journal, I invite us to consider the ways we embrace changing into our authentic selves, what we gain and lose, and how we build connection through sharing the journey. If we can imagine a world in which we are liberated from obsolete systems and tired stories and, instead, trust the process of change, we can get further together than alone.

*****

Kapua Iao 1/7/25 Kapua Iao 1/7/25

Yellow Arrow Publishing’s 2025 Yearly Value: Blazing the Trail Forward

Dear Yellow Arrow Community,

On January 1st of every year, I go on a “first day hike” with my family. No matter the weather, every year since my daughter was born, we’ve gone on a hike on January 1st. I don’t know if it will mean anything to her as she ages, but it means something to me, now. It’s a way of committing to an act, of saying, even if it is cold, or raining, or snowing, we will hike. Even if it is for half an hour, we will hike. No matter the conditions surrounding us, we will find a trail, and we will navigate forward.

Hiking is a lot of different things to different people. I don’t consider myself an intense hiker—more of the leisurely type—but one of the more memorable hikes I ever tackled was the Koko Crater Tramway, a steep climb up abandoned railway ties that ends at Koko Head Lookout on O’ahu. To get to the lookout by sunset, you have to begin hiking in the dark, so we set out with headlamps strapped to foreheads and unsure footing. About halfway up the climb is a bridge of railway ties with no ground beneath for about 50 rail steps. On the day I hiked this trail (if you can call it a trail), a swarm of bees began building a hive under one of the railway ties. Hikers ahead of me whispered back messages of caution and support, offering up what hikers before them advised worked or did not work to avoid getting stung or falling. I remember this part of the hike the most—and how, when we finally reached the top, the other hikers and I were all comrades, having followed the same path successfully, having tossed each other encouraging smiles as we paused for deep breaths or sips of water, or to take in the view.

In addition to taking a hike to start each year, I work with the team at Yellow Arrow Publishing to select a yearly value that encompasses all we plan to achieve in the months ahead. We began this practice in 2020 with REFUGE, in 2021 with EMERGE, building momentum with AWAKEN in 2022, and lighting things up with SPARK in 2023. In 2024, we focused on the value AMPLIFY.

When our team was voting on our 2025 yearly value for Yellow Arrow, and I saw that BLAZE was a frontrunner, this was the image I had in mind: blazing up that hiking trail, determined to persevere. First, with only the light of a headlamp and some strangers to guide me, and finally with the glow of the morning’s sun stretching over the water beyond the island.

Many of our board members, staff, and volunteers shared what BLAZE meant to them, and it was inspiring to see the wide array of interpretations our women-identifying community offered. The heat of passion. The beginning of a flame. The way the wind takes a spark or an ember and carries it, igniting more fire (or change) elsewhere. The changing of seasons. Transformation. The concept of being in heat and the way our sexual desires can send out their own strong signals—a blaze of pheromones. A blaze of glory. And, of course, the temptation to burn it all down.

But we also loved the imagery of blazing a trail—precisely what we have always aimed to accomplish here at Yellow Arrow. The idea “blazing a trail” originated in the 18th century, when forest trailgoers made notches or chips in the bark of trees, quite literally called “blazes.”

If you can, imagine our team here behind the scenes. We are tending to this trail our writers are on, trimming the overgrowth to soften the path, laying down markers to guide them, whispering words of encouragement through the branches, reminding them, reminding you, that you’re on the right path, you’ve got what it takes, and you are not alone. We are marking the trees with blazes for you. We are letting you know we are here.

The thing about hiking is that even when you do it alone, there is always evidence of those who have come before you. Sometimes it’s as simple as a footprint or a spot in the path that is more worn than others; sometimes an accidentally dropped receipt or water bottle cap. Sometimes it is more profound, a bond over a shared experience, a friendship formed at the trailhead.

A few years ago, Yellow Arrow’s founder, Gwen Van Velsor, shared the origin story behind Yellow Arrow’s name, which speaks to a similar theme of an individual on a path, trying to find her way. In my story and in hers, one thing stands out: when we are blazing a trail for ourselves, we are not doing it alone. There are signs of other life, yellow arrows, or blazes, that remind us that we are going in the right direction. Sometimes we wander, sometimes we get lost, but it is those outside influences that help guide us along the way. Sometimes those outside influences are strong enough to feel like a form of internal motivation. And sometimes they are so strong, so present, and so continuous, that they form a community.

The community we have at Yellow Arrow is truly remarkable. I was not here in the founding days, or even years—it was 2020 when I joined the community, initially as a writer-in-residence. At that time, I was trying to blaze my own individual trail as a newly recommitted writer trying to navigate the literary world. I hadn’t known what was up around the bend back then, that as I continued on my path I would move into the executive director role at Yellow Arrow, or that I would start an MFA program last fall. As I’ve persevered, though, I have tuned in to those around me on my path; I have listened, watched, observed, and absorbed all they have to offer me. I’ve followed the yellow arrows, the blazes, in whatever forms they appeared. That proof of other writerly life around me, specifically other women-identifying writers, has buoyed me on this journey.

I hear the same sentiment from other writers in our community that while writing can often be an isolated journey, at Yellow Arrow, there is a sense of what can I do for you, what can we do together, that is so pervasive that one cannot feel isolated. Writing can be a solo act, yes, but it can also be a community effort. I saw this firsthand this year when Kerry Graham and I led our new, free community event Poetry & Prose in the Park (which we will continue in 2025!). Writers gathered in city parks each month and listened as we shared poetry and prose on various themes. Some stayed on our yellow picnic blanket, and some wandered off to a quieter spot, but we all sat and wrote, alone but together.

In 2025, we are thrilled that we are starting the year off strong, with grant awards from Maryland Humanities, the Maryland State Arts Council, and Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts. We will publish three chapbooks by incredible authors (read about them here), continue our Yellow Arrow Vignette online series, and will release two more issues of Yellow Arrow Journal (stay tuned for the first theme to be announced later this month!). We will also continue to offer a host of online and in-person workshops and our spring schedule was just released—check it out here!

We are very much looking forward to blazing this trail together with you all, our Yellow Arrow community, in 2025.

Annie Marhefka and the Yellow Arrow Publishing team

*****

We are ever so grateful for your continued support of women-identifying writers. We need your support now more than ever. We welcome donations that support our mission, especially as we kick off our 2025 programs and publications. Donate today to support our 2025 initiatives!

Kapua Iao 12/10/24 Kapua Iao 12/10/24

2024 Year in Review: Our Work Is Not Done; It Is Only Just Beginning

Dear Yellow Arrow Community,

Each year Yellow Arrow Publishing selects a yearly value that embodies the energy we want to bring into our work, and for 2024, we selected AMPLIFY. Our priority this past year was to showcase our authors to a bigger audience, increase the conversations around our published creative works and their themes, and boost the understanding that our community has about these works, their writers, and the issues that matter most to them.

As executive director, I spent a significant amount of time this year sharing Yellow Arrow’s views on why we (still) need to fight for women’s voices and stories to be heard and shared, speaking on panels at literary festivals, writing retreats, networking events, and universities. After the election, I confess I had a moment of despair, wondering if my and our efforts have been in vain. The day after the election happened to be a regular Yellow Arrow board-meeting day and on a good day, those meetings are not filled with despair. Those meetings are filled with unflinching compassion, active listening, the freedom to express outrage, the warmth of unity, and the love for one another. The women on the Yellow Arrow board and in the Yellow Arrow community are reaffirming, passionate, and authentic. The creatives who joined me at that meeting on that day after the election reminded me that our work is not done. They reminded me that I am not alone in the critical work of uplifting women’s voices. And we want to remind you that you are not alone in the work of sharing your story.

When I think about what’s to come in the year ahead, I first turn to my writing. Whether it’s journaling, jotting down a note in my phone at the grocery store, or working on essay revisions for my MFA program at the University of Baltimore, writing gives me and our authors purpose. It allows us to turn our anguish into something meaningful, something actionable. It allows us to do the work of advocacy with our pens. We are talking about all of this behind the scenes, the importance of our work and the need for pen on paper, and are working toward our vision for 2025 with this in mind. We’ll introduce our thoughts for 2025 in the new year; for now, let’s take a moment to look back at all that we have done in our 2024 Year in Review. And we have done a lot.

Yellow Arrow Vignette AMPLIFY managing editor Dr. Tonee Mae Moll curated a stunning collection of poetry and prose this summer, and we celebrated with a reading on stage at the Baltimore Book Festival in the fall. We encourage you to read the full Vignette AMPLIFY series, which is available online at yellowarrowpublishing.com/vignette/amplify-2024 at no cost. Brigitte Winter’s poem “Seashell” particularly resonated with me as I reflected on this year. With Yellow Arrow Journal this year (Vol. IX), we first explored the theme of ELEVATE with guest editor Jennifer N. Shannon. The opening piece in ELEVATE, “Cicada” by Elliott batTzedek, speaks to this moment. Our second issue of Yellow Arrow Journal was kitalo, which focused on griefulness, exploring the intertwining of grief and gratitude. “Kitalo” is an empathetic Luganda term of solidarity offered when someone experiences a spectrum of loss. It directly translates to “this/that is tragic” but is far richer than that. The opening piece in kitalo, Kat Flores’ “Temporary Homes” takes the ideas explored in “Seashell” and “Cicada,” being truthful to oneself and those you love, even further.

Kitalo guest editor Tramaine Suubi shared, “Being the guest editor is a privilege, but the greatest gift I received in this role is true vulnerability. I grieve and give thanks alongside each of our artists here. I hope their words are lifegiving for you, just as they are for me.” (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 $27 here.)

We published 79 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: Beyond the Galleons by Isabel Cristina Legarda, Iridescent Pigeons by Candace Walsh, and Ghosts Only I Can See by Julie Alden Cullinane. We recently announced our 2025 chapbook authors and are eagerly looking ahead to their publications next year and can’t wait to support them and our future vignette and journal authors.

With our Writers-in-Residence program, we were able to continue building community amongst local writers by offering unlimited workshops, one-on-one meetings with team members, and more in partnership with Bird-in-Hand bookstore. We were thrilled to have four talented Baltimore writers join us on their creative journeys this fall: Ashley Elizabeth, Kavitha Rath, Parisa Saranj, and Steph Sundermann-Zinger. Stay tuned for info about a reading featuring their work in early 2025!

In the spirit of AMPLIFY, we set out to spread the word about Yellow Arrow this year at literary events, universities, and through partnerships with Baltimore arts organizations. In March, we traveled to the AWP (Association of Writers & Writing Programs) conference in Kansas City and connected with many of our Yellow Arrow contributors! We are delighted to share that we will again be attending AWP with a Yellow Arrow table in the book fair in March of 2025. We hope to see writers from our community in Los Angeles! And if you haven’t heard, AWP recently announced that the conference will be coming to our very own Baltimore in 2026—we cannot wait to show the literary world what Charm City has to offer!

We also spent a lot of time connecting further with our Baltimore-area community through speaking engagements and events including the Baltimore Book Festival, the CityLit Project, CHARM lit, Howard University Writers Guild, Loyola University, the Creative Alliance, the Entrepreneurs & Artists Podcast, B’more Kind, and Manor Mill. We gain momentum by collaborating with such incredible creative communities across Baltimore’s many thriving local arts neighborhoods.

Finally, this year, we are so thrilled that we were able to host over 20 workshops on craft writing topics! Our writing workshops are accessible, affordable, and foster a sense of community and support among writers in all stages of their creative journey.

We could never do this incredible work without our tremendous team who collaborate 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 so grateful for everyone’s continued support of women-identifying writers, and we need your support now more than ever. You can check out our holiday gift guide here. We welcome donations that support our mission, especially as we wrap up the year and plan for 2025. Donate today to support our 2025 initiatives! 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 12/6/24 Kapua Iao 12/6/24

Her View Friday

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, book reviews, and podcasts/interviews

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: Ashley Elizabeth

Tell us about yourself: I am a fall writer-in-residence with Yellow Arrow. I am also a middle school educator, poet, and essayist who likes to document everyday life in a way others haven’t thought of.

Ashley (she/her) is a Pushcart-nominated writer and teacher. Her poetry has appeared in SWWIM, Voicemail Poems, and West Trestle Review, among others. Ashley’s debut full-length collection, A Family Thing, was released with Redacted Books/ELJ Editions (2024). She is also the author of chapbooks you were supposed to be a friend (2020) and black has every right to be angry (2023). When Ashley isn’t teaching or working as the chapbook editor with Sundress Publications, she habitually posts on Twitter and Instagram (@ae_thepoet). She lives with her partner and their cats.

Where are you from: Baltimore, Maryland

What describes your main writing space: My writing space differs based on how I feel. I do a lot in my office currently, which I could describe as nostalgic, chilly, and open.

Tell us about your publication: CHARM(ed) chronicles Baltimore life and grapples with the idea of home and belonging. It also celebrates a city with deep roots, history, and culture—particularly the food. With the added element of photographs, this collection blends visual art and written word as part love letter, part critique of the goings-on in Charm City. CHARM(ed) was published by fifth wheel press in November 2024.

Why this book? Why now? How did it happen for you: Funnily enough, the idea for this book came to me during undergrad about 10 years ago and was my last written assignment, my mini-thesis. Since that time, I have come home to Baltimore, now also working and living in Baltimore. Too many people have too bad of an idea about what Baltimore is, and this collection is meant to shift one’s perspective. The combination of photographs are also my first photography credits as I seek the truth and seek justice for a city judged so poorly.

What advice do you have for other writers: Do your research on where to submit, but also don’t be scared of rejection. Make sure you edit, edit, edit. Be intentional with your words.

What was your writing goal for the year: This year, my goal was mainly to uplift my debut full-length, A Family Thing, which came out August 2024. But I am also wishing to try new forms and genres, focusing less on individual publications more on the journey.

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 as well as prizes/awards, book reviews, and podcasts/interviews: here.

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

*****

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.

Yellow Arrow 12/3/24 Yellow Arrow 12/3/24

Meet the 2025 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 2025 Yellow Arrow Pushcart Prize Nominees!

Julie Alden Cullinane

“Ghost Ships”
from *Ghosts Only I Can See*
~ My ghost ships do not go gentle into that good night. My ghost ships are beautiful, they are all different shapes, colors, and sizes. They sail down the river of my life with full flags flying. ~

Julie Alden Cullinane is a Boston-based writer. She holds both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in English, and her writing credits include poetry and short stories published in numerous literary magazines. Her common themes include womanhood, motherhood, and wonders of being human. In addition to her writing, Julie works as the vice president of human resources for a large behavioral health hospital, a role that offers her a rich perspective on the human experience, which she incorporates into her writing. She enjoys reading and writing in her free time and has a dedicated following on social media, X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads, and Instagram. She also maintains an author’s website at julie.wildinkpages.com/poetry to engage with her readers.

Julie’s chapbook Ghosts Only I Can See was released in October 2024 and can be found in the Yellow Arrow bookstore.

Belinda J. Kein

“Elegy in Silver”
from *Yellow Arrow Journal* Vol. IX, No. 2, **kitalo**
~ . . . the silver lovingly shined, years of tarnish giving way to a luminous gleam, the only remaining darkness deep in the crevices that curled about the slow turn of the handle to reveal a swirling cornucopia of rotund fruits and trailing vines etched in sharp relief, rendered exactly as in my memory . . . ~

Belinda J. Kein is an expat New Yorker who resides in San Diego, California. A poet early on, she now brings her lyricism and love of the succinct to creative nonfiction, fiction, and hybrid shortform prose. Her work has appeared in The Belmont Story Review, Hippocampus Magazine, Vestal Review, The Fourth River, The Razor, Stanchion Zine’s Away From Home Anthology, 2022 Dime Stories anthology, Mom Egg Review, The New York Times, and The Spirit of Pregnancy anthology. Her work is forthcoming in the We’ve Got Some Things to Say anthology. She holds an MA in English from San Diego State University and an MFA in fiction from Queens University of Charlotte. She is currently working on a flash collection.

Belinda contributed her creative nonfiction piece, “Elegy in Silver” to Yellow Arrow Journal Vol. IX, No. 2, kitalo, which can be found in the Yellow Arrow bookstore.

Isabel Cristina Legarda

“Boondocks”
from Beyond the Galleons
~ When bundok became the boondocks
lost was the mountain as holy ground
in the civilized world
of “water cures” and massacres;
denied, the wisdom of the wilderness ~

Isabel’s chapbook Beyond the Galleons was released in April 2024 and can be found in the Yellow Arrow bookstore.

Angelica Terso

“Anatomy of a Lumpia Girl”
from *Yellow Arrow Journal* Vol. IX, No. 1, **ELEVATE**
~ Right now, I’m made of 50% lumpia and 100% grateful. I know I’m 150% terrible at math. ~

Angelica Terso (she/her) is a Filipino American writer currently residing in Maryland. Her stories feature LGBT, Asian Americans, and other under-represented themes. Previously, her work has appeared in Atticus Review, The Raven Review, and others. When she’s not writing, reading, or daydreaming, she’s either hiking or rock climbing. You can find her on Instagram @angelicatersowrites.

Angelica contributed her piece “Anatomy of a Lumpia Girl” to Yellow Arrow Journal Vol. IX No. 1, ELEVATE, and can be found in the Yellow Arrow bookstore.

Candace Walsh

“Wild and frail and beautiful”
from *Iridescent Pigeons*
~ *something flying fast*
iridescent pigeons
cloudy future flocks
a peacock butterfly ~

Candace Walsh holds a PhD in creative writing (fiction) from Ohio University and an MFA in fiction from Warren Wilson College. She is a visiting assistant professor of English (creative writing and literature) at Ohio University. Her poetry chapbook, Iridescent Pigeons, was released by Yellow Arrow Publishing in July 2024. Recent publication credits include Trampset, California Quarterly, Sinister Wisdom, Vagabond City Lit, and HAD (poetry); March Danceness, New Limestone Review, and Pigeon Pages (creative nonfiction); and The Greensboro Review, Passengers Journal, and Leon Literary Review (fiction). Her craft and pedagogical essays and book reviews have appeared in Assay: A Journal of Nonfiction Studies, Brevity, Craft Literary, descant, and Fiction Writers Review. Her book Licking the Spoon: A Memoir of Food, Family, and Identity (Hachette/Seal Press) won the 2013 New Mexico-Arizona LGBT Book Award, and two of the essay anthologies she coedited were Lambda Literary Award finalists: Dear John, I Love Jane, and Greetings from Janeland. Find her on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook; her website is candacewalsh.com.

Candace’s chapbook Iridescent Pigeons was released in July 2024 and can be found in the Yellow Arrow bookstore.

*****

Kapua Iao 11/29/24 Kapua Iao 11/29/24

Her View Friday

single-author publications
single pieces in journals, anthologies, etc., as well as prizes/awards, book reviews, and podcasts/interviews

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

“Breaking silence” by ann van wijgerden from the philippines

Genre: short story

Name of publication: redrosethorns journal

Date Released: October 18, 2024

Type of publication: online

redrosethorns.com/post/breaking-silence

Ann’s poem “Dear Planet” from Yellow Arrow Vignette SPARK was nominated by Yellow Arrow for Best of the Net 2025. Keep up with her on Facebook @ann.vanwijgerden.

“The spirit of dwelling” by heather brown barrett from Virginia

Genre: poetry

Name of publication: The Ekphrastic Review, John Anster Fitzgerald: Ekphrastic Writing Responses

Date Released: November 1, 2024

Type of publication: online

ekphrastic.net/the-ekphrastic-challenges/john-anster-fitzgerald-ekphrastic-writing-responses

Learn more about Heather on Instagram @heatherbrownbarrett.

Translation of “Roses For Edgar Allan Poe” originally written by Zhao Dahe, translated by Yuemin He From virginia

Genre: poetry

Name of publication: Mayday Magazine

Date Released: November 1, 2024

Type of publication: online

maydaymagazine.com/roses-for-edgar-allan-poezhao-dahe-translated-from-the-chinese-by-yuemin-he

Find Yuemin and news about her other translations on Twitter @HebeR32123.

“embodied” by kellie brown from tennessee

Genre: poetry

Name of publication: Amethyst Review

Date Released: November 8, 2024

Type of publication: online

amethystmagazine.org/2024/11/08/embodied-a-poem-by-kellie-brown

Connect with Kellie on Twitter @Kelliedbrown1, Instagram @kelliedubelbrown, Facebook @kelliebrown, BlueSky @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social, and Threads @kelliedubelbrown. More of her work can be found at kelliedbrown.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 as well as prizes/awards, book reviews, and podcasts/interviews: here.

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

*****

Kapua Iao 11/26/24 Kapua Iao 11/26/24

From Baltimore to Rochester: Where I Enjoy Writing in my Neighborhood

By Caroline Kunz, written July 2024

Just like having a brilliant idea and a fully charged laptop, finding the ideal spot to work in is an essential part of the writing process. As a writer and student who always finds herself on the go–from class, to work, to late-night study sessions, to home for break in Upstate New York and back to Baltimore once again–stopping to find locations that facilitate focus, creativity, and inspiration is ever-important.

I believe that any place can be turned into a prime writing location if one possesses the right mindset (and a good classical music playlist or mug of hot tea). However, there are a few locations beyond my desk at home that have proven especially trustworthy. From one writer to another, I hope that my list will resonate with those who enjoy similar spots of their own and inspire those looking for a change of scenery.

Baltimore, Maryland

As a student at Loyola University Maryland, I am lucky to call the beautiful Evergreen campus my second home. Throughout the busyness of my semesters as an English and writing student in the vibrant city of Baltimore, I’ve learned the importance of finding small nooks and crannies to retreat to for writing. In the first few weeks of my freshman year, I picked a little bay window seat in the corner of the English department to call my own. The seat overlooks a courtyard filled with trees, flowers, and students bustling past. I write in this spot year-round, whether the trees outside are yellow and orange in autumn or covered with pink cherry blossoms in the spring. I enjoy the cozy feeling of being tucked away inside Loyola’s expansive Humanities building, stretching my legs out across the length of the cushioned bench and propping a laptop or notebook on my lap. The peace and quiet of a secluded space allow me to be incredibly productive, no matter the type of piece that I’m working on. I’ve written countless essays, literary analyses, creative nonfiction pieces, and poems (often inspired by the views outside) here over the past three years, and I look forward to returning in August for my last.

Just about a 10-minute walk from campus lies Sherwood Gardens. The park features open green spaces, shady trees, and lush flowers. The vibrant array of tulips that blooms in early May is particularly striking. When looking for a change of scene, my friends and I will grab our backpacks and a picnic blanket and take a walk to Sherwood. Oftentimes, my professors will hold their classes here when the tulips are in peak bloom. Sitting there beneath the shade of a towering tree is like a breath of fresh air, the garden bringing with it a sense of inspiration and focus that contrasts that of the standard classroom. I find that this is my favorite place to complete assignments relating to the outdoors, whether it be a spring-inspired poem or an analysis of the nature imagery in William Shakespeare’s As You like It. When my scenery matches the tone of my work, I feel a deeper sense of connection to my writing.

Rochester, New York

When returning home to Rochester for semester breaks, I look forward to the city’s impeccable coffee shop scene. Coffee shops are some of my favorite places to write—the din of chatter, the smell of fresh espresso, the eclectic music and decor. When writing essays and analyses, I tend to need a quieter space to work. However, for poetry, journaling, and creative pieces, I crave the bustling, communal atmosphere of a coffee shop. I gravitate toward those on Park Avenue, a Rochester street known for its historic homes, eclectic art scene, and unique restaurants and shops. Café Sasso is my go-to shop on the winding street, featuring walls covered ceiling to floor with paintings by local artists and plenty of tables and window seats for writing. I usually pick a small table in the corner, order an iced “Gatsby” (a latte with lavender and white chocolate), and get to work. I become inspired by the art, the view of Park Avenue outside, and of course, the people watching. In fact, during a previous semester, I was assigned by a poetry professor over spring break to take a line that I’d overheard from someone else’s conversation and use it in my next poem. I couldn’t think of a more ideal environment than a coffee shop to complete this assignment. The results from this experiment were exciting and refreshing compared to the poems I’d written previously. Since then, I’ve continuously found ideas for poems and short stories among the coffee shop patrons that sit beside me.

Another favorite street in my hometown is Rochester’s Neighborhood of the Arts. Located within the neighborhood is Writers and Books, a literary arts nonprofit and hidden gem of a place. Writers and Books fosters the perfect environment for inspired writing, from the giant wooden pencil outside the front of the building, to the inviting, bookshelf-lined rooms within. The nonprofit aims to promote reading and writing as lifelong passions by offering workshops, community writing groups, open writing spaces, and guest lectures to locals of all ages. I was lucky enough to spend nearly every day of my summer at Writers and Books last year while I served as a SummerWrite intern, helping to coordinate the nonprofit’s summer writing classes for young students in the area. These students found such joy in getting to write alongside those with a mutual passion for the literary arts. Watching their excitement grow throughout the summer reminded me of the benefits of writing in concentrated spaces like this. For those looking to strengthen their writing skills with a workshop or write in a community-oriented setting, I can’t recommend literary arts nonprofits and writing centers enough.

Final Thoughts: Where do You Write?

As I stated previously, the most important thing is that no matter where we write—from coffee shops to airport gates to local parks—we possess the right mindset. With grit, determination, and great zeal for what we do, we writers have the potential to turn even the most unlikely of places into a successful writing location. Whenever I begin writing in a new place, or I find that I’m struggling to focus, I remember author Isabel Allende’s quote, “Show up, show up, show up, and after a while the muse shows up, too.” In other words, no matter where you choose to write, keep showing up. Keep at it, even when the poem, chapter, or essay you’re working on seems an impossible task. Keep an open mind, and inspiration may come to you in the places you least expected.

Caroline Kunz (she/her) is a rising senior at Loyola University Maryland, where she studies English and writing on a pre-MAT track. She enjoys traveling, scouting out new coffee shops, and of course, reading and writing. As an aspiring educator, she hopes to share her love of the written word with future generations of students. Her current favorite authors include Taylor Jenkins Reid and Celeste Ng.

*****

Kapua Iao 11/19/24 Kapua Iao 11/19/24

Meet the Yellow Arrow Publishing 2025 chapbook authors

From 2020 to 2024, Yellow Arrow Publishing has had the privilege of publishing 14 chapbooks (for information about the creative minds behind these collections, visit yellowarrowpublishing.com/publish-with-us). Some of our authors published their first books with us while others had gotten their feet wet in the past but wanted to dive into something slightly different and more intimate. Several are from the Baltimore area while others are from all over the United States, with one author (shout out to Roz Weaver . . . are guinea pig and first chapbook author) from England. We’ve learned so much over the years and grown with each writer, figuring out with each book how to best support our authors. With 2025, we were looking for collections that sang to us, made us cry, made us commiserate, made us proud.

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 work with in 2025. 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 2025 Yellow Arrow chapbook authors!

**Ann marie Houghtailing**

*Little by Little*
coming April 2025

Ann marie Houghtailing has an ALM in American Literature from Harvard University Extension. She has delivered a TEDx Talk entitled Raising Humans and performed her critically acclaimed one woman show, Renegade Princess, in New York, Chicago, Santa Fe, San Francisco, and San Diego. Houghtailing is a visual artist and cofounder of the firm, Story Imprinting. Her writing has appeared in the Washington Post, Huffington Post, Daily Worth, XO Jane, San Diego Business Journal, Yahoo! Finance, and Thought Catalog.

Find her on Instagram @trailsnotpaths and on Facebook and LinkedIn @annmariehoughtailing.

About Little by Little: “Little by little” is the phrase my mother used to say when things were hard. Things were almost always hard. I grew up in a culture of poverty and witnessed violence, struggle, and wild resilience everyday. What I did not know was that my mother’s phrase would become a life affirming strategy. It was a map that took me back to myself when life took so much from me. From 2019–2020 four members of my family, including my mother, died in rapid succession. Their deaths would be an extension of historic and epigenetic trauma that would require me to sit inside of suffering and paint, write, and garden my way through to transformation. This collection, Little by Little, seeks to explore the universality of human suffering and how we find our way to meaning and purpose. Everyday we experience loss. The loss of innocence, youth, relationships, jobs, money, confidence, power, life, and hope are in constant play. Learning to sit inside of deep suffering can be intellectually, emotionally, and physically demanding territory that invites us to examine who we are and what we’re made of. Little by Little is a way to see, a way to suffer, and ultimately live.

Why is it important to you to have your voice heard and amplified?

Just as there is generational wealth, there is generational poverty. I was raised by a mother who grew up on a sugar cane plantation in Waialua, O’ahu. My mother was born when Hawai’i was still a territory of the U.S. This story is completely absent in American culture consciousness. My mother raised me on a pharmacy clerk’s hourly wage and when she died I didn’t inherit property or expensive jewelry; I inherited her stories that are etched in my bones. Stories that will die if I don’t tell them. I’m also a postmenopausal woman, which means that in midlife I’m invisible, pushed to the margins in our youth obsessed culture And finally, I’ve had a long history of staggering loss; 2019–2020 was a particularly devastating year. I produced all the poetry in Little by Little in a period of deep grief. I lost four members of my family in one year. The intersection of these elements of my experience informs the way I see and process the world. Poverty, death, and middle age are not always the subject matter of my writing, but my writing cannot be separated from these truths that have shaped me.

What made you decide to submit this chapbook to Yellow Arrow Publishing this year?

Candace Walsh [author of Iridescent Pigeons, published by Yellow Arrow in 2024] posted the call for submissions. The publication of Iridescent Pigeons was beautiful, and I had a shock of bravery that inspired me to submit my work that had been swimming in the amniotic fluid of grief for several years.

**Emily Decker**

*Homing*
coming July 2025

Emily Decker was born in Virginia, on the Chesapeake Bay, and spent her childhood in Ghana and her growing-up years in Atlanta, Georgia. She holds degrees in literature and secondary English education from Georgia State University, and her poetry has appeared in Yellow Arrow Journal, Full Bleed, Hole in the Head Review, and Bay to Ocean Journal. Decker currently resides in Baltimore, Maryland, where she also loves to participate in local theater, sing, and sail. Homing is her first collection.

Find her on Instagram and Facebook @emadeck.

About Homing: Where is home? All my life, this question has been a complicated one to answer. I can tell you where I was born, where I spent my childhood, where I’ve lived the most, and where I live now. But home? I’m not sure. Is it a location? Or is it found within the communities and relationships where we feel loved, safe, part of something outside of ourselves? Does it change? And what about the times when we don’t know where—or if—to return? The search for these answers is what led to the poems in this collection. At its core, Homing is an exploration of the transitory nature of belonging and its innate role in our desire for home, even as we try to define it. These poems reflect on the interconnectedness of the paths we take and the moments along the way—between tides and seasons, in nature, amidst love and friendship, within memory and loss, over generations, and most of all, within ourselves—as we seek, find, and return to a place called home.

Why is it important to you to have your voice heard and amplified?

I don’t think it’s important to have my voice heard, per se. But I do hope my poems represent many voices—ones that don’t always know how to be heard but are searching for ways to have their experiences reflected back to them, on a page, in an image, in metaphor. The poet Eavan Boland once wrote that “at the end of the day, what matters is language. Is the unspoken at the edge of the spoken.” If amplifying my words helps someone connect language to their own, perhaps unspoken, search for home and belonging, then I’m happy to be part of the great host of writers bridging the gap between the spoken and unspoken.

What made you decide to submit this chapbook to Yellow Arrow Publishing this year?

Yellow Arrow Journal’s KINDLING issue (2023) was the home of my first published poem and since then [Yellow Arrow] has held a special place in my heart. I also wanted to finish and submit this chapbook before I turned 40 this past September—as a sort of capstone to my 30s. Aging is such a complicated process of self-discovery and acceptance for a woman, and Yellow Arrow’s women-amplifying, community-driven mission further underscored my choice to submit this collection—another first publication—to them.

**Vic Nogay**

*Naming a Dying Thing*
coming October 2025

Vic Nogay is a Pushcart Prize and Best Microfiction nominated writer from Ohio. Her work has been published in Gone Lawn, Tiny Molecules, Fractured Lit, Lost Balloon, and other journals. She is the author of the micropoetry chapbook under fire under water (tiny wren, 2022) and the microeditor of Identity Theory. Find her online @vicnogaywrites or haunting rural roadsides where the wildflowers grow.

About Naming a Dying Thing: Naming a Dying Thing is a collection of poems rooted in place, in loss, and in reckoning. Much of the content is sieved through native Ohio wildlife imagery of all seasons, though primarily summer. This is a sticky collection, like humid Ohio summers, often wistful and lovely, but also heavy and heightened. The primary struggle in this body of work is with womanhood, motherhood—how to be a woman and a mother in a society demanding we be somehow everything and nothing all at once. These poems also contemplate and subvert success and failure in love, holding a marriage up to the concurrent events of our hostile American reality. There are no answers here. Topics include pregnancy, motherhood, miscarriage, child loss, abortion, reproductive injustices, gun violence, climate change, marriage, relationships, memory, and the hidden intersections I'm finding between them and the native Ohio wildlife near my home.

Why is it important to you to have your voice heard and amplified?

Sharing my voice is self-sovereignty, it’s how I choose to take up space, to let my little life unfurl beyond itself, catching the wind if only for a moment.

What made you decide to submit this chapbook to Yellow Arrow Publishing this year?

I love that Yellow Arrow is a nonprofit publisher committed to championing cis and trans women writers. I knew my poems and I would be safe and supported in this exemplary community.

We can’t wait to work with Ann marie, Emily, and Vic next year and put out there beautiful collections but would like to acknowledge all the incredible collections we received this summer. Thank you to everyone who submitted and shared. In particular, we would love to give a shout out to both our longlisted (part of the top 25) and shortlisted authors (part of the top 11).

Meet our shortlisted authors:

Rachel R. Baum

Melanie Hyo-In Han

Kathleen Hellen

Beth Kanter

Beth Konkoski

Elina Kumra

Pia Taavila-Borsheim

Bethany Tap

Meet our longlisted authors:

Torey Akers

Jody Brooks

Hannah Burns

Alyx Chandler

Jenn Frayer-Griggs

Victoria Grageda-Smith

Jennifer Grant

Jamie Hennick

Arya F. Jenkins

Danuta E. Kosk-Kosicka

Kathryn LeBey

Elizabeth Sine

Sam VanNorden

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 11/12/24 Kapua Iao 11/12/24

Memorializing Griefulness: Yellow Arrow Journal (Vol. IX, No. 2) kitalo

How brave you are
Confronting things you cannot control

“Temporary Homes” by Kat Flores

Kitalo, the just released issue of Yellow Arrow Journal, Vol. IX, No. 2, guest edited by Tramaine Suubi, explores the poignant intersection of grief and gratitude. While deciding on the theme of the issue, the term “kitalo” spoke to everyone on staff as it seems to have for those who submitted to Yellow Arrow Journal in August. “Kitalo” is an empathetic Luganda term of solidarity offered when someone experiences a spectrum of loss. Directly translating to “this/that is tragic” but far richer than that, the term and the pieces within kitalo represent so much that we want to say on the concept of griefulness, as individuals and as a collective.

We are honored to release the latest issue of Yellow Arrow Journal and are fortunate to share the voices within. In the issue’s introduction, Tramaine adds:

“Being the guest editor is a privilege, but the greatest gift I received in this role is true vulnerability. I grieve and give thanks alongside each of our artists here. I hope their words are lifegiving for you, just as they are for me.”

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. Discounted bundles of our 2024 issues (ELEVATE and kitalo) are also available from our bookstore.

Tramaine Suubi (she/they) is a multilingual writer who was born in Kampala, Uganda. She is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Their forthcoming debut is a full-length poetry collection titled phases, which will be published in January 2025. Their forthcoming second book is also a full-length poetry collection titled stages, which will be published in January 2026. Both books will be published by Amistad, an imprint of HarperCollins.

The cover image (cover design by Alexa Laharty) is called Growing by Dark Rivers by Liz Jakimow. According to Liz, “There is often a lot of darkness in my photographs now. While some may find it depressing, it feels more authentic to who I am. Yet there are also often elements that draw attention to the light, symbolizing hope.” Thank you Liz for expressing the heart of kitalo through your photograph and your words.

We hope you enjoy reading kitalo as much as we enjoyed creating it. Thank you for your continued encouragement of Yellow Arrow Publishing and the creatives involved in kitalo.

*****

Kapua Iao 11/7/24 Kapua Iao 11/7/24

Gratitude is a Divine Emotion: Yellow Arrow Interns

“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).

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. Today they focus on the ins and outs of releasing a publication, running a publishing company, and our community-driven projects. Tasks can range from editing to formatting, marketing, and putting together events and workshops. Above all else, our interns support and champion staff/board, authors, workshop attendees, and themselves. We are so thankful to have had them with us on this journey.

So let’s introduce the fall 2024 interns. Each has our appreciation.

Alexa Lesniak

Program Management Intern

From Media, Pennsylvania but currently living in College Park, Maryland
*What do you do*? My main role at Yellow Arrow is to help support workshops and events through social media posts by creating graphics in Canva to promote different activities. I also write the monthly newsletter and will get to write two blog posts.
*Where do you go to school*? I am currently an English major at the University of Maryland, College Park, and I will graduate this upcoming May!
*What are you currently working on*? Currently, I have been focused on learning how to cook. While many stores have gluten-free frozen options, I have been trying to create my own with whole foods. So far this journey has been very frustrating but very rewarding.

Alexa Lesniak (she/her) is a current senior at the University of Maryland, College Park. She is an English major with a concentration in media studies and minors in creative writing and professional writing. Alexa is very passionate about the craft of poetry and how it can portray nature. She recently has discovered a love of journaling and scrapbooking. After she graduates, Alexa hopes to pursue a career in publishing. She can be found on Instagram @alexalesniak.

Once she graduates, she plans on pursuing a career in publishing. She would love to help craft the next generation of great literature. Before that though, she plans to travel the U.S. and visit all of the national parks.

Why did you choose an internship with Yellow Arrow?

I chose an internship with Yellow Arrow because of the organization’s mission and workplace culture. It has been amazing to help highlight women writers and learn more about events being held locally in Baltimore. I have already met so many amazing people and have been introduced to such wonderful written work.

How are things going so far?

So far, things have been going well. I have learned so much about how Yellow Arrow functions and just how many people play a role in the organization’s success. I also have gained many design and writing skills through my weekly tasks.

Elizabeth Ottenritter

Publications Intern

Lives in Baltimore, Maryland
*What do you do*? Assist with Yellow Arrow’s publications program on a variety of projects, and act as an editorial associate as needed, working directly with the Editor-in-Chief.
*Where do you go to school*? Loyola University Maryland. I am a senior and will graduate in May of 2025.
*What are you currently working on*? As of right now, I am working on applying to graduate programs. I am writing a lot of poetry and prose for my courses as well. I am also a DJ at my university’s radio station, WLOY, so I go live and play music once a week.

She hopes to be accepted into a graduate program for an MFA in either creative writing or poetry. After school, she would like to begin a career in editing or publications, alongside publishing her own writing one day.

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

Yellow Arrow has an incredible reputation of publishing and encouraging women-identifying voices, with their numerous chapbook publications, workshops, and journal issues. I truly resonated with allowing writers to be heard exactly as they are, focusing on the heart of the work above anything else. I was also moved by the upcoming (at the time) Yellow Arrow Journal issue kitalo. I felt a strong connection to the premise of grief and gratitude coming together to create something beautiful.

How are things going so far?

Great! I get to do what I love, surrounded by talented and passionate professionals. I get to read the work of others, copyedit publications, and write to amplify Yellow Arrow on social media. I’m learning a lot in such a short period of time, and I know this experience will stay with me.

*****

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.

Guest User 10/29/24 Guest User 10/29/24

Meet the 2025 Yellow Arrow Publishing Best of the Net Nominees

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 the Net 2025 nominees from Vignette SPARK. You can find some of our authors reading from SPARK on the Yellow Arrow YouTube channel. Best of the Net announces the winners in January.

Angela Acosta

“A Centennial for Herstory”
*poetry*
I didn’t have to, but I remembered you.

Angela Acosta (she/her) is a bilingual Latina poet and an assistant professor of Spanish at the University of South Carolina. She is a 2022 Dream Foundry Contest for Emerging Writers finalist, 2022 Somos en Escrito Extra-Fiction Contest honorable mention, and Utopia Award nominee. Her work has appeared in Panochazine, Pluma, Toyon Literary Magazine, and The Acentos Review. Her creative and academic work centers on imagining possible worlds and preserving the cultural legacies of women writers. She is the author of Summoning Space Travelers (Hiraeth Publishing, 2022), A Belief in Cosmic Dailiness (Red Ogre Review, 2023), and her forthcoming chapbook, Fourth Generation Chicana Unicorn (Dancing Girl Press, 2024).

Tijanna O. Eaton

“And Her Eyes Fell from the Scale”
*creative nonfiction*
Finally, animated by their generous and generative support, the chapter was complete. The ouroboros had uncoiled fully, metamorphosing into a dragon.

Tijanna O. Eaton (Tə-zha-na; she/her) is a Black poly kinkster queerdo pocket butch with a high school diploma and a rap sheet. She has been published in Honey Literary, Noyo Review, Panorama Journal (nominated for a Pushcart Prize), and Yellow Arrow Vignette SPARK. She received the 2021 Unicorn Authors Club Alumni award, was a 2023 Rooted & Written Fellow, and was the 2024 Best of the Net nonfiction judge. Tijanna is board chair of Five Keys Schools and Programs, served on QWOCMAP’s board from 2016 to 2018, and was IMsL’s POC liaison from 2015 to 2017. Visit bolt-cutters.com for more information.

Marisa Victoria Gedgaudas

“Colygraphia”
*poetry*
. . . . The syrupy seduction of believing that I can be a keeper of stories but not the teller of them.

Marisa Victoria Gedgaudas is a writer originally from Colorado who now lives on the windswept bluffs of northern California. She is most inspired by the wild beauty around her and is often found exploring the mountains of her childhood, the unspoiled Pacific coast, and the desert landscapes in between. She is currently working on her first collection of poetry.

Charlene Langfur

“The Way Back”
*poetry*
. . . steady
or true, a time to rebuild a small world
that works when I am trying to put
myself back together this way
in time . . .

Charlene Langfur is an LGBTQ and green writer and an organic gardener living in the very hot, southern Californian desert. She was a graduate fellow in the Syracuse University Writing Program and her most recent publications include poems in Poetry East (the special Monet edition), The Hiram Poetry Review, London’s Acumen, and The North Dakota Quarterly.

Laurel Maxwell

“A Full Life”
*poetry*
. . . . To fold ourselves like a paper crane into the creases of delicate existence.

Laurel Maxwell is a poet from Santa Cruz, California, whose work is inspired by life’s mundane and the natural world. Her work has appeared at baseballballard.com, coffecontrails, phren-z, Verse-Virtual, Tulip Tree Review, and Yellow Arrow Vignette SPARK. Her creative fiction was a finalist for Women on Writing Flash Fiction Contest. She has a chapbook forthcoming from Finishing Line Press in 2025. When not writing Laurel enjoys putting her feet in the sand, reading, traveling, and trying not to make too much of a mess baking in a too small kitchen. She works in education.

Katherine Shehadeh

“My son wants to know what happened before the universe &”
*poetry*
today we learned the universe was created by fire—an explosion tinier than a tiny pin prick, and the universe, it’s expanding all the time, stretching this way, pulling that, until a moment when it isn’t and it gets smaller & tighter, until it turns back into a tiny little thing, tinier than a pin prick.

Katherine Shehadeh is a poet, artist, and current reader for Chestnut Review who resides with her family in Miami, Florida. Her recent poems appear in Maudlin House, Drunk Monkeys, Saw Palm, and others. Find her on Twitter @your_mominlaw or Instagram @katherinesarts.

Ann van Wijgerden

“Dear Planet”
*poetry*
. . . . But it was the waters captivating me in aqua hues, light scattering diamantine, undulating surfaces, their expanses exhaling, inhaling, exhaling.

Ann van Wijgerden, born in the United Kingdom, has spent most of her adult life in the Netherlands and the Philippines. She has had nonfiction, poetry, and fiction published (or accepted for future publication) in a number of magazines and anthologies, including Genre: Urban Arts, Orion, Orbis, The Sunlight Press, Last Stanza Poetry Journal, Yellow Arrow Vignette SPARK, The Wild Umbrella, and the Queen’s Quarterly. Ann cofounded and works for an NGO called Young Focus (youngfocus.org), which provides education for children living in Manila’s area of ‘Smokey Mountain.’

Veronica Wasson

“On Clothing (Five Pieces)”
*creative nonfiction*
Clothing was the most visible manifestation of what I was and what I wasn’t; of who I wanted to be and who I dreamed of becoming.

Veronica Wasson (she/her) is a trans writer living in the Pacific Northwest. Her work has appeared in Spectrum, smoke + mold, The Seventh Wave, Yellow Arrow Vignette SPARK, and elsewhere. You can find her work at veronica-wasson.com.

*****

Kapua Iao 10/22/24 Kapua Iao 10/22/24

The Evolution of My Writing

By Amaya Lambert, written April 2024

Well, writing evolves throughout time.

I believe that your writing changes forms as you grow into it. When I started out writing, my stories took a more comedic turn; sparkled with humor and jests alongside wacky situations that made me burst out laughing as a child.

I read middle grade books. The Percy Jackson series. The Kane Chronicles. The Monster High series. All targeted to young children with big imaginations and short attention spans. One of my favorite books of all time was the Web of Magic series where the power of friendship triumphs over.

I emulated that in my writing.

Then came high school, where young adult books grew popular. I grabbed fantasy books from my sister’s shelves. I begged my parents to let me read Game of Thrones. I devoured the Court of Thorns and Roses and An Ember in the Ashes.

I played more mature games with violence and sexuality. My prose grew, my vocabulary expanded.

I emulated that in my writing.

It wasn’t until my junior year of college that I seriously considered the form of my writing, what my style should be and how it will dictate my career for years to come.

I fell in love with lyrical and poetic prose. I realized my knack for emotionally charged stories and complex characters. I discovered my fascination with the profound and the psychanalysis of humanity. I grabbed books that challenged my mind and made me think about the world differently. I learned about my place in this world and how I can either meet or exceed its expectations.

My writing takes on the form of song, almost lyrical and melodious in its prose. I think carefully about how the words fit together and what type of picture it paints. I take inspiration from song lyrics, poems, quotes, and movie soundtracks. I think about the mood of my story, what atmosphere I’m creating, what tone the words speak.

I meticulously go over my pieces, creatively constructing a symphony of prose.

Some of my favorite lines were that of:

“She wants to run, but her feet remain on the ground. It’s like her mind says one thing but her heart says another.”

“There’s something rotten in the air, congealing.”

The construction of sentences and piecing of words takes form in my writing. I can see the emotions conveyed in the words. I can see what type of messages they evoke.

The evolution of writing is an integral process for any creative. Our writing grows as we grow. Many authors have certain types of branding to stick onto their shifting forms. It is one of the reasons as to why many of my favorite authors have a certain niche woven into their words. To make up for the change of writing, they make sure the reader can recognize their style.

I’ve been reading Chinese light novels translated by passionate fans. Though the author’s style dramatically changed from her first novel, The Scum Villian’s Self-Saving System, to her latest work, Heaven Official’s Blessing; I can see traces of her signature style in both novels. Her multifaceted characters. A focus on the internal arc of the main characters. The love and attention to the side characters. The slow burn of the romance relationship. Even if she changed her writing form, I’d still find her within the novel’s pages.

There’s a reason why fans will have authors on their immediate purchase list because they fell in love with their signature style. They say as you begin to write, you grow more comfortable in words. There’s a shift in language, a change in prose, and your writing form evolves with time and effort.

I hope in time when my writing twists and turns and is still able to retain its original concept, as a song.

Amaya Lambert is a senior at Towson University, studying English and creative writing. She loves a good book, slow music, and tasty food. When she isn’t reading, she’s writing, lost in her inner world. Amaya tutored for her high school’s writing center and the elementary school across from it. One of her proudest accomplishments is winning second place in a writing competition in the seventh grade.

*****

PRIZES/AWARDS

Tangles by Kay Smith-Blum from Seattle, Washington

Julie Alden Cullinane

~ My ghost ships do not go gentle into that good night. My ghost ships are beautiful, they are all different shapes, colors, and sizes. They sail down the river of my life with full flags flying. ~

Belinda J. Kein

Isabel Cristina Legarda

~ When bundok became the boondockslost was the mountain as holy groundin the civilized worldof “water cures” and massacres;denied, the wisdom of the wilderness ~

Angelica Terso

~ Right now, I’m made of 50% lumpia and 100% grateful. I know I’m 150% terrible at math. ~

Candace Walsh

~ something flying fast

iridescent pigeonscloudy future flocks a peacock butterfly ~

“Breaking silence” by ann van wijgerden from the philippines

“The spirit of dwelling” by heather brown barrett from Virginia

Translation of “Roses For Edgar Allan Poe” originally written by Zhao Dahe, translated by Yuemin He From virginia

“embodied” by kellie brown from tennessee

Ann marie Houghtailing

coming April 2025

Emily Decker

coming July 2025

Vic Nogay

coming October 2025

Alexa Lesniak

Program Management Intern

Elizabeth Ottenritter

Publications Intern

Angela Acosta

“A Centennial for Herstory”

Tijanna O. Eaton

“And Her Eyes Fell from the Scale”

Marisa Victoria Gedgaudas

“Colygraphia”

Charlene Langfur

“The Way Back”

Laurel Maxwell

“A Full Life”

Katherine Shehadeh

“My son wants to know what happened before the universe &”

Ann van Wijgerden

“Dear Planet”

Veronica Wasson

“On Clothing (Five Pieces)”

Subscribe to the Yellow Arrow Newsletter!

~ When bundok became the boondocks
lost was the mountain as holy ground
in the civilized world
of “water cures” and massacres;
denied, the wisdom of the wilderness ~

iridescent pigeons
cloudy future flocks
a peacock butterfly ~