Yellow Arrow Publishing Blog

Kapua Iao 4/1/24 Kapua Iao 4/1/24

Yellow Arrow Vignette 2024 AMPLIFY Submissions Are Now Open!

Welcome to the first day of open submissions for Yellow Arrow Vignette! Now in its third season, Yellow Arrow Vignette is an online creative nonfiction and poetry series developed to better feature women-identifying writers and share their voices beyond Yellow Arrow Journal and our single-author publications. This year, submissions for Vignette are open from April 1 to 30 and will align with the 2024 Yellow Arrow yearly value AMPLIFY.

(Please note that this issue of Vignette does not ask submitters to send in pieces on the theme of AMPLIFY; rather, staff at Yellow Arrow are using the idea in house as reminder to continue to share and amplify women-identifying voices.)

We’re here this year to showcase our authors to a bigger audience, to increase the conversations around our published creative works and their themes, and to increase the understanding that our audience has about these works, their writers, and the issues that matter most to them. And for Vignette AMPLIFY, we want to hear specifically from creatives who live in or are otherwise connected to our home base of Baltimore, Maryland. Baltimore is a big, diverse, beautiful city, and we want to see its diversity represented in Vignette AMPLIFY. From Highlandtown (our starting point!) to Hampden, Pigtown to the Black Arts District, we want our readers to experience the spectrum of voices that Charm City offers. If you currently live, grew up in, or recently lived in the Baltimore area and are a creative who identifies as a woman, read the guidelines and submit at yellowarrowpublishing.com/vignette/submissions.

We’ve been making some exciting, behind-the-scenes updates to Vignette this year! One such change is that Vignette AMPLIFY will be curated and created by Vignette managing editor Dr. Tonee Mae Moll and Vignette assistant Isabelle Anderson. Tonee Mae (she/they) is joining the team this spring and summer from Baltimore, the place where our story started and the focus of AMPLIFY. She holds a PhD in English from Morgan State University and an MFA in creative writing and publishing art from University of Baltimore. Tonee Mae has worked for a number of literary organizations and publications throughout the region, including Mason Jar Press, Washington Writers Publishing House, The Sable Quill, Welter Literary Journal, CityLit Project, and more. She is the author of two books, Out of Step: a Memoir (Mad Creek Books, 2018) and You Cannot Save Here (Washington Writer’s Publishing House, 2022), and the former cohost of the literary podcast Lit!Pop!Bang!

Isabelle (she/her) is a poet and fiction writer, also from Baltimore. She recently graduated with a BA in English from Washington College where she was a finalist for the Sophie Kerr Prize and the recipient of The Pfister Poetry Prize through the Academy of American Poets. When she is not reading or writing, she can be found on a nature walk, checking the trees for good spots to hide golf pencils à la Mary Oliver.

For Yellow Arrow Vignette AMPLIFY, we’re looking for creative nonfiction, poetry, and ‘cover art’ by writers/artists who identify as women and have a connection to the Baltimore area. For more about what this means and for information on how to submit, please visit yellowarrowpublishing.com/vignette/submissions. Let us amplify your voice and ensure that it rings clearly, truly, and beautifully. Let’s show how proud we are of Charm City and all that our incredible city has to offer.

If you have any questions, send them to submissions@yellowarrowpublishing.com. The online issue will be released on August 6, 2024, and a reading will follow in the fall.

We look forward to reading the submissions for Yellow Arrow Vignette and sharing stories with you. Since its founding in 2016, Yellow Arrow has worked tirelessly to make an impact on the local and global community by advocating for writers that identify as women. Yellow Arrow proudly represents the voices of women from around the globe. Creating diversity in the literary world and providing a safe space is deeply important. Every writer has a story to tell, every story is worth telling.

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

Kapua Iao 3/29/24 Kapua Iao 3/29/24

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

“TENding” by Heather Brown Barrett from Virginia

Genre: poetry

Name of publication: The Ekphrastic Review

Date released: February 2024

Type of publication: online

ekphrastic.net/the-ekphrastic-challenges/kelly-austin-rolo-ekphrastic-writing-responses-with-kate-copeland

Meet Heather on Instagram @heatherbrownbarrett.

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

Single-author publications: here.

Single pieces 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!

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Kapua Iao 3/26/24 Kapua Iao 3/26/24

Writing in my Neighborhood

By Mel Silberger, written February 2024

Writing in a variety of places throughout the year, depending on where I am in the United States, allows me to find inspiration through the numerous people, places, things, and ideas that surround me. I was raised on Long Island, New York, go to school at Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore, and work at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Here are the top places I prefer to write, depending on where I am and what project I am working on that day.

Home: Long Island, New York

I was raised on Long Island, New York, and visit home during school breaks and occasional weekends. Over the years, I found myself seeking new places to write as I grew as a creative, looking to find inspiration in places other than my desk at home.

My favorite place to write in my hometown is at Sagamore Hill National Historic Site, home to President Roosevelt’s house, multiple walking trails, and a path to the nearby shore. Sagamore Hill is only 30 minutes away from my house, so on warm days, I love making the drive (sometimes with my dog!) out there and sitting on Roosevelt’s porch to write. I can see miles of land in every direction and feel the sun and a slight breeze on my face. I find this to be a great place for all kinds of writing, whether it be for a journal entry or a draft of a story or poem. Afterward writing for a bit, I walk my dog down to the shore and we go in the water, which makes for a relaxing but fun day.

Alternatively, when home, I love working while in the presence of my three younger siblings, so I am often found writing in our loft. The four of us will sit together, the three of them completing their homework while I write creatively. I especially love writing about our relationship and effortlessly find inspiration through them. Admittedly, we get sidetracked every once in a while, but I love writing in the presence of others, theirs above all else.

Work: Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida

Living in Florida provides countless opportunities to write in places that I wouldn’t get anywhere else, the first and foremost of these being Walt Disney World itself. On days that aren’t too hot, I find myself writing inside one of the four Disney parks, typically at outside seating areas nearby major attractions.

While at first I found it difficult to concentrate in loud, busy places, I discovered that I could shift what I was writing to better accommodate my surroundings; for example, I try to mainly focus on outlines and journals instead of in-depth, intricate stories or poems. I enjoy sitting in high traffic areas and letting the ongoing traffic consume me. I’ve realized that it is easy to find inspiration through people watching, especially in a place as busy as Disney World and use what I see to generate story outlines, especially for fiction.

I also find that over time, and with repeated exposure, I have gotten used to working in loud environments. Taking simple steps, such as wearing headphones to eliminate background noises and turning my phone on to ‘do not disturb’ have allowed me to concentrate despite the business of my surroundings. I find that I can focus better when listening to instrumental music than songs with lyrics (I’m currently listening to The Nutcracker on repeat), and I try to minimize distractions from my phone.

When I am interested in writing alone, my top two spots are next to our apartment community’s pool or in a hammock. I always bring a journal with me to the pool (and also find that it’s a great place for reading)! Because I live in Orlando in the summers, laying in the sun gets hot very quickly, so I take breaks between reading/writing by going in the pool (who wouldn’t love that!). Sometimes, I even read while in the pool (keeping my book dry, of course).

I typically write in a hammock after the sun has gone down (which isn’t until 8:00 p.m. in the summers). I love letting the crickets chirping and the light breeze consume me while I stare at the stars; it feels magical, and I constantly take inspiration from my surroundings. Being outside, completely immersed in nature (especially at night) puts me at ease, and I never struggle to come up with ideas for new stories and poems.

School: Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore, Maryland

I am currently a senior at Loyola University Maryland and spend most of the calendar year in the amazing city of Baltimore. I spend most of my time here on Loyola’s campus, and within it are an abundance of places to write—my favorite one being outside on our Quad! Nothing beats a pen, journal, and picnic blanket on the grass during a warm, sunny Baltimore day. I love letting the breeze and nearby chatter of people and animals consume me while I either complete homework assignments or journal about anything on my mind.

As many from the area may know, the weather of Baltimore is often unpredictable, so I never go too far from our campus Starbucks. Loyola’s Starbucks is my favorite place to write because I love the background noises of a coffee shop while also seeing my friends as they pass through. When I need to concentrate on my assignments or editing a piece, I am sure to sit toward the back to minimize disruptions while still feeling immersed in my surroundings. On the other hand, sometimes I enjoy sitting in the middle tables so I can bounce plot ideas off friends walking by.

For complete silence and concentration, I can be found writing in our school’s library. I love being surrounded by books of all kinds with minimal distractions. I can spend hours in our library without realizing time has passed; there have been too many occurrences where I go midday and leave when it is past sunset!

Final Thoughts: Where do You Write?

Overall, there are many great places I like to go to write, and the place I choose to go to for the day often depends on the type of writing I am doing. As much as I love the busy-ness of my loft, the amusement park, and Starbucks, I also love the serenity of Sagamore Hill, the pool, or the library.

Some other writing tips/ideas to keep in mind suggested by myself and fellow Yellow Arrow board/staff are to first, always keep a notepad next to you for anything work related while you are trying to write. This way, if anything separate from your writing comes up, you can write it down to do later, rather than distracting yourself during the writing process. Additionally, it can be great to bring a notebook to a coffee shop just to jot ideas down to go back to later, allowing for a wide range of inspiration. Lastly, whether it be for a collaborative or individual piece, writing in the presence of others can help everyone remain on task with minimal disruptions.

So, my question to you is where do you enjoy writing? What environment do you seek out when it’s time to put pen to paper?

Amelia (Mel) Silberger is a senior at Loyola University Maryland majoring in psychology and writing and minoring in political science. When she is not working, she enjoys writing and rock climbing. Mel has spent the past two summers living in Orlando, Florida, while participating in the Disney College Program. She has loved creating stories since she was six years old and hopes to continue to grow and build with other writers in the future.

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Kapua Iao 3/19/24 Kapua Iao 3/19/24

Taking the Reins Back: Reframing Rejection

By Diann Leo-Omine, written September 2023

The sun is up, and I’m up doomscrolling. I catch the concise subject line of the morning’s first email: “(Publication title) Decline.” It’s a simple form letter rejection. I nearly burn myself with my coffee, and I can’t discern whether the hot coffee stings more than the rejection itself.

Conventional wisdom advises “to get back on the horse” right away. ChatGPT suggests the phrase involves reapproaching “a difficult or challenging situation with renewed determination and optimism.”*

Don’t take it personally.

Importantly, DON’T RUMINATE.

I scrawl “good enough” in my notebook. The gravity of those words weighs on me. I lean into writing about the thing I most want to avoid, a technique gleaned during my Tin House workshop with Cyrus Dunham.

To ruminate is to deeply reflect.

Good enough good enough good.

To ruminate is perceived as negative.

Rejection triggers competition. Well, so-and-so was able to get into this publication, or that workshop, or a residency. Then, why am I not good enough?

What if:

instead of hopping back on the horse right away . . .

I catch myself, like tripping on upturned cement. I name what’s happening. I know in my mind this is scarcity mentality, the concept that “everyone exists along a spectrum of competition instead of collaboration.”**

What if:

I sit for a second, to listen?

I analyze where the news of this rejection lives in my body. It strikes me in the solar plexus and the belly. I feel sadness in the key of grief. Underneath sadness festers fear. Digging deeper, the question gnaws at me, why do I write anyway? I don’t have to write.

To ruminate can refer to the ruminants.

Maybe my writing just isn’t good, good enough?

Ruminants are creatures, such as goats, that munch on partially chewed food.

I tune in to The Write Attention podcast, whose fourth episode focuses on rejection and failure. Fourteen minutes into the episode, cohost Jeannetta Craigwell-Graham suggests that rejection can be an indication to shift focus elsewhere. This resonates, as my shoulders are still tingling, a sensation I name as frustration. I click the stop button on the episode, for now.

To ruminate is colloquially “chewing the cud.”

Good is following the rules.

When my grandmother was alive, in the limited village dialect of hers I could understand, she would always ask if I had been “good.”

Good enough enough good good.

Horses are hindgut fermenters, nonruminants; goats are foregut fermenters, ruminants.

Rejection spurs past memories of times I was not “good enough.” Maybe I sit too close to that fire, remembering: the dream college with the amber fall leaves and the renowned creative writing program; the summer internship in New York I was deemed too “West Coast” for; the love interest who left me at the transit station to trace the tangle of blue and green and yellow bus lines back to Portland.

Horses don’t ruminate.

I remember how sad I felt then, even as years pass into decades. Yet through fire, the leaves crunch, the sticky July air dissipates, the lines on the bus map crumple.

To ruminate is “room.”

Rejection triggers scarcity, I name it in its tracks, again. There is not enough room for everyone, so I have to be good. And it’s hard not to think about scarcity in publishing, an industry as a whole that tokenizes marginalized writers.

To ruminate is “innate.”

I understand in my body, as my shoulders hunch over my soft belly, a protective bird over her nest. My ribs clench like a metal cage. This stony emptiness in my belly is fear.

Room, period.

Rejection. Scarcity. Good (enough). Fear. I’ve started identifying fear as a trauma response, a protective mechanism. I duck, I cover. I think of the ways I’ve held myself back, especially the ten years I didn’t write, because I was afraid of not being good enough, of failing.

I am tired of fear being my default reaction, the driver of my narrative.

Innate, period.

I am tired. Of. Being. “Good.”

Room-innate.

My friend shares that her new essay has been published. Instead of doomscrolling, I read it. I become engrossed in the conviction of her words. In my heart space, I feel a smile spreading, warmth. I realize I can concurrently hold space for both grief and joy, mourning and celebration.

What if:

the horse is not as anxious as they say.

Another email arrives, this time regarding a residency, the words “I’m sorry” in the subject line. I still feel the inevitable gut punch, but my shoulders feel a little looser. I take a walk, I move. This time I finish the rest of The Write Attention episode on rejection. Around the 18 minute mark of the episode, cohost Brittany Felder offers a candid declaration, one I paraphrase until it rings true:

“I still know what I want, and I’m going to make that happen.”

What if:

rejection can be an invitation to revisit my work.

Good enough enough good.

What if:

rejection can be a reminder to celebrate the eventual wins, for myself and other writers.

This I know:

the horse is paddling its feet, back and forth.

What if:

rejection can be an ask to reconsider what it is I really want, if I still want it.

This I know:

I trust the horse will not leave, until I take the reins.

Does rejection change my desire to tell my story? No.

Will I still write, even if my work isn’t chosen? Yes.

The horse will be there.

*AI-generated answer by ChatGPT, accessed 9/20/23

**scarcity mentality definition by Studio ATAO.

Diann Leo-Omine (she/her) is a Pushcart Prize-nominated creative nonfiction writer born and raised in San Francisco, California (Ramaytush Ohlone land). A grateful alum of Tin House and Rooted & Written, she is currently devising a manuscript centering her maternal grandmother. Visit her website at sweetleoomine.com.

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Kapua Iao 3/12/24 Kapua Iao 3/12/24

Dwelling in Possibility: A Conversation with Isabel Cristina Legarda about Beyond the Galleons

We are the vowels of our villages’ lives,
supplying meaning and depth, sometimes invisibly,
but ever-present in the stories unfolding.

“Reading Tutorial for a Jesuit Missionary, 1668”

If home is where the heart is, as the saying goes, for many people of diasporic communities, that heart is found within the stories of generations past and carried in the contemporary voices descended from that resilience and strength. Isabel Cristina Legarda is one of these voices. She is a writer and practicing physician residing in Massachusetts whose work speaks to her Filipina heritage, the lived female experience, and the multifaceted nature of identity.

Isabel’s debut poetry chapbook, Beyond the Galleons, is forthcoming from Yellow Arrow Publishing and will be released in April 2024. Beyond the Galleons is a meditation on Filipino experiences of colonization, ancestral connection, alienation, and the ghosts that haunt people living in geographic or psychological diasporas. This collection combines reflection on the echoes of historical events and rumination on the character of culture with a tribute to the strength of women the author admires, both known and unknown.

Beyond the Galleons is available for preorder (click here for wholesale prices)! Follow Yellow Arrow on Facebook and Instagram @yellowarrowpublishing for Friday sneak peeks into Isabel’s incredible words. Pick up your copy today and make sure to show your love to Isabel in the comments.

Melissa Nunez, Yellow Arrow interviewer, and Isabel engaged in conversation where they discussed the creative inspirations behind this collection and the process of forging compelling poetry from themes both delicate and complex.

What inspired this project? Can you talk about how this idea developed into a poetry chapbook?

These poems were written over a couple of years, many of them in workshops led by poet Caroline Goodwin, a beloved mentor. (Shout-out to poet Diane Lockward, whose craft books we used and whose prompts generated so many poems in these workshops.) Being Filipina emerged as an important, recurring focus in my writing, and when I had a critical mass of poems written, I started grouping [them] together around that focus.

The dates, locations, and historical details included in your poems are a powerful thread throughout. What did the research for a collection like this entail?

I’ve had an interest in the Philippine-American colonial period for a long time. A few years ago, I found an eye-opening collection of political cartoons from that period entitled The Forbidden Book, some nonfiction work about the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, and first-hand accounts by American women who went to the Philippines as schoolteachers, including a diary I was able to physically handle and read at the Schlesinger Library [at Harvard University]. Those [words] inspired me to keep searching for articles about that period online as well as contemporary photos. I’m interested in Spanish colonialism, too, of course, and one day stumbled across what Father Alcina wrote about women being good readers, which made me want to explore those centuries as well. I could spend hours happily falling down these rabbit holes.

There is a strong message of feminine strength that simmers among these pages. Can you share a little of your personal experience with this strength and why it is important to share?

My widowed maternal grandmother got her PhD at Stanford [University], then became a respected professor of history at the University of the Philippines, all while raising my mom as a single parent. Years after her teaching career was over, her former students would rave about what a phenomenal teacher she was. My paternal grandmother, who came from a tiny island near Palawan, was a suffragist and a civic leader. Both of my grandmothers were wonderful writers. My mother started [medical] school at 17 and was a practicing pediatrician by her mid 20s. My mother and grandmothers are all survivors of war. I have another role model in an older first cousin, an attorney, who prosecuted a congressman for sexual assault of a child and won. I’ve been fortunate to have grown up surrounded by such exemplars of tenacity, integrity, and courage. When I’d feel discouraged or nervous about something, my mother would often remind me that the genes and spirit of these brave, intelligent, hard-working women are part of me. I’ve always seen women as strong-willed and capable of anything. I think it’s important to remind the world—and ourselves—that that’s who we are.

Orange clouds: not sunset,
but Manila burning in the distance.
//
How can I be brave like you . . .

“Far from the Tree”

Who are some female-identified writers who have inspired you and your poetry?

The first woman author who inspired me was Natalie Babbitt. I read her novel Tuck Everlasting when I was nine, and it was life changing. She showed me what language and story could do, in ways I had never encountered or imagined. I had the privilege of meeting her at a Q&A for kids at a bookshop I [now] miss, The Cheshire Cat in Chevy Chase, Maryland. Growing up I idolized mostly fiction writers: Madeleine L’Engle, Isabel Allende, Flannery O’Connor, Edith Wharton, and Zora Neale Hurston. For poetry there are so many now—almost too many to name. I’ve been inspired by Sandra Cisneros, Lucille Clifton, Paisley Rekdal, Pattiann Rogers, Caylin Capra-Thomas, Leila Chatti, Michelle Peñaloza, and of course my mentor Caroline Goodwin.

What was your process for capturing such strong experiences and emotions in such small spaces?

My writing almost always starts with an image I can’t stop thinking about. Sometimes it’s a line I “hear,” but most often it’s something I “see” in my mind—I’m a very visual thinker. If the image stays with me and really won’t go away, I eventually have to write about it. Usually there’s something about it that carries significant emotional charge, and if I keep close to the image while I write—follow its energy closely—that emotional charge can find a habitat in the emerging words. My poem about Saint Lorenzo Ruiz is one example of that process. He came and stood in a corner of my living room with his rosary and wouldn’t leave till I wrote that poem. Not literally or paranormally, of course—I don’t see ghosts or anything like that. But in my mind he waited there, patiently, silently, until the words were down. I was supposed to be working on a poem for a workshop based on a totally unrelated prompt, but I ended up turning in Lorenzo’s poem instead that week.

There is a rich discourse on language in the lines of your poetry. To what extent do you think a language shapes a person’s identity?

I think language and identity are inextricably entwined. (When I see people who are not genetically Filipino or Austronesian speaking a Philippine language fluently, I perceive them as having real insider understanding of our culture in ways that ethnic make-up can’t automatically provide.) I was raised in three languages—English, Spanish, and Tagalog—and I think that gave me early exposure to the way language not only forms but also reflects cultural difference and how we relate to the world. Language can shape our very reality, or at least how we think about it, depending on the language we use, but it also arises from the way we live in that reality in the first place. In the communitarian Tagalog culture, there’s not a great word for privacy as we know it in English; we have to borrow the English word, alter a Spanish word, or use an inexact Tagalog word for it. In English there isn’t an equivalent for gigil, sometimes translated as the uncontrollable urge to squeeze something cute, or nakakagigil, an adjective meaning “making you grit your teeth together out of delight,” for instance when seeing a cute baby (do non-Filipinos clench their teeth together when they find a baby cute?). Growing up with a word with no exact equivalent in other cultures, a word for a particular idea or experience, must surely shape a person’s self-concept and perception of the world.

(I actually just published a whole essay on this topic, in case you’re interested: herstryblg.com/true/2023/02/24-poetry-in-a-second-language-why-i-cant-fully-decolonize-my-life.)

No mere condiment, bagoong becomes a meal’s soul
in the way mere salt cannot, the secret of a dish’s complexity,
an ocean spirit possessing the food.

“Bagoong Alamang”

I appreciated the vivid descriptions of Filipino dishes and delicacies in your work. Can you expand on the relationship between food and culture and its importance to the diaspora?

Food is most definitely a love language in the Philippines, and for Filipinos in exile, it is a lifeline home. We need to eat to survive, but we love to eat because of the sensory pleasure, contentment, and sense of home food has the power to bring us. I feel that sense of home, that kinship, any time I share a bowl of rice or a coconut milk-based dessert with someone, and we both close our eyes for a moment just savoring the morsel in our mouths. No words needed. Full understanding of a lifetime of experience in one moment. Shared moments over food bring a little warmth from home into our colder diasporas, console diasporic loneliness, and can restore a sense of identity and community when we feel a little lost or alone.

We released the gorgeous cover of Beyond the Galleons with this interview. What do you think about the final version?

I am in awe of what [Yellow Arrow creative director] Alexa Laharty produced and absolutely love the cover. With no visual art ability or aptitude, I had only vague ideas as to what a fitting design would be, and she brought together images that really capture the themes of historic memory and cartography, literal and figurative, that I try to explore in many of the poems.

What would you like your readers to take away from this collection?

I would like us Americans and us Filipinos to be aware that our shared history includes Americans putting Filipinos in a human zoo in Saint Louis as well as thousands of Americans dying on battlefields while helping us during World War II. I would like readers to understand that having your homeland or language or physical self or mental or spiritual self devalued, dismissed, assumed to be inferior, or taken away hurts deeply, but moving past trauma with dignity and grace can be redemptive, just, and peacebuilding. I would like people to know that Philippine women are a force to be reckoned with and deserved the power and equality they had before white men started to fear and subjugate it. Finally, I want readers to know that by virtue of our geographic reality as an archipelago that’s been a crossroads for so many cultures traversing the globe, Philippine history is complex and Philippine culture multifaceted, dynamic, flawed yet beautiful, worth caring about.

Are there any future projects you would like to share?

I’m trying to find a home for a second chapbook (a collection of poems I’ve written about the writing life). I’m also pursuing a years-long dream of completing a short story collection. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll go back to a novel I started working on but put away last year. I dwell in possibility.

You can find more about Isabel and follow her publication news on Instagram and Twitter @poetintheOR. You can order your copy of Beyond the Galleons from Yellow Arrow Publishing at yellowarrowpublishing.com/store/beyond-the-galleons-paperback. We’d love to get this collection out far and wide! If you know of any bookstore in your community or local school that would be interested in adding Beyond the Galleons to their shelves, please add a comment below or send an email to editor@yellowarrowpublishing.com.

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 magazine, The Dewdrop, The Lowestoft Chronicle, Ruminate, Sky Island Review, Smartish Pace, Qu, West Trestle Review, and others.

Melissa Nunez makes her home in the Rio Grande Valley region of south Texas, where she enjoys exploring and photographing the local wild with her homeschooling family. She writes an anime column at The Daily Drunk Mag and is a prose reader for Moss Puppy Mag. She is also a staff writer for Alebrijes Review and interviewer for Yellow Arrow Publishing. You can find her work on her website at melissaknunez.com/publications and follow her on Twitter @MelissaKNunez.

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

Kapua Iao 3/5/24 Kapua Iao 3/5/24

Meet a Staff Member: Sydney Alexander

Yellow Arrow Publishing would like to (re)introduce Sydney Alexander, an editorial associate. Sydney is a junior at Middlebury College in Vermont studying English and geography. She grew up in Maryland, near Baltimore. Her work has been published online in Hunger Mountain Review and Mulberry Literary.

Sydney says, “I am most excited to continue reading and editing the work of women and helping in their process of publication. I enjoyed working on many of the publications in 2023, and I am excited to see what 2024 holds for us. It is very inspiring to be a part of the Yellow Arrow community, and I look forward to helping in any way that I can.”

Tell us a little something about yourself:

Most recently, my story “Homebody” was published in Mulberry Literary, where it won first place in their Fresh Voices Award.

What do you love most about Baltimore?

One of my favorite things about Baltimore is Atomic Books, a comic bookstore located in Hampden. In addition to their vast array of comics, they also have a really good selection of general fiction.

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 joined Yellow Arrow in spring 2022, where I served as the events and community engagement intern. After my internship ended, I joined the staff as a reader, and I also continued to write blogs. Now, I am excited to be an editorial associate. Something I really love about the Yellow Arrow team is how dedicated everyone is to our mission. I am constantly inspired by the community of women I have met while working at Yellow Arrow, from the authors to the staff.

What are you working on currently?

I am currently taking a gap semester from college to pursue new publishing opportunities and work on my own creative writing. I am interning at Galiot Press, a brand-new publishing company. In February, I will be moving to Portland, Maine, where I will be interning at Portland Monthly Magazine as well.

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

I enjoy reading and writing literary fiction and magical realism, and I especially love reading short story collections. I like literary fiction because I find the daily lives of ordinary people to be compelling and often relatable; I think there is a lot of richness to be found in the most commonplace events. I like magical realism because I think that an added fantastical element often makes the lives of normal people a little more interesting.

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

The book at the top of my to-be-read pile right now is The Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang. Last spring, I read her other novel How Much of These Hills is Gold, and I loved it. I am very excited to read her newest novel.

Who is your favorite writer and why?

I have a lot of writers I admire, but the two who are always at the top of my list include Karen Russell and Carmen Maria Machado. I really admire their creative and idiosyncratic stories, which are so unique. Their use of language is also really impressive.

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

I think my dad has supported my writing journey the most. Since I was in middle school, he has edited my stories and encouraged me to pursue writing as far as I want to take it. Somehow, he is even okay with the idea of me pursuing a creative writing MFA after college.

What do you love most about writing?

What I love most about writing is the opportunity to play with words and language. I am really interested in finding unexpected combinations for metaphors and other figurative language—for me, this particular challenge is the most fun part of writing.

What advice do you have for new writers?

One of the best things you can do as a writer is to network. Attend festivals, join staff of literary magazines or publishers, and try to meet as many people as you can.

What’s the most important thing you always keep near you when you work?

I am always listening to music while I work, so either headphones or a speaker. I also like to reference specific books that I’m thinking about, so I usually have books on my desk as well.

What’s your vision for Yellow Arrow in 2024?

My vision for Yellow Arrow in 2024 is another year of growth. I hope that we can continue to reach more and more women writers, finding new ways to bring them together and sharing their voices.

*****

Yellow Arrow 3/1/24 Yellow Arrow 3/1/24

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: Susan Ayres

Tell us about yourself: Susan Ayres is a poet, lawyer, and translator. Her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and has appeared in a wide variety of literary and scholarly journals including Yale Journal of Law and Feminism, Sycamore Review, Cimarron Review, and Valparaiso Review. She holds an MFA in creative writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts and teaches at Texas A&M University Law School. Visit her website at psusanayres.com.

Her poem “Pimiento Cheese” was included in Yellow Arrow Journal EMBLAZON (Vol. VIII, No. 2).

Where are you from: Fort Worth, Texas

What describes your main writing space: light, horizon of trees, scent of rosemary

Tell us about your publication: The prose poems and lyric verses in Walk Like the Bird Flies (Finishing Line Press, December 2023) invite you to explore identity, history, nature, myth, and art. From Judge Roy Bean to Medea, from Étienne Trouvelot to Princess Di, these poems walk like the bird flies, traveling an emotive journey through love and loss, in imagined and actual landscapes.

Why this book? Why now? How did it happen for you: This collection about journeys to different parts of the world helped me survive the isolation of COVID.

What advice do you have for other writers: Be persistent!

What else are you working on/doing that you’d like to share: A series of poems about the Mexican Revolution.

You can find Susan on Facebook @susan.ayres.589.

Author: Leticia Priebe Rocha

Tell us about yourself: I am a poet and have been writing since I was in high school. I am also a visual artist, focusing primarily on mixed media collages. If I am not creating, then I am experiencing the creations of others by going to readings, museums, shows, and the theater. Creativity and art sustain me! I first joined the Yellow Arrow family when my poem “Lost In” was in the Yellow Arrow Journal PEREGRINE (Vol. VII, No. 2) issue. I was the .W.o.W. #46 (March 2023), served as guest editor for the Yellow Arrow Journal EMBLAZON (Vol. VIII, No. 2) issue, and am currently part of the team as a reader!

Where are you from: Medford, Massachusetts

What describes your main writing space: vibrant, expansive, home

Tell us about your publication: In Lieu of Heartbreak, This is Like (Bottlecap Press, February 2024) untangles the messy, heartrending, and always miraculous experience of love in all of its forms. It is a love letter to feeling, to aliveness, to loneliness, and to the self, ever reaching for radiance.

Why this book? Why now? How did it happen for you: I started writing this book almost two years ago in the aftermath of a heartbreak I resisted labeling as a heartbreak for some time. Poems flowed out of me in my hurt, and I had a manuscript put together fairly quickly. Initially, I thought I was writing to the beloved who hurt me. Slowly, as I explored my pain, the poems changed. I unearthed other forms of heartbreak that I had buried deep. I found a profound appreciation for having experienced the fundamentally human experience of love, no matter the outcome. Above all, I found the well of love within me is not tied to one person—it is abundant and can be turned inward. The book is almost entirely different from the first manuscript I wrote, and I am so grateful for the doors that closed so that this one could open. Above all, I am grateful that I listened to myself and did not give up on this project—it truly feels like it landed where it was meant to because I reached the place I needed to be.

What is your writing goal for the year: To write more consistently, specifically drafting or editing at least one poem every week!

What else are you working on: I’m in the beginning stages of my first full-length collection—seeing where the poems take me!

What advice do you have for other writers: Keep going. The writing life is fraught with rejection at every level of one’s career. Swat the ‘nos’ away like flies and follow your intuition to the next ‘yes.’

For more information, visit Leticia’s website leticiaprieberocha.com or find her on Instagram @letiprieberochapoems, Facebook @leticiaprieberocha, and Twitter @LetiPriebeRocha.

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 2/27/24 Kapua Iao 2/27/24

Amanda Montell: A favorite emerging author

By Cecelia Caldwell, written June 2023

I had never heard of Amanda Montell when I saw a flyer announcing that she’d be coming to my school, Middlebury College, to give a talk on Valentine’s Day in 2023. I had heard word of her critically acclaimed book Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism (2021) through the BookTube grapevine, but I had neither read Amanda’s work nor knew anything about her as a human being before taking a seat in the crowded classroom in which she was to talk. If I’m being honest, what compelled me to go was simply that I had heard of this woman, and how could I not attend a talk by someone who was well known? Snow flurries danced outside the windows as a woman bundled in a swath of pink tulle and ruffles strode up to the podium.

What followed was 50 minutes of enchantment. Amanda, infinitely younger, bubblier, and more charming than I ever could have imagined, was there to speak about her 2019 book Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language. Part history lesson, part manifesto, and 100% hilarious, Wordslut looks at the gendered language we use (and have used throughout history) and tracks the ways that it functions to reinforce antiquated and offensive gender stereotypes. Amanda doesn’t shy away from profanity in her work, though. She embraces it. From proudly using the words “bitch” and “cunt” in her daily vernacular, to openly discussing the array of names people use for their genitalia, Montell demonstrates how we can reclaim the language that was once used to oppress us. I strode out of that lecture a changed woman and, clutching my free copy of Wordslut in my hands, vowed to read everything that Amanda Montell writes until the very end of time.

Amanda, a Baltimore native, discovered her passion for linguistics while studying at New York University. Blending that love with a love for writing and social justice, Amanda describes her area of expertise as Pop Linguistics, and through her writing, she hopes to educate others and drive social and institutional change.

This brings me to her more recent book, Cultish. In this book, Amanda manages to analyze the language employed by cults to lure and enamor followers before applying this linguistic framework to argue that many widely accepted cultural institutions of today are, in essence, cults of their own. From Crossfit to multilevel marketing schemes to wellness influencers, by employing these effective linguistic ideologies, individuals and organizations are, in turn, cult-ish. Now, I was expecting to enjoy this book given how transfixed I was by Amanda’s quirky and cute, yet strikingly intelligent persona (also, I’ll admit that I’m a huge linguistics nerd), but I never expected how incredible this book would be. She can explain such a breadth of information and present it to her readers in a way that is simple, yet thorough (and funny!). I learned about suicide cults, Soulcycle, and everything in between.

To me, Amanda Montell’s work is the epitome of what educational nonfiction should be. It’s engaging. It challenges previously held notions and stereotypes. It makes arguments that are well-researched and supported. And, of course, it does all of this through biting, snarky humor. Montell inspires me not only as a writer, but also as a satirist, activist, and citizen of the world.

I could’ve easily not gone to Amanda’s talk that day. But wow, I’m glad I did. If you’re looking for something to read this summer, I implore you to look no further than Amanda Montell. And please—if you have the chance to hear an author speak, do it. You might be surprised.

Both books were published by Harper Collins Publishers, Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language in 2019 and Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism in 2021.

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

*****

Yellow Arrow 2/23/24 Yellow Arrow 2/23/24

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

“1964,” “in That Pho,” and “Morning Love” by Martha Klein Henrickson from canada

Genre: poetry

Name of podcast: Boomer Bedtime Stories

Date released: February 2024

Find the podcast at boomerbedtimestoryradio.com/post/how-do-i-love-thee

Meet Martha on her website at marcharhenwritesitdown.wordpress.com, Facebook @martha.henrickson, LinkedIn @martha-henrickson-b64b521b, and Instagram @marthahenrickson.

Note that Yellow Arrow author Ellen Dooling Reynard (No Batteries Required) also participated in the podcast!

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 2/20/24 Kapua Iao 2/20/24

Meditation, Walking, and a Writing Prompt

By Margaret Flaherty, written November 2023

This past September [in 2023], I attended a writing retreat at Zigbone Farm in Sabillasville, Maryland. Every day began with a 20-minute silent meditation. After the meditation, I would walk past fields of feathered grasses and spiky wildflowers: goldenrod, chicory, Queen Anne’s Lace, false buckwheat, and lavender thistles. It was heavenly. On my first walk, these lines appeared in my mind:

I’m afraid of silence. / Every time I draw near, / tears fall.

I was so surprised. I love silence. Why would I be afraid of it?

Later that day, back at Zigbone Farm, we were prompted to observe something natural—a tree, a flower, a rock, an animal—and write a poem describing what we’d observed as precisely and concretely as we could. I paid close attention to the lavender-flowered thistles that towered over weeds and wildflowers along the road. Somehow, the line I’d heard about silence engaged with the image of thistles and, voila, I had the start of poem I never would have imagined absent the meditation and the prompt. I found this intriguing. Every day thereafter at the retreat, when I meditated and took my walk, I would notice that phrases or lines of poetry would effortlessly appear. Was this a coincidence or had I stumbled on a connection between meditation, movement, and poetry?

Like most writers, I’ve always noticed a connection between walking and coming up with lines or words I can use in a poem. But I was less familiar with meditation. I canvased other poets and asked if they meditated, and if they did, what effect, if any, does it have on their writing. A few reported that meditation helps clear away distractions so they can tune into their truest voice. One said silence allows her to unburden her consciousness, so she has access to her most creative self. Another cautioned she goes so deep in meditation; she sometimes loses her words and has to wait a while for them to return.

Religious friends told me about “centering prayer,” a form of meditation in which you repeat a sacred word. I tried this and, after a few false starts, landed on “peace.” This turns out to be a fruitful meditation practice for me, especially in this unsettling time of war. The susurrating repetition of “peace” calms my anxious mind and I find myself more aware, more open to the phrases or possible lines of poetry that bubble up.

Recently, I’ve added the following three-step prompt (adapted from an online class) to my meditation/walking practice:

1. Write a poem that utilizes only end-stopped lines, then reconfigure the poem using enjambment. Notice how it changes the poem.
2. Write the poem in any lineated style, then reconfigure it into unlined prose.
3. Reconfigure the poem from prose into a new lineated form without looking at the original.

Did your intention or goals for the poem change during these iterations? To which I added, did you discover something hiding in the poem you didn’t know was there?

I'll admit, following this prompt practice is a lot of work, and I don’t have enough time to follow it for every poem I write. But I like how it forces me to pay close attention to the flow of the lines, the narrative undercurrents, and the poem’s rhythm. It also helps me spot when I’m leaning on a pattern or structure that is keeping the poem from going where it wants to go. As a retired lawyer with an ingrained habit of imposing logical structure on what I write, questioning pattern and structure helps me to loosen up.

James Baldwin wrote that “every writer has only one tale to tell, and . . . has to find a way of telling it until the meaning becomes clearer and clearer, until the story becomes at once more narrow and larger, more and more precise, more and more reverberating.” At least for me, a meditation/walking practice combined with an iterative prompt, like the one above, helps me to dig more deeply into the tale I write to tell and offers a path toward making what my poems mean clearer and more precise to me, and hopefully, to readers.

Here is the poem that came out of my meditation/walking practice:

Transmutations

I fear silence; if I draw near, tears fall.
I’d rather be brave as chicory, roadside sentry,
aster blue vagrant. Or evasive

& crouch under glitter-webs & false
buckwheat’s seedy chandeliers; camouflage
my self a savage shade of purple.

Should silence spot me encircled
by goldenrod & spiked grasses, I’d make my
edges sharp as bristled lavender

thistle, armor my center with braided
brambles from briar thickets girdling Grimm’s
gray castle. I’d be opaque as

the ancient portcullis guarding the keep where tears
fall, condense & transmute to jewels in silver caskets.

Maggie Flaherty began writing poems in high school but stopped for a busy 50 years or so. In 2016, after retiring, she attended a workshop taught by the poet and essayist Lia Purpura at the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. There, her interest in poetry returned like a homing pigeon. In 2020, she graduated from the Rainier Writing Workshop at Pacific Lutheran University with a masters in poetry. These days, Maggie works in the garden or watches the birds. That’s where many of her poems begin: in the always-changing weather. She has published poems in Passager and Yellow Arrow Vignette AWAKEN. Maggie recently won first prize in the Bethesda Urban Partnership’s 2023 poetry competition.

*****

Kapua Iao 2/13/24 Kapua Iao 2/13/24

Por La Sombrita: A Conversation with Barbara Perez Marquez

Take a bite out of the bread of life, without realizing that you are the bread itself.
Life is taking a bite of you, one minute at a time.

“It Rises”

Barbara Perez Marquez is a writer from the Dominican Republic who now resides in the United States. Her prose and comic creations are a much needed contribution to the growing literature on coming of age and queerness for younger audiences. She enjoys participating in the larger conversations surrounding identity and representation in the graphic lit world. You can find samples of her incredible work on her website mustachebabs.com.

Barbara is a former Yellow Arrow Publishing writer in resident and her creative nonfiction chapbook Por La Sombrita was recently published with Bottlecap Press in both English and Spanish. This collection deals with themes of identity and coming of age, family relationships, and brims with an intricate nostalgia for the sensory setting of a distinct childhood.

Barbara had a dynamic conversation over Zoom with Melissa Nunez, Yellow Arrow author and interviewer, where they discussed her entrance to the graphic lit scene and the inspirations behind her newest chapbook.

Who are some women identified writers and artists who inspire you?

I grew up in the Dominican Republic so a lot of my inspiration, especially in regards to this this chapbook, comes from thinking of who I was reading when I was growing up. Salomé Ureña, a poetess from the Dominican Republic, was one of those writers that I felt I did not read nearly enough. Her work still inspires me to this day. As for contemporary writers, Rita Indiana is another Dominican creator whose work is really inspiring. I also read a lot of Miranda July’s flash fiction around the time I was putting this chapbook together. Her work and that of Anne Carson were everything I was consuming and it made me realize the need for more of this genre of fiction.

How did you connect with Yellow Arrow Publishing?

I moved to Baltimore, Maryland, in 2015, after I left the Dominican Republic and then spent six years in New York while I was in school. I was fresh out of graduate school and felt like I was still trying to discover what writing would look like in this new place and stage. For a while, I was trying to get my legs under me with the comics community. While I do write traditional prose, flash fiction, and poems, I also write comics for graphic novels and shorter issues. I found myself there, but around 2018 I just felt sort of aimless. I knew that I wanted to come back to prose and felt maybe a residency program could instigate that motivation to write. I think that programs often allow us do away with all the excuses because we have to write for a deadline. That’s when I found Yellow Arrow.

I believe Yellow Arrow was on the second cycle for residency and it was like right down the street from me, basically. It was really great to see this support for women-identifying writers on this side of town because a lot of the arts center of Baltimore is not really where Yellow Arrow started and where I am situated. It was really exciting to find living artists and writers here and that led to me applying and becoming one of the residents for that cycle. We were the pandemic residents, so it was really interesting for us to navigate what this new iteration of community looked like. We had to figure out online events and if there was a way for us to use the space in a safe environment. We were able to do this small, one-day retreat out on the patio at Yellow Arrow House because we had to be outside and all of that. From there it has grown into a community where we receive newsletters and stay updated on all of these awesome writers that I now know through Yellow Arrow. It was a fun experience that I still value today.

What drew you to graphic art? How did you get started?

I always knew I wanted to write for children. Drawing was not really in my wheelhouse, and so this brought me to graphic novels. I liked that you could have a collaboration aspect between artist and writer and I wanted to be that writer. I was consuming a lot of animation media at the time and have a lot of friends that are artists. That allowed me to see what that realm looked like. I think in discovering flash fiction, I also found this new world of breaking the page.

One of my mentors in graduate school, my advisor for the program, gave me a Linda Berry book. She told me, “I think you really need to read this.” She could tell that I had this like artistic side that isn’t always captured adequately through words alone. When I read that book, I could see the marriage between art and writing that I could explore. From there, another classmate gifted me this Batman comic she thought I would enjoy and then it sort of extrapolated. I saw that there are people that are creating these things. Publishing can have a lot of rules, written and unwritten, but I found out very quickly that comics writing has no limiting standards. Everybody just kind of does their own thing. Somehow, with this knowledge in hand and that sort of lack of rulebook, I got the push I needed to say, “I can do this.” I could experiment with giving guidance to an artist and collaborating together in a different way than just me sitting in front of a computer or notebook. I love creating and giving that part of me to the page and reader.

Is there an overlap in creation and planning for text only and visual work? Or are they very different for you?

I think that they certainly use different sides of my creative practice. When it comes to a comic script, I know that I have a freedom in format if that makes sense. You’re just telling the story and nobody is going to read these words in this way. The manuscript is sort of like a secret little thing that somehow eventually becomes art. Whereas with prose, I know I have this box in some way, shape, or form. With creative nonfiction, even with the chapbook, I would do a lot of page breaking. You format things and you play with the blank space and all of that stuff. When I am creating prose I want it to look attractive on the page and I have to consider the final product in print. This chapbook was the first printed piece of prose that I’ve had in a while. I haven’t had to worry about that so much because I’ve been creating for open mics and I’ll just read from my phone. I didn’t even own a printer for like five years. So there is that visual difference there. However, when it comes time to create they still remain very similar. I work to evoke and maintain the spirit of what I’m trying to say in both forms. I get it into words and then explore that in different ways.

What do you think draws you to the topics in your writing and comics? Things like female knight orders in the comic world and then the personal content in your prose?

I think the draw for most of the topics is that they’re fun. They are really great sandboxes to play in. I grew up really interested in animation superheroes and fantasy magic and all of these things are part of what I want to create. We talked of course about female inspiration, women creators and inspirations there, but I was also reading Gabriel Garcia Marquez and inhabiting this world of magical realism. I felt it was something I could and should create, as I feel there are not enough women writing magical realism. I also find myself creating queer topics because I grew up queer in the closet. Every writer wants to write what they needed when they were younger or the story they want to see on the shelf and that definitely motivates my queer content. I know I want to leave a legacy with the stories I write of the support and knowledge I wish I’d had, something that would have made my experience a little easier. I can do that for the readers to come.

When it comes to fantasy work, the order of Belfry was really close to my heart. In this case, the artist approached me with this conversation about lady nights. I was like, “What do you want to say about lady nights? I think they’re hot and that we can tell a really interesting story here.” It was this marriage of all of those elements that fuel and inspire me. We were creating this heavily queer cast and we had this fantasy aspect where we were playing with the medieval knights order. We were very intentional with this. We weren’t necessarily being Arthurian on purpose. We knew we could have easily skewed it that way, but we wanted to somehow have some semblance of “reality” in our fantasy where it still felt very grounded, which I think is so important. In classes and workshops you always hear about writing what you know and you have the own voices movements with writing, but I think we can do both. I think if people do their work, you can still create something different and present perspectives that are new and necessary. I didn’t grow up in a medieval pseudokingdom, but I can put a bit of myself in this idea I built upon research and collaboration.

La primera vez que mentí, las palabras hormigueaban en mis labios y desguste la libertad.

“Mentiras Blancas”

The first time I lied, the words tingled my lips and I tasted freedom.

“White Lies”

Do you regularly handle your own translation work and how do you approach this? Does anything inform which language you write in first? I am not fully fluent in Spanish but I did read through your chapbook in both languages and the way you handled “White Lies” really stood out to me. I love digging into decisions like this.
I’m glad you pointed that out and I appreciate you reading the collection in both languages. That’s great practice. I do translation as sort of a side gig just because I’m really interested in linguistics, and I think it allows us to explore writing on a different level. I think that the words that we use obviously are very specific in the sense of what you need in the moment for your writing. When I do any translation work, I’m more interested in salvaging the creative voice of a piece of work than just translating this word from the English to the Spanish. Google can do that, right?

For my chapbook specifically, I approached the editor of Bottlecap Press about how important it is to me that my writing is available in both languages. I grew up speaking Spanish because I’m from a Spanish country, and while this chapbook is in the American market, I’d love this opportunity to present it to people that are in the Dominican Republic. Especially for those in the audience who want to be a writer but are not sure how to do that. It is a great opportunity to present the chapbook I wrote and show a bit of what that looks like. So for that purpose, I offered my time and gladly took on the task. Then it became the matter of those individual choices, like the hormigueas choice versus tingling. It could have easily been like cosquilleo, but I was like, that’s not right. I looked at each piece and I considered what words I was trying to express along with the feeling that I was trying to inhabit in that specific moment. And that sort of allowed that sort of play on words.

Translation is so interesting because Spanish is so regional, like we’re all different. But there’s also beauty in finding where those things cross. I’ve translated things for other creatives in the past and sometimes they’re looking for something where the character is not necessarily Dominican. Then the translation is more about finding a sort of neutral translation. That’s fine and that’s something that I feel is important, too. But then you have creatives that are like in need of a specific character, for example, a Puerto Rican. I’m not Puerto Rican and I’m sure there are great Puerto Rican translators out there, but I had this opportunity to look at this particular piece of work. The creator knew my background but still wanted me to look at this Puerto Rican character. That’s where that research came in. I knew that I was unfamiliar with Puerto Rican jargon or slang, so I had to look it up. I can research that side and read from a translator’s point of view and offer that sort of perspective.

Coming back to the chapbook, it became an opportunity to also explore my own voice in Spanish which I don’t get to do very often. I do not write in Spanish as much as I should. I think that looking back I hadn’t really thought about that part of my life yet. The chapbook looks at like the first 15 years of my life and ends there. I think at some point there will probably be another chapbook to cover the ages between 15 and 25. This is when I explore the idea of becoming aware of my writing and that desire to be a writer. I was at that point of learning English and trying to teach myself how to be good at that. I think there was this unintentional effort to write in English because that’s where all the people write and that’s where the market is and all of these thoughts that tie into that. And so I do that a lot. I still write in Spanish. I had one story that I published in a magazine during college in Spanish because the editor was Dominican and she called me out on not writing in Spanish. She wanted to see what I could do. Fast forwarding to now, I have this impetus in me to make the market available to Spanish speakers and I know that some of the other works that I have don’t have that versatility. With the chapbook I had this special kind of control over it where I could put my money where my mouth is. I want to see my work in Spanish so I have to make it happen. It was fun. Ultimately, I think it was really cool to see how chapbooks are translated because it does slightly change the piece itself. I’m really excited to see, once I start doing readings for the pieces, the reception to the language I read them in. That will be an interesting journey ahead.

What do you think a writer gains from looking back and writing our child selves as an adult?

I think there’s obviously a lot of perspective. First and foremost, I think that there’s a lot of writers that look for a sense of catharsis when it comes to creating our nonfiction work, particularly for myself. It’s about coming to terms with the history that brought me here. I think it’s very important for me to present the things as I experience them. They are not perfect and I’m not really interested in presenting them in that manner. I’m not presenting this wonderful childhood. I want you to look at the imperfections and really recognize what a journey truly looks like. I think it is nice that my chapbook reflects that state of society as a queer person. I’m more interested in changing the mindsets in the present than changing that perception of the past. I want to change the current perspective of queerness in the Dominican Republic. I think showcasing that story and showcasing my experience as a writer that was gay growing up and has now come so far as to have a book about it presents a way that provides hope to a reader. It provides perspective and an opportunity for somebody to find the chapbook and find both the similarities and differences of that experience. I think those conversations are so important. It’s necessary to look back not necessarily to relive the past, but to examine it from where we’re standing now.

This collection is full of the power of sensory memory and metaphor. How did this develop in your writing?

As we write, we all develop our writer’s voice, and I think mine has always been about taking you on this journey with me as opposed to the more omnipresent narratives. I’m more interested in inviting the reader to go on this adventure together. This allows me to narrate in these camera angles which plays into the comic aspect as well. It’s like sometimes the camera is looking down on the story. I’m interested in like angling on the level of the story. Inherently, you will miss some of the parts of the story, but it allows you to be much closer to the particular moment.

I also preface the fact that it’s nonfiction with creative because I recognize that I’m not 11 anymore. I understand intrinsically that I am speaking for my 11-year-old self as an adult. I think that also changes the perspective as opposed to if somehow at 11 years old, I had the presence of mind to write this down. I think it melts into that part of the voice and allows it to be real and raw and sort of confusing at times, but with intention. We can teach ourselves so many skills as writers, but I think some parts of our voices are just intrinsically ours. And this is mine.

How do you balance cultural commentary with appreciation in your work?

I’m glad that aspect of the chapbook came through. That’s always nice to hear. When it comes to my creative writing practice, I just speak from the heart. I am not trying to romanticize the job, but there is definitely a part of you that when you truly just open yourself to the opportunity to present things how they need to be presented, things just sort of fall into place. The social commentary here comes in glimpses. You have the aspect of me taking public transportation, or my family getting robbed in the middle of the night. I don’t necessarily feel like we were losing sleep over it. We weren’t focusing on that one time we got robbed and making our house safer or something like that, but it was the indent it made on me to consider things. It was something that just like happened in a flash and it happened at one time, but it still felt like it was a story I could tell that gave context to that period of time. Especially because the chapbook takes a perspective of that younger age and I feel like that’s a nice way to sort of put the lens where it needs to be. I wouldn’t necessarily present it from the side of the robber. I’m not really interested in like, speaking for my parents and what they were going through. That is very different than the little like eight year old that woke up in the middle of night because there was a ruckus outside of her door. I think that is the way that I sort of balance things and feel the social commentary comes in, not necessarily easily, but it definitely comes fluidly when necessary. I think it comes in secondary to speaking to the experience directly.

Now that old darkness seems like paradise, a space where the world went silent and there was peace and quiet, if only as long as I kept repeating words like prayers.

“Studying in the Dark”

What is it like representing your work and perspective at public panels and events?

As a creator, it’s always been really important to me to be forward with my identities. I’m always very straightforward with my queer identity and I think I have seen a return to my Dominican identity in particular in the last few years. I can easily admit that when I came to the United States I felt the need to adapt to the American market, but that was swept over by the Own Voices movement that sort of changed the face of publishing. And I was like, “Ok. I think I can be Dominican.” I can be this thing and also queer and also a writer and it’ll work out. The communities I have found since then, like Yellow Arrow, have been part of that return to saying, “I’m a Dominican writer.” I’m not just a writer, not just a queer writer, I’m a queer Dominican writer. It’s really important to me to lead with that because it allows you to bring that back to where you came from.

I've been talking about being able to turn the mirror back to the island and say, “Hey guys, if anybody wants to be a writer, I’m here.” When it comes to the panels, book festivals, and conventions and all of this, talking about authentic stories is still pretty new because publishing is still largely white. The people that get the opportunities with the big best selling book deals and publishers are still white, while the queer and POC stories are still in the minority. So, me coming to these panels as a panelist and sharing what little experience I’ve had, the things that work for me, allows that opportunity to leave the door open and bring somebody else in. There might be somebody sitting in the audience that’s also queer, also POC, and doesn’t even know where to start. Maybe two things that I say in the panel might give them the spark to finish that story or find out how to submit to their local writing open mic or another publishing opportunity. I think it’s ultimately about visibility and continuing that work to pave the way for others. Yes, I’m writing. Yes, I’m creating. Yes, I’m doing all these cool, awesome things that I’m super excited about. How can I make space for more voices like mine?

What advice do you have for aspiring artists?

Publishing is really nebulous at the best of times. Writers, both new and established, can get really lost in the sauce of like, where do I publish my work? How do I get it to the people? How do people read it and receive it? My advice would be to find the other writers around you. Even if you don’t live in a big metropolitan area, we have access to online communities through discord, Instagrams, whatever social media is your preference. Ultimately, what really started me and kept me going was finding those other writers that were in that moment with me, even if we weren’t talking the same genres. When I was in school, I had a screenwriter friend, a poet, and one other fiction writer alongside me. What matters is those checkins, somebody asking about that manuscript you’re working on, asking if you figured out that plot point or if you were able to talk to whoever you need to talk to get that information you need. That would be my top advice: find those communities.

Are there any future projects you’d like to share?

I’m working on three graphic novels that are coming out in the next couple of years. Right now, immediately in August, I have a new kids graphic novel called Paulina and the Disaster at Pompeii. It’s about the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. After that, the story I wrote for Epic, which is the Animal Rescue Friends Tales: A Hard Shell to Crack, is coming out in print in November. Also in November, the third book of The Cardboard Kingdom is coming out. This is like my start in graphic novels and is a project near and dear to my heart. It is about this group of kids that play with cardboard and create this fantasy world. I’m really excited to see what people think of the kids. I created Amanda, the mad scientist, in that cast. We’re introducing a lot of new characters in this new book and a lot of new dynamics that I’m excited to see how people receive them.

You can find updates on Barbara Perez Marquez and her writing at mustachebabs.com and can order your copy of Por la Sombrita (in English or Spanish!) from Bottlecap Press.

Barbara Perez Marquez was born and raised in the Dominican Republic, now she lives in the USA. She’s a queer latine writer with an MFA in Creative Writing and writes short stories and fiction. During her career, she has also been an editor, translator, and even a sensitivity reader for several publications and projects. Her work was first featured in a student collection in the 7th grade, which inspired her desire to become a writer. In her work, Barbara aims to present coming of age and LGBTQ+ themes in both approachable and heartbreaking ways. You can find more of her work at mustachebabs.com.

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

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Meet a Staff Member: Raychelle Heath

Yellow Arrow Publishing would like to (re)introduce Raychelle Heath, our workshop programming & curriculum manager. Raychelle has been part of the Yellow Arrow community for quite some time as an author and a guest editor for Yellow Arrow Journal and a workshop instructor. She is a poet, artist, teacher, coach, yoga and meditation instructor, podcaster, and traveler. Raychelle holds a BA in languages and an MFA in poetry. She uses her writing and podcast to tell the multifaceted stories of black women in the world. She also explores her experiences with the culturally rich communities that she has encountered in her travels. She has been published by Travel Noire, Yellow Arrow Journal, The Brazen Collective, Locked Horn Press, Community Building Art Works, and others. She also holds yoga certifications for Kripalu Yoga, Yoga Nidra, and Mind Body Meditation. She is currently director of curriculum and coaching for the Unicorn Authors Club.

Raychelle says, “My experience working with the Yellow Arrow team as a writer, guest editor, and workshop facilitator has been great. This next chapter just feels like a beautiful next step in our ever-growing relationship. I am looking forward to getting to know the team and working toward getting our workshops out there for more people to be able to experience. I am also looking forward to supporting our facilitators to be able to offer the best workshops they can. And lastly, I’m looking forward to expanding the catalogue of workshop offerings so that we can reach even more writers. It’s going to be a great year.”

Tell us a little something about yourself:

I’m excited to be presenting on my first panel at AWP. I am also really jazzed about my garden; I made three sweet potato pies this holiday season from sweet potatoes that I grew.

What do you love most about where you live?

I live in Ocotal, Costa Rica. I love that I am near the beach, that I can walk everywhere I need to go, and all the beautiful hikes near my house.

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 initially became involved with Yellow Arrow as a writer. I then submitted a workshop proposal for a restorative writing workshop. The workshop went well, and I’ve taught the series twice now. I’ll be teaching it again in the summer of 2024. I was also asked to guest edit an edition of the journal, and my issue PEREGRINE came out in fall of 2022. This year, Annie [Marhefka, executive director] approached me about how I could be more involved. We had a wonderful conversation, and my passion for workshops is what was most present. I’ll be coming on as workshop programming & curriculum manager [this year]. I am excited to deepen my work with Yellow Arrow because I’ve really enjoyed working with the team so far and I believe in the work they are doing.

What are you working on currently?

My full-time job is with the Unicorn Authors Club, and I’m currently working on a programming revamp with our team, our second coach training, and getting ready to onboard our first bilingual cohort of writers. I’m also gearing up for a new year of meditation workshops that I’ll be guiding (this is my third year) and, hopefully, finishing up my 500-hour yoga certification. I also have a poetry manuscript that I hope to have ready to send out soon.

What genre do you write (or read if you don’t write) the most and why?

I am a poet though I also write my fair share of prose. Poetry speaks to me because of its musicality, the way it creates tapestries, and the play of language that is possible.

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

I’m currently finishing Nervous by one of our unicorn writers, Jen Soriano. And the book I want to pick up is Michael Harriot’s Black AF History.

Who is your favorite writer and why?

I don’t have a favorite writer at the moment though I have always deeply appreciated the works of Pablo Neruda, Toni Morrison, Sonia Sanchez, Nikki Giovanni, and Edwige Danticat. I recently read Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu and am so looking forward to reading more of his work. In general, I love writers who challenge what words can do on the page.

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

I have been supported and held by so many amazing writing communities. I am grateful to them all.

What do you love most about writing?

I love that writing meets me where I am. It doesn’t have to be perfect or pretty. It doesn’t have to be shared or even last. It can hold my heart and be what I need in the moment.

What advice do you have for new writers?

Read widely. It’s awesome to read writers that you love, but it is just as valuable to read other writers that you may love, may learn from, or may see what you want to avoid. And read for form and structure as well as content. Notice how other writers use words on the page. Also, look for other things you can create. Making informs making. In moments when I have felt blocked on the page, I could go to my garden or prepare a new dish and have something be revealed.

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

I always keep a pen and paper. As much as I appreciate how technology has offered amazing tools for writing, there is nothing that compares to pen and paper. I use it to take notes, jot lines, record quotes, draw, etc. I have notebooks and pens in a variety of sizes and colors so I can meet every occasion.

What’s your vision for Yellow Arrow in 2024?

When I think about AMPLIFY, as it pertains to the workshops, I’m really excited about amplifying the amazing offerings that Yellow Arrow has and also amplifying the workshop space to bring in new ideas and new facilitators. There is so much potential for the growth and making a beautiful connection with our ever-expanding community.

*****

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Yellow Arrow Journal (IX/01) ELEVATE Submissions are Now Open!

Yellow Arrow Publishing is excited to announce that submissions for our next issue of Yellow Arrow Journal, Vol. IX, No. 1 (spring 2024) is open February 1-29, providing a platform for authors to embrace and amplify their own voice. Guest editor, Jennifer N. Shannon, contemplates about her voice by reflecting on The Color Purple:

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

This issue’s theme is ELEVATE

: to improve morally, intellectually, or culturally
: to lift up or make higher
: to raise the spirits of

1. What story do you want to tell but haven’t found the words for? How will the story affect those who read or hear your truth? What will it do for you to share this story with the world?

2. What has guided you along your journey? What actions have elevated you? Are there any themes that show themselves to you repeatedly and if so what do you think they mean?

3. How are you moving forward in your writing, in your life, in your job, in your relationships, within your passion(s)? What is expanding and evolving you? Is your mindset growing? What scares you about your progression? What brings you joy? What’s stopping you?

Yellow Arrow Journal is looking for creative nonfiction, poetry, and cover art submissions by writers/artists who identify as women, on the theme of ELEVATE. 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 2024.

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

*****

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Podcast Spotlight: We Can Do Hard Things

By Samantha Pomerantz, written November 2023

Have you heard the We Can Do Hard Things podcast? With over 500K monthly listeners and multiple appearances at the top of the Apple Podcasts chart, this is one for the books! The world of We Can Do Hard Things is one that inspires hope and community. It is a safe place for sensitive souls and all curious human beings to dive into the recesses of the daily hard things and the macro, worldly hard things that we face in our 21st-century lives. Author Glennon Doyle converses with cohosts Abby Wambach and Amanda Doyle, as the three bring their hard questions, and those of the community, to expert seekers who have figured some of these hard things out. From interviews with author and clinical psychologist Dr. Becky Kennedy to author and First Lady Michelle Obama, the WCDHT podcast offers a way to engage with the pain and the pleasures of our world.

My to-read list is mostly padded with books written by WCDHT podcast interviewees. These episodes offer a way to get to know the author behind their best-selling work and allow you to feel like a part of the conversation. They are human, they are advocates, they are activists, and listeners get to fight for a freer world alongside them as we ask ourselves the hard questions together.

Here are four must listen to episodes (descriptions taken directly from the podcast) and the inspiring books written by their interviewees.

Episode 74. ALOK: What makes us beautiful? What makes us free?

On the podcast: “‘The days that I feel most beautiful are the days that I am most afraid.’ ‘What feminine part of yourself did you have to destroy in order to survive in this world?’ ‘Why have we been taught to fear the very things that can set us free?’”

ALOK (they/them) is an internationally acclaimed writer, performer, and public speaker. As a mixed-media artist their work explores themes of trauma, belonging, and the human condition. They are the author of Femme in Public (2017), Beyond the Gender Binary (2020), and Your Wound/My Garden (2021). They are the creator of #DeGenderFashion: a movement to degender fashion and beauty industries and have been honored as one of HuffPo’s Culture Shifters, NBC’s Pride 50, and Business Insider’s Doers.

Instagram @alokvmenon; website alokvmenon.com.

Episode 168. Sonya Renee Taylor: What If You Loved Your Body

On the podcast: “Sonya Renee Taylor—author of The Body is Not an Apology—explores the personal and global promise of Radical Self Love:

1. Examining the way we talk to our bodies – and how to change negative self-dialogue.

2. How to shift from a relationship with our body based on dominance and control to a relationship based on trust.

3. The pitfalls of ‘body positivity.’

4. Recognizing this global moment we are in as a gift inviting us to collective Self Love.

5. The full life that is possible only if we stop believing our body is our enemy, and start seeing our body as a teammate.”

Sonya Renee Taylor is a world-renowned activist, award-winning artist, transformational thought leader, author of six books including The New York Times best-selling The Body is Not an Apology (2018), and founder of the international movement and digital media and education company of the same name whose work has reached millions of people by exploring the intersections of identity, healing, and social justice using a radical self-love framework. She continues to speak, teach, write, create, and transform lives globally.

Instagram @sonyareneetaylor; website sonyareneetaylor.com/about.

Episode 92. Chanel Miller Promises: We Are Never Stuck

On the podcast: “Chanel Miller discusses—

1. Thinking of depression as a way of seeing the world . . . through toilet paper roll binoculars.

2. Why healing might actually just be permission to go.

3. Chanel’s definition of success: refusing to succumb to perfection or exhaustion–and showing up as herself in every moment.

4. The healing moment when Chanel returned to Stanford and was held in sound–which set her free.”

Chanel Miller is a writer and artist who received her BA in Literature from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her critically acclaimed memoir, KNOW MY NAME, was a New York Times bestseller, a New York Times Book Review Notable Book, and a National Book Critics Circle Award winner, as well as a best book of 2019 in Time, the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, NPR, and People, among others. She is a 2019 Time Next 100 honoree and a 2016 Glamour Woman of the Year honoree under her pseudonym, “Emily Doe.”

Instagram @chanel_miller; website chanel-miller.com.

See also The Ultimate Barbie Reading List blog by Cecelia Caldwell that included Know My Name. Find the book here.

Episode 239. Why Are We Never Satisfied? with adrienne maree brown

On the podcast: “Are you capable of being satisfied? Today, adrienne maree brown helps us uncover: How to find beauty and connection in the everyday; How to stop wasting your time on things that don’t feel good; Why the greatest risk of life is also where its preciousness comes from; How, through the discipline of pleasure, we can ALL be satisfied.”

adrienne maree brown is a pleasure activist, writer, and radical imaginist who grows healing ideas in public through writing, music, and podcasts. adrienne has nurtured Emergent Strategy, Pleasure Activism, Radical Imagination and Transformative Justice as ideas, frameworks, networks, and practices for transformation. adrienne’s work is informed by 25 years of social and environmental justice facilitation primarily supporting Black liberation. adrienne is the author/editor of several published texts including Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds; Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good; Grievers; and Maroons. After a multinational childhood, adrienne lived in New York, Oakland, and Detroit before landing in her current home of Durham, North Carolina.

Twitter @adriennemaree; Instagram @adriennemareebrown. Find Emergent Strategy here.

Happy listening and reading! Find the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Audacity, and Spotify.

Samantha Pomerantz (she/her) is a writer and a lover of stories. She is studying English and creative writing at Elon University until mid 2024. And then she will do other things that will likely also involve reading and writing. She is the poetry editor of Colonnades literary and art journal and the second-place recipient of the 2023 Frederick Haartman poetry prize. Samantha has spent most of her life in Germantown, Maryland, hugging trees and learning how to be a person.

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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

“Embracing the Darkness” by Michelle Levy from Smallwood, New York

Genre: creative nonfiction

Name of publication: Discover Magazine

Date published: August 2023

Type of publication: print and online

Find the publication here or at discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/how-to-embrace-the-benefits-of-darkness

Meet Michelle on Instagram @michellesydneylevy or Facebook @originalprint.

“Stripped” by Kay Smith-Blum from Seattle, Washington

Genre: flash fiction

Name of publication: Heathentide Orphans anthology from Zoetic Press

Date published: December 2023

Type of publication: print

zoeticpress.com/heathentide-orphans-2023

Connect with Kay on Instagram @discerningKSB, Facebook @kay.smithblum, LinkedIn @kay-smith-blum-3877273, and Twitter @kaysmithblum.

(you can find other Yellow Arrow authors included in the anthology!!)

“What I Learned About Writing From Donkey Kong” by Wendy Swift from Farmington, Connecticut

Genre: nonfiction

Name of publication: Brevity Blog

Date published: December 15, 2023

Type of publication: print

brevity.wordpress.com/2023/12/15/donkey-kong

Find Wendy on Facebook @wendy.swift.902819 and Instagram @wendyjswiftauthor.

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!

*****

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Meet a Staff Member: Jill Earl

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

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

Tell us a little something about yourself:

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

What do you love most about Baltimore?

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

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

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

What are you working on currently?

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

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

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

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

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

Who is your favorite writer and why?

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

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

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

What do you love most about writing?

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

What advice do you have for new writers?

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

*****

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The Color Purple: Still Evolving After 40 Years

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

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

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

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

By Jennifer N. Shannon

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

*****

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

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

By Nikita Rimal Sharma

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Now, let’s go!

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

*****

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

Her View Friday

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

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

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

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

Genre: poetry

Name of publication: Ink Sweat & Tears

Date published: October 2023

Type of publication: online

inksweatandtears.co.uk/emma-gawlinski

Find Emma on Twitter @EClinski.

PRIZES/AWARDS

“The Perseids” by Nancy Hugget from Ottawa

Genre: creative nonfiction

Name of award: Best of the Net and Pushcart Prize

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

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

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

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

Single-author publications: here.

Single pieces and awards/prizes: here.

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

*****

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

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

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

Dear Yellow Arrow Community,

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

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

“When an idea arrives, sparks are vital—they are the lifeblood for creativity. Yet, sparks sometimes fade when it comes to the nitty-gritty, the long hours that must be undertaken in order to have an idea come to fruition. It is then, within the drudgery of labor, when faced with self-doubt and fear (who even wants to hear what I have to say?), that it is essential to remember the spark that drove you to begin your journey.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Warmest Wishes,

Annie Marhefka and the Yellow Arrow Publishing team

“TENding” by Heather Brown Barrett from Virginia

“1964,” “in That Pho,” and “Morning Love” by Martha Klein Henrickson from canada

“Embracing the Darkness​” by Michelle Levy from Smallwood, New York

“Stripped​” by Kay Smith-Blum from Seattle, Washington

“What I Learned About Writing From Donkey Kong​” by Wendy Swift from Farmington, Connecticut

Now, let’s go!

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

PRIZES/AWARDS

“The Perseids” by Nancy Hugget from Ottawa

Subscribe to the Yellow Arrow Newsletter!

“Embracing the Darkness” by Michelle Levy from Smallwood, New York

“Stripped” by Kay Smith-Blum from Seattle, Washington

“What I Learned About Writing From Donkey Kong” by Wendy Swift from Farmington, Connecticut

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