.WRITERS.ON.WRITING..Writers.on.Writing.
Get to know our authors, the foundation and heart of Yellow Arrow Journal, and what writing means to them through our monthly series.
.W.o.W. #18
Sarah Smith
What is the toughest writing decision you have made?
One resolution I made to myself was that I would not pass up an opportunity to read in public. Not in an arrogant way, I don’t run on stage and tackle anyone, but if I am somewhere and there’s an open mic, I sign up. I try. I am still nervous, my heart races every time, and I am far better than I was if I had not made that commitment to developing.
What does your inner writing voice tell you?
Continue. Even if I don’t share it with anyone, even if it never makes it out of a journal, even if it is just what’s going on while I drink a cup of coffee in the morning, writing brings me incomparable joy.
When I get to the point where I feel like I’m mopping words around on the page, not really getting anywhere, the voice also tells me that it’s okay to move on. In the moment, it’s tough to set something to the side. With time, though, I can revise with a clearer head.
What word do you find yourself using most often in your writing?
Grateful.
Sarah Smith contributed her poem “Hickory” to Yellow Arrow Journal’s issue HOME (Vol. V, No. 2). You can find out more about Sarah from her blog hampdenunicorn.com or by following her on Instagram @hampdenunicorn.
.Writers.on.Writing.
Get to know our authors, the foundation and heart of Yellow Arrow Journal, and what writing means to them through our monthly series.
.W.o.W. #17
Kashaf Ghumman
What does your inner writing voice tell you?
To be honest to what I feel about myself and the position I occupy in this world.
If you didn’t write, what would you do?
I am a medical doctor, so I would continue down that path, albeit a lot sadder and more stressed without the relief of writing.
What is a book you wish someone would write?
A book on my female ancestors.
Kashaf, from Lahore, Pakistan, is one of our incredible authors from Yellow Arrow Journal’s Vol. V, No. 2 issue HOME. Learn more about Kashaf in her HOME poem “The Mehndi on My Feet.”
.Writers.on.Writing.
Get to know our authors, the foundation and heart of Yellow Arrow Journal, and what writing means to them through our monthly series.
.W.o.W. #16
J.L. Lapinel
What period of your life do you find you write about most often?
I feel compelled to write about my adolescence and early 20s. I was born and raised in Manhattan but spent weekends and summers on a small family farm [Blackamora, described in HOME]. I am only now aware of the strange ingredients of my amalgamated upbringing. There is enough distance from it now to explore the landscape and harvest new understanding.
What does your inner writing voice tell you?
It tells me to quiet down, listen, and take notes.
What word do you find yourself using most often in your writing?
There are certainly cycles when a word will continue to present itself in more than one work. More than words, however, are dominant images. Feet are in a lot of my poems. They are often a physical manifestation of choices, particularly those leading to change or a new direction.
Explore Blackamora with J.L. in Yellow Arrow Journal’s Vol. V, No. 2 issue HOME and dive into “A Wolverine Hiding Ribbons Under the Bed,” published in Issue 18 (June 2020) of Rabid Oak.
J.L., a Latinx writer, educator, and MFA candidate at UMass Amherst, can be found on Twitter.
.Writers.on.Writing.
Get to know our authors, the foundation and heart of Yellow Arrow Journal, and what writing means to them through our monthly series.
.W.o.W. #15
Yvonne
What does your inner writing voice tell you?
“Trouble. Trouble. Toil and bubble.”
How did you first publish your writing and what was it?
The Towers, the annual literary journal of West Catholic Girls High School, published the second poem I had ever written when I was in the 10th grade. The next year it published my first sonnet; I did not write another one until 50+ years later. The first publication that paid me for a poem was Ms. Magazine [where she became poetry editor 1974–1987] in 1972.
What word do you find yourself using most often in your writing?
I don’t know. I keep my thesaurus handy. Maybe the pronoun “she.”
Yvonne’s poem, “BEHIND CLOSED DOORS: The Lena O. Smith House,” about the incredible civil rights attorney, Lena O. Smith (1855–1966), was included in Yellow Arrow Journal’s Vol. V, No. 2 issue HOME. You can find her companion poem, “Ballad of the Arthur and Edith Lee House,” in HOME: An Anthology by Flexible Press (2020), reprinted with permission by Winning Writers. For more information about Yvonne, visit her website iwilla.com.
.Writers.on.Writing.
Get to know our authors, the foundation and heart of Yellow Arrow Journal, and what writing means to them through our monthly series.
.W.o.W. #14
Hannah Rousselot
Who is your greatest writing influence?
I love Andrea Gibson. I saw them perform when I was a student at Smith College and it was a momentous experience for me. It was the first time I saw another poet speak so openly about mental illness and queerness, things that are a huge part of my life as well. They gave me “permission” to write about the hard stuff.
What does your inner writing voice tell you?
Trust yourself.
Describe an early experience where you learned that language has power.
Since I’m bilingual, I’ve always been aware of the duality of language: it’s something used to communicate, but you can never communicate what you are thinking exactly. It’s an approximation based on the vocabulary and language you have at your disposal. Yet, language is one of the only ways we have to connect with those around us. I discovered this firsthand after I wrote my very first poem about my hamster’s death. Even at that young age, writing felt very natural to me, and I haven’t stopped writing since.
Connect with Hannah (she/her), a queer French-American poet, on Twitter or Facebook. Her poem “displaced” was featured in Yellow Arrow Journal’s Vol. V, No. 2 issue HOME.