.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.

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W.o.W. #55

Dani Sacchi

What period of your life do you find you write about most often?

I tend to focus on the present day or the first eight years of my life when I lived in the Bronx. Those early years intensely influenced so much of the person I became as a teenager, from my attachment style to my behaviors. I have strong memories, beautiful and painful, from that time in my childhood that I lean on when writing stories.

What is a good writing habit you have picked up?

Something that completely transformed my editing post-rough draft is a tip I got from listening to Ocean Vuong talk about workshopping. I learned not to approach my writing with the intent to fix, but rather in the first one to three weeks, notice patterns, observe, learn the true intent of the piece, and then during the fourth and fifth weeks begin suggestions, criticisms, and making changes that align with the purpose of the story.

What does your inner writing voice tell you?

What are you waiting for?

If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

Don’t allow your lack of knowledge or experience to instill a fear of making mistakes. Make mistakes. Be playful. Have fun. Be vulnerable. This is your power.

An emerging voice in Orlando, Florida, Dani Sacchi brings a diverse background to her writing. With a bachelor’s degree in English under her belt, she has honed her craft through experience as a copywriter, high school teacher, and recruiter. Balancing a full-time job, she’s carving her path in the literary world, all while dreaming of returning to school for her master’s degree. At home, she finds inspiration alongside her loving husband and dog.

Dani’s incredible piece, “BOTH/AND,” was included in Yellow Arrow Journal’s issue EMBLAZON, Vol. VIII, No. 2, Fall 2023. She joined other EMBLAZON readers for Fleeting Moments, Inscribed: A Reading of EMBLAZON on November 29; the reading is now available on the Yellow Arrow YouTube channel.

Learn more about Dani on Instagram @officialdani and at danisacchi.squarespace.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.

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W.o.W. #54

Tess Kay

If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

Don’t be afraid to share your writing. The poems/stories want to be read.

If you could have dinner with anyone, who would it be and why?

So many people. Perhaps, Amedeo Modigliani. Such a talented (and tragic) painter.

What does your inner writing voice tell you?

Write whatever comes to you at the moment. You can always question (and discard) it later.

What are you currently working on (even nonwriting things)?

A novel in the Czech language. And I am always writing poems or fragments of poems and stories.

Tess Kay is a transgender woman writer, poet, and lyricist. She was born and raised in the Czech Republic and later found her home in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Similarly to Minnesota’s long, cold winters and warm summers, Tess, in her writing, combines themes of loneliness and isolation with moments of hope and faith in fellow human beings.

Tess’ incredible poem, “Pride,” was included in Yellow Arrow Journal’s issue KINDLING, Vol. VIII, No. 1, Spring 2023.

Learn more about Tess on Instagram @tessdajc and Facebook @tess.dajc.

.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.

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W.o.W. #53

Darah Schillinger

What word do you find yourself using most often in your writing?

I write about god a lot, even though I’m not particularly religious. I also know I write about nature in almost everything. If it’s not directly about nature it has natural imagery. I can’t escape it, and I don’t want to.

What period of your life do you find you write about most often?

Present day. I tend to write what I know, and it’s almost always what I’m feeling or inspired by in the very moment (though it’s probably because I’m young).

What is your writing Kryptonite? Your most interesting writing quirk?

I can’t force myself to write. If I have an assignment and I don’t have time to wait for inspiration, I will almost always pull from my notes app. That’s where all of my ideas, good and bad, are kept.

What does your inner writing voice tell you?

“Writing is what you’re good at, but don’t stress yourself out of creativity. When you’re ready to write, I’ll be there waiting.”

Darah Schillinger is a Baltimore, Maryland, poet working toward her professional writing degree at Towson University. She has previously published poetry in the St. Mary’s literary journal, AVATAR, on the Spillwords Press website, in the Maryland Bards Poetry Review 2022, in Yellow Arrow Journal, and in the first edition of Empyrean Magazine. Darah’s first poetry chapbook, when the daffodils die, was released in July 2022 by Yellow Arrow Publishing, and her first full-length collection is currently a work in progress.

Darah’s incredible poem, “i walk home at 10:03 pm,” was included in Yellow Arrow Journal’s issue UpSpring (Vol. VII, No. 1). And for the month of October only, you can purchase a copy of when the daffodils die from the Yellow Arrow bookstore for only $12.00. Let’s celebrate its 12-month anniversary together; get your copy today at yellowarrowpublishing.com/store/daffodils-die-paperback.

Learn more about Darah on Instagram @darahschillinger or @brokewritersociety and Facebook @darah.schillinger.

.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.

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W.o.W. #52

brooklyn baggett

If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

Editing is gold. Embrace it. Edit. Edit. Edit.

Describe an early experience where you learned that language has power.

I grew up in the deep south. My grandfather was a minister. Watching the congregation hang on his every word stuck with me as a young child.

What does your inner writing voice tell you?

As Bahnu Kapil taught me, write what you burn to say.

What are you currently working on (even nonwriting things)?

I was accepted to the Sundress Academy for the Arts Summer Residency. I’ll be working on anew manuscript that explores the liminal spaces of trans experience as they manifest in all areas, specifically the internal conflict and very real consequences of being exiled from my homeland of the deep south.

brooklyn baggett (she/her) is a trans poet and artist living in New York City. She holds an MFA from Goddard College and teaches workshops on tactile poetry and rejecting binary, cishet norms in writing. Her work has appeared in Impossible Archetype, The Pitkin Review, Big Muddy, and River Styx, among others. brooklyn is dedicated to the radical act of being herself and lifting the voices of trans poets, including her own. Her work often explores liminal spaces of being trans, the complexities of sexualization, and somatic trauma. brooklyn was recently accepted to Sundress Academy for the Arts Summer Residency.

You can find brooklyn’s poem “Prayer to Trans Women” in Yellow Arrow Journal, Vol. VIII, No. 1 KINDLING. brooklyn’s chapbook, we cast shadows & other true stories (August 2023), is available now from Bottlecap Press. Learn more about brooklyn on Instagram @brooklyn_baggett and Facebook @brooklynbaggettpoet.

.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.

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W.o.W. #51

Jesenia Chávez

Describe an early experience where you learned that language has power.

Walking into kindergarten, I did not know English. I knew Spanish and I felt worried and scared. I did not know how to ask to go to the bathroom, but the teacher figured it out. This taught me the importance of language at an early age. I have two older siblings and they would make up words that were English, like “perota,” for ball in Spanish, as if adding the “r” sound made it English. Being a native Spanish speaker, playing with language, learning English, and watching my parents struggle to learn it and their beautiful accents, these experiences taught me early on the power of language.

What does your inner writing voice tell you?

It tells me to write about the powerful women in my life, the beauty in the day-to-day interactions, visions and contradictions that are all around us and inside us, too. It tells me to let it flow girl!

What is your writing Kryptonite? Your most interesting writing quirk?

My Kryptonite is self-doubt and fear, as these stop me from writing. I don’t really have an interesting writing quirk—I like stories and story-type poems; these color my words and provide them with a home.

What are you currently working on?

I am working on being a kind human to the children and families I work with at my school with my teaching. I am working a poetry collection with Alegría magazine and also a pandemic-born storytelling podcast called Que Me Cuentas, a mostly Latinx storytelling podcast. I am working on my confidence and embracing the words poet, writer, and storyteller one line at a time.

Jesenia Chávez is a proud Chicanita, public school teacher, writer, poet, and storyteller. Her writing is inspired by her parents’ migration to Los Angeles from Chihuahua, Mexico, her teaching career, her sense of loss in the rapidly changing landscape of Los Angeles, and all the small moments in between when she can catch her breath and put pen to paper. She has also recently ventured into the podcasting world by cohosting Que Me Cuentas, a mostly Latinx storytelling podcast with a friend. She believes in the healing power of poetry, dancing, nature and lots of hugs. Her piece “Uprooted Roots” was included in Yellow Arrow Journal Vol. VI, No. 2, ANFRACTUOUS.

Jesenia participated in “An Exploration of Belonging: The Anfractuous Reading” last year. You can hear her read “Uprooted Roots” below and find the reading in its entirety on the Yellow Arrow YouTube channel. Learn more about Jesenia on Instagram @chabemucho and @quemecuentaspod.