Yellow Arrow Publishing Blog

Yellow Arrow 12/2/25 Yellow Arrow 12/2/25

Meet the 2026 Yellow Arrow Publishing Pushcart Prize Nominees

The Pushcart Prize honors the incredible work of authors published by small presses and has since 1976. And since then, thousands of writers have been featured in its annual collections—most of whom are new to the series. The Pushcart Prize is a wonderful opportunity for writers of short stories, poetry, and essays to jump further into the literary world and see their work gain recognition and appreciation.

The Prize represents an incredible opportunity for Yellow Arrow Publishing to further showcase and support our authors. Our staff is committed to letting our authors shine. Every writer has a story to tell and every story is worth telling. We are so proud of everyone we publish at Yellow Arrow. Without further ado, let’s meet the 2026 Yellow Arrow Pushcart Prize Nominees!

Emily Decker

“Finding Home in a Villanelle”
from *Homing: Poems*
~ i found you once between the creases,
and i’ll find you again, just in pieces. ~

Emily Decker is a writer in Baltimore, Maryland. Her poems have appeared in Yellow Arrow Journal, Full Bleed, Hole in the Head Review, and Campfire Stories: Chesapeake Bay. Her debut collection Homing: Poems is available through Yellow Arrow. She holds a bachelor’s degree in literature and a master’s degree in secondary English education from Georgia State University. When she’s not writing or reading, she is usually out on the Chesapeake Bay, on or behind a stage, or plotting her next adventure. Follow Emily on Instagram @emadeck or at emilydeckerpoetry.com.

Johanna Elattar

“Under the Siren: Alexandria, 1973”
from *Yellow Arrow Journal* Vol. X, No. 2, **KAIROS**
~ The siren taught me silence. But the cake, the song, the mimed applause—they taught me something stronger. Joy doesn’t need permission. It can whisper and still survive. ~

Johanna Elattar is a writer from Brooklyn whose work explores memory, faith, and resilience through intimate, character-driven storytelling. Influenced by early childhood experiences in Alexandria and a life shaped by displacement, survival, and devotion to truth, she writes toward quiet revelations and the subtle moments that define a life. Her writing has appeared in Yellow Arrow Journal, Lunch Ticket, Muslim Matters, and other publications, and she was recently featured in an Oxford University Press anthology. Elattar believes in the dignity of ordinary lives, the endurance of the human spirit, and the duty to bear witness. She currently lives in upstate New York with her rescue animals and is at work on a novella.

Johanna contributed her creative nonfiction piece “Under the Siren: Alexandria, 1973” to Yellow Arrow Journal Vol. X, No. 2, KAIROS, and can be found in the Yellow Arrow bookstore.

Ann marie Houghtailing

“Little by Little”
from Little by Little
~ Even the wisdom was small
Three words
you could fit into the palm of your hand ~

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

Ann marie’s chapbook Little by Little was released in April 2025 and can be found in the Yellow Arrow bookstore.

Majiq Vu Mai

“The Metamorphosis”
from *Yellow Arrow Journal* Vol. X, No. 1 **UNFURL**
~ What could small flying creatures like us do after a life shaking fall like that, but take our time? ~

Majiq Vu Mai (magic/they/he/we) is a multiplicity of madness, writing themselves alive. An alchemist of flesh and memory, they write whatever burns inside of them like a searing ache and find relief in giving voice to their truths through language. For Majiq—we write to collect the pieces of ourselves we have lost along the way and to remember our possibilities through the creative act of storytelling.

Majiq contributed their piece “The Metamorphosis” to Yellow Arrow Journal’s Vol. X, No. 1, UNFURL, and can be found in the Yellow Arrow bookstore.

Vic Nogay

“Appalachians”
from *Naming a Dying Thing*
~ I know your hills
are a small bump, emptying, cowing to the weight
of loss, of naming a dying thing. ~

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

Vic’s chapbook Naming a Dying Thing was released in October 2025 and can be found in the Yellow Arrow bookstore.

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

Kapua Iao 11/18/25 Kapua Iao 11/18/25

Meet the Yellow Arrow Publishing 2026 chapbook authors

From 2020 to 2025, Yellow Arrow Publishing has had the privilege of publishing 17 chapbooks (for information about the creative minds behind these collections, visit yellowarrowpublishing.com/publish-with-us). Some of our authors published their first books with us while others had gotten their feet wet in the past but wanted to dive into something slightly different and more intimate. Several are from the Baltimore area while others are from all over the United States, with one author (shout out to Roz Weaver . . . are guinea pig and first chapbook author) from England. We’ve learned so much over the years and grown with each writer, figuring out with each book how to best support our authors. With 2026, we were looking for collections that made us laugh and made us cry and for authors that it would be an honor to work with.

In two rounds over several months, we read through the beautiful submissions we received, creating a longlist, then shortlist, and eventually selecting the three authors we would love to work with in 2026 while adding a fourth earlier in the year from our 2024 submissions. It was difficult to email submitters to let them know our decision (writing an acceptance email is as hard as a decline as you never know how either message will be received), but the process is done, and we are so excited to work with the four chosen.

So, without further ado, let’s meet the 2026 Yellow Arrow chapbook authors!

**Michele Evans**

*februaries*
coming February 2026

Photo K. Evans

Michele Evans is the author of the debut poetry collection purl (Finishing Line Press, 2025), which was nominated for the 2025 Maya Angelou Book Award. She is a fifth-generation Washingtonian (D.C.), writer, teacher, and adviser for Unbound, an award-winning Northern Virginia high school literary magazine. This Watering Hole Fellow studied English at Smith College, King’s College London, and the Graduate School at the University of Maryland. Her poems have appeared in Gargoyle, Mid-Atlantic Review, Porcupine Literary, Spoken Black Girl Magazine, Welter Magazine, Zora’s Den, and elsewhere.

She lives online at awordsmithie.com.

About februaries: Composed over a 10-year period, februaries celebrates the contributions and achievements of Americans often showcased only during Black history month. Inspired by the African American Read-In, an event established in 1990 by the Black Caucus of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), the poems in februaries pay homage to literary legends Maya Angelou and Alice Walker alongside lesser-known gems Dr. Joanne V. Gabbin and E. Ethelbert Miller. februaries also draws inspiration from an assembly of established and emerging writers with ties to the DMV (Washington, D.C., area) region. The poems within this chapbook honors the idea that Black history should be “celebrated, appreciated, or narrated” well-beyond the annual 28-day celebration.

When did you first realize that words have power?

I wrote my first story when I was six years old. It was called “A Christmas Memory.” My brother helped illustrate it, my mother typed it, and my father bound it with the stapler we kept in the kitchen junk drawer. The moment I showed my self-published book to my kindergarten teacher was the moment I first realized words have power. Most of the memories from my elementary school days are fragmented and incomplete—except this one. I remember my teacher’s smile when she read my written words. I remember her walking me down the long hallway to the school library. I remember the librarian giving my book a call number, gluing a pocket on the last page to house the checkout card, and placing my book of words in circulation. I remember how it felt to see my book on a low shelf accessible to me and my peers whenever we visited the library.

At six, I was too young then to really understand how powerful words can be, especially to young people, to young writers, and to those who are finding the courage to share their voice and stories with the world. I will forever be grateful to my family and my first educators for teaching me a valuable lesson on the power of words. It is one of the primary reasons I became a high school English and creative writing teacher. In many ways, I think I have been trying to recreate a version of that core childhood experience for the students in my own classroom.

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

When Yellow Arrow selected “malea,” one of my purl poems, for publication in Yellow Arrow Journal ELEVATE in 2024, I had the opportunity to work with a poetry editor for the first time. Since I was an emerging poet at the time and someone who suffered from bouts of imposter syndrome, I was incredibly grateful for the opportunity to work with the Yellow Arrow team.

Because februaries celebrates poets from the Washington, D.C., metropolitan region, I hoped to work with a local publisher. When Yellow Arrow chose my chapbook, I was thrilled. From scheduling a release date that did not conflict with the launch of my first book purl to using my son’s art for the cover and interior pages, Yellow Arrow has been accommodating, patient, and so incredibly supportive.

With the efforts to silence and censor artists from diverse backgrounds, I appreciate their commitment to amplify women’s voices. Now more than ever it is important for artists to create and for their stories to be shared. I am so proud to be part of the Yellow Arrow family and hope my collection will shine a spotlight on the incredible work they’ve been doing for over a decade.

**Dana Knott**

*Girl, Drowning*
coming April 2026

Born in Chicago, Dana Knott (she/her) resides in Delaware, Ohio, and works in Columbus as Director of Libraries at the Columbus State Library. She occasionally teaches a course she designed on storytelling and social justice at Antioch University. Dana holds a MA in English, a MA in Library and Information Science, and a PhD in education for organizational leadership. She wrote the poems contained in Girl, Drowning during the COVID-19 lockdown, a disruptive yet surprisingly creative time when Dana also launched tiny wren lit, which publishes micropoetry online with downloadable zines for each issue. She is a lover of beautiful, tiny things. tiny wren also publishes tiny chapbooks in print and thematic anthologies. She has a sizable collection of various, old editions of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam and a growing collection of Edward Gorey signed books, first editions, and ephemera. Her work has appeared in Yellow Arrow Journal’s EMBLAZON issue, Bitter Oleander, One Art, Feral: A Journal of Poetry and Art, The York Literary Review, right hand pointing, Dust Poetry Magazine, Ethel Zine, Minerva Rising, Cosmic Daffodil, East Ridge Review, and Moss Puppy Magazine. Her micro chapbook Funeral Flowers was published by Rinky Dink Press in 2024.

About Girl, Drowning: The poems in Girl, Drowning were inspired by Elizabeth Eleanor Siddal (1829–1862), a preRaphaelite model, muse, poet, and artist. Much attention rests on Siddal’s fame as the model for John Everett Millais’ Ophelia (1851–1852), her laudanum addiction, and the exhumation of her corpse years after her death for her husband Dante Gabriel Rossetti to retrieve a poetry manuscript he placed in her coffin. The poems within Girl, Drowning intend to amplify Elizabeth’s voice and fill in other details of her life, including her aspirations as a poet and artist and her desire for autonomy.

When did you first realize that words have power?

I have sat with this question for several days. I am fascinated with words. I love diving into the Oxford English Dictionary to explore the etymology of words, and I even keep a list of words that captivate me. I often pull from this list to add magical sparks to my poetry. Words have the power to convey beauty, delight, and awe. When I first read Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself,” I was so struck by his words that I had to stand up and read his poem out loud like some poetry street preacher. There are poems and passages that I return to often to reconnect with the emotions and thoughts certain works have evoked: Madeline Miller’s Circe, Isabel Allende’s House of the Spirits, Jane Hirshfield’s “For What Binds Us,” which I read as my wedding vow. Yet, words have the power to inflict harm, to scar, to diminish or dismiss a person’s identity. Words require responsibility, empathy, knowledge of often problematic origins. Words require sensitivity to people’s humanity, emotions, and experiences. I am also horrified by words, more specifically the irresponsible and insensitive use of words to “own” others. Each day I try to think carefully about the words I use in conversation, in emails, and my creative work. I sometimes do not use my words wisely. It takes energy and self-awareness and an openness to criticism and growth. It takes personal interrogation of privileges and prejudices and the dark web of mind and soul. I fear that my response does not adequately capture my relationship with words and their power. I think we all recognize that key moment when we first spoke the word “No” to assert our will and autonomy. I am not one to hold my tongue; out of a sense of righteousness I must say my piece, which smacks of privilege, but I hope that my words center empathy, care, compassion, and connection rather than wound.

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

I was drawn to Yellow Arrow because it uplifts the voices of those who identify as women and acknowledges the intersection of gender with race, ethnicity, class, and ability, etc. We have shared experiences as women, but also uniquely individual experiences shaped by the many facets of identity and our place in systems that privilege or oppress. My chapbook gives voice to one specific woman, her ambitions and art, and I know that Yellow Arrow will treat this passion project of mine with the utmost care.

**Minyong Cho**

*Wall Down Ramallah*
coming July 2026

Born and raised in Seoul, Korea, Minyong Cho was 16 when her family immigrated to California. Soon after, her father was incarcerated for a month for physically assaulting her, and then she went to MIT on a full scholarship. By the time she moved to Ramallah through her PhD program at the University of Michigan, she had been analyzing her memories of child abuse every day for 13 years. Two chapters of her first and upcoming chapbook, Wall Down Ramallah, were published in LIT magazine and Ponder Review in June 2025.

About Wall Down Ramallah: In 2007 a 32-year-old Korean woman went to Ramallah to finish her dissertation in Islamic art history. While there, she sifted through her memories from being a child in Seoul, to answer one question that gnawed at her: why did her parents abuse her but not her sister? While in Jerusalem, she experienced a kind of psychosis that made her homeless for days and unable to sleep. After leaving Jerusalem under suspicious, troubling circumstances and somehow making her way to New Jersey, she felt free from her memories for the first time in life. Wall Down Ramallah explores this painful moment in her life and how she migrated in time and space to take down her personal walls to become content with the idea of permanently being outside of any “home.”

When did you first realize that words have power?

Coincidentally, a chapter in Wall Down Ramallah describes when I first realized that words have power. When I was five, a stranger walked into our unlocked house and sexually assaulted me. As soon as my parents returned a few hours later, I told them everything. To my surprise, it agitated them so much that my mother even called my college-educated aunt for advice. I was in awe. I didn’t know my words could galvanize them. From then on, I quietly decided I would tattle on everyone, forever.

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

I had always wanted to write a nonfiction prose about the clear turning point in my life in 2008, when I left Jerusalem. I tried a number of times over the years but didn’t really start until 2024. When I finished it this year, I felt that this was going to be my greatest accomplishment. I searched for a publisher who could understand what this memoir means to me and to the readers, rather than its profitability. Yellow Arrow stuck out as a nonprofit with ample experience publishing books by women of color and promises to provide support even after publication. I applied in a heartbeat, and here I am.

**Matilda Young**

*Drift*
coming October 2026

Matilda Young (she/they) is a writer with a MFA in poetry from the University of Maryland. They have been published in several journals, including Anatolios Magazine, Breakwater Review, and Entropy Magazine’s Blackcackle. She enjoys Edgar Allan Poe jokes, haphazard suburban birding, and being obnoxious about the benefits of stovetop popcorn.

About Drift: Water is always moving and so are we. As we move through time, we navigate love, loss, a whole lot of disappointment, and even more delight. Through different voices and occasions, the poems in Drift try to speak to this movement with humor, tenderness, and gratitude. Water is always moving, and so are we.

When did you first realize that words have power?

My mother would sing folk songs to me as a lullaby—“Streets of Laredo,” “Red River Valley,” “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.” Their words to me meant comfort and adventure and family. When I could read, I would pour over my mom’s book of folk lyrics. These were some of my first poems, and I learned that they were connection—something sacred to be shared.

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

I went to my first Yellow Arrow event in Patterson Park many years ago, before the pandemic, where writers and friends and family gathered on picnic blankets to enjoy each other’s work. Since then, Yellow Arrow has continued to be a bright spot in my writing life, and I am grateful for the opportunities I’ve had to collaborate with the team and the great writers they work with. I love this community, and I love how this community shows up for each other and for Baltimore.

Over the past few months we’ve been working with Michele on februaries and can’t wait to work with Dana, Minyong, and Matilda next year to put out there incredible collections. We would also love to acknowledge all the wonderful collections we received this summer. Thank you to everyone who submitted and shared. In particular, we would love to give a shout out to both our longlisted (part of the top 30) and shortlisted authors (part of the top 15).

Meet our shortlisted authors:

Rebecca Brock

Camille Carter

Maryah Converse

Noriko Nakada

Mari Ramier

Neha Rayamajhi

Cat Speranzini

Shelley Stoehr

Cherrie Woods aka Cherrie Amour

Ariel Zhang

Meet our longlisted authors:

Jacquese Armstrong

Trish Broome

Susan Carroll

Alyx Chandler

Roxanne Christiana

Hillary Gonzalez

Jamie Hennick

Beth Kanter

Candice M. Kelsey

Sandra Levy

Cathlin Noonan

Kavitha Ratha

Mary Adamitz Scrupe

Elizabeth Sine

Bethany Tap

Thank you to everyone who took the time to send your words to us. Every writer has a story to tell and every story is worth telling. We are so proud of everyone we publish at Yellow Arrow.

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

Time, Memory, and Snapshots of Life: Yellow Arrow Journal (Vol. X, No. 2) KAIROS

Now, I try to remember.
Not just her
but who I was
before I learned
that time can fold in on itself.

“Two Familiar Strangers” by Gloria Ogo

KAIROS, the just released issue of Yellow Arrow Journal, Vol. X, No. 2, guest edited by Darah Schillinger, explores the aftermath and aftereffects of catalytic moments, forged from either small flash fires or conflagration. Kairos is a Greek word meaning an opportune and decisive moment. We are honored to have had the opportunity to work with the team, the authors, and the cover artist as we weaved together this issue, especially at a time when such personal, poignant stories are so vital. We are also privileged to be able to share it (and them) with you. In the issue’s introduction, Darah adds:

“. . . as I reread each piece within the issue, I am struck by how deeply personal and yet widely resonant they are. In these pages, you’ll find contributors who are navigating memory, grief, identity, and change—not to relive the past but to better understand how it informs who they are and who they could become.”

Paperback and PDF versions are now available from the Yellow Arrow bookstore. Discounts are also available (here) if you would like to purchase copies for friends and family (minimum purchase of five). You can also search for Yellow Arrow Journal on any e-book device or anywhere you purchase print and electronic books, including Amazon and most other distribution channels. Discounted bundles of both our 2025 issues are also available from our bookstore.

Darah Schillinger (she/her) is a writer based in Lexington Park, Maryland. Her poems have appeared in AVATAR Literary Magazine, Yellow Arrow Journal, Maryland Bards Poetry Review, Empyrean Literary Magazine, Grub Street Magazine, and Eunoia Review and on the Spillwords Press website. In October 2024, her poem “An elegy for the Pompeii woman the Internet wants to fuck” was named a finalist for the Montreal International Poetry Prize. Her first poetry chapbook, when the daffodils die, was released in July 2022 by Yellow Arrow Publishing. Her second collection, Still Warm, is a work in progress.

KAIROS features Stephanie Anderson, Aileen Bassis, Deepti Bhatia, Loretta Cantieri, Roxanne Christiana, Virginia Ottley Craighill, Patricia Davis-Muffett, Amy Devine, Johanna Elattar, Renee Emerson, Pratibha Kumari Gupta, Taylor Harrison, Elizabeth Hazen, Jennifer Randall Hotz, Cam McGlynn, Gloria Ogo, Rebecca Hart Olander, Giulia Paglione, Danielle Salerno, Hillary Smith-Maddern, erica r. such, Vivian Walman-Randall, Kathleen Weed, Katharine Weinmann, Audrey J. Whitson, Keri Withington, Chelsea Yates, and Kristin Camitta Zimet.

The cover art is called “The Awakening Aperture” and created by Clara Garza. According to Clara, “The circle (inspired by the aperture of a camera, or the lens that captures a fleeting fragment of time) is composed of pieces of the diary of a fictional college student experiencing college life, from the day she is accepted to the school to her graduation. Her initial doubt is reflected by the moody outer rim of the circle, and as she opens herself to the brightness of college, she starts to appreciate her life more fully.” Thank you, Clara, for sending us your artwork and for letting us showcase it to our community. You can learn more about Clara in an interview with Darah at yellowarrowpublishing.com/news/spotlighting-clara-garza-yaj-kairos.

A huge thanks to the Yellow Arrow team for helping to shape this issue: guest editor Darah Schillinger and creative director Alexa Laharty, along with the KAIROS editorial team, Kapua Iao, Annie Marhefka, Hannah Bishoff, Jill Earl, Jennnifer M. Eyre, Meg Gamble, Siobhan McKenna, Leticia Priebe Rocha, Kait Quinn, Nicky Ruddell, Mel Silberger, Beck Snyder, and Avery Wood.

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

*****

Guest User 10/28/25 Guest User 10/28/25

Meet the 2026 Yellow Arrow Publishing Best of the Net Nominees

Best of the Net recognizes the work of writers published online by independent presses. The project was started in 2006 by Sundress Publications to create a community among the online literary magazines, journals, and self-publishing platforms. The award represents an incredible opportunity for Yellow Arrow Publishing to further showcase and support our authors. Our staff is committed to letting our authors’ shine. Every writer has a story to tell and every story is worth telling.

Here are our Best of the Net 2026 nominees from Yellow Arrow Vignette AMPLIFY. Best of the Net announces the winners in January.

Barbara Westwood Diehl

“Wish You Were Here”
*poetry*
If you look closely, you will see a distant ship
slipping over the horizon, pulling the city with it.

Barbara Westwood Diehl is senior editor of The Baltimore Review. Her fiction and poetry appear in a variety of journals, including Quiddity, Potomac Review (Best of the 50), SmokeLong Quarterly, Gargoyle, Superstition Review, Thrush Poetry Journal, Atticus Review, The MacGuffin, The Shore, The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts, Raleigh Review, Ponder, Fractured Lit, South Florida Poetry Journal, Poetry South, Painted Bride Quarterly, Five South, Allium, Split Rock Review, Blink-Ink, Switch, Unbroken, Bacopa Review, and Free State Review.

Tracy Dimond

“IT WORKS, THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH IT”
*poetry*
I’ve never felt so womanly
Since having a hysterectomy
A hollowed-out Barbie
The aesthetic without the danger

Tracy Dimond is the author of the full-length poetry collection, Emotion Industry (Barrelhouse). A 2016 Baker Artist Award finalist, she is also the author of four chapbooks, including: TO TRACY LIKE / TO LIKE / LIKE (akinoga press) and Sorry I Wrote So Many Sad Poems Today (Ink Press), winner of Baltimore City Paper’s Best Chapbook. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Smartish Pace, Lines + Stars, Washington Writers Publishing House, and other places. She blogs about chronic illness, creativity, and movement at poetsthatsweat.com.

Katherine Fallon

“ON THE NTH ANNIVERSARY OF YOUR DEATH”
*poetry*
My wife looks stricken when I unbox my grief, knowing there was never anything she could do, and even less now it’s been long enough you’ve lost your meat, could have skeletonized six times over.

Katherine Fallon is the founding editor of Whittle Micro-Press and the author of the chapbooks Zero Sum (Bottlecap Press), The Book on Fractures (Ghost City Press), The Toothmakers’ Daughters (Finishing Line Press), and Demoted Planet (Headmistress Press), which was the finalist for the Georgia Author of the Year Award. A Pushcart Prize nominee and Best of the Net finalist, her work has appeared in AGNI, Colorado Review, Nimrod, Meridian, Passages North, Best New Poets, and elsewhere. You can find her online at katherinefallon.com or whittlemicropress.com and on Instagram @ghostelephants.

My-Azia Johnson

“Crisis in the Club”
*creative nonfiction*
All this self-analyzing drowns out the DJ’s mix as the chaos rages inside me.

My-Azia Johnson (they/them) cherishes the unique sources of intimacy found in themself and within their beloveds. A community caretaker with a fiery passion for transformative justice, My-Azia uplifts the Black, queer, mentally ill, and gender-expansive perspective. From their journey through the ex-vangelic to ethical slut pipeline, they share stories of breakthroughs and breakdowns experienced along the way. They’re confident that pleasure is a liberatory pathway to radical change and they see their work as a satirical conversation with the dark-spirited cunni-linguists who agree. Their lens draws from a burgeoning understanding of pleasure activism, biomimicry, decolonization, and somatic wisdom.

Anne Slesinki

“I am not her mother”
*poetry*
We play our parts until it is time to go home:
a girl fainting into the water,
a mother smiling, and an ocean.

Anna Slesinski is a Baltimore City poet and artist. After receiving her high school diploma from the Baltimore School for the Arts, with a visual arts major, Anna studied creative writing and studio art at Goucher College. She received her BA in creative writing from Goucher in 2006, followed by an MFA in creative writing and publishing arts at the University of Baltimore in 2015. Her thesis, a book of poetry titled Eating the Sun, was published in May 2015. Her work has been previously published in Welter Literary Journal and by the Baltimore Ekphrasis Project.

Laura Taber

“Undressing”

poetry

First, I’ll remove my wedding ring

(The ghost of it, since I don’t wear it anymore)

Laura Taber is a mom of two who was born, raised, and currently resides in Baltimore, Maryland. She has a BS from Vanderbilt University and works in marketing for retail and tech brands. She enjoys journaling, drawing, hiking, exploring Baltimore, and spending time with her family. She recently shared her angsty adolescent poetry on stage at Mortified in Baltimore. Through her writing, Laura aspires to capture and share a raw and honest view of the human experience.

*****

Annie Marhefka 10/14/25 Annie Marhefka 10/14/25

Meet the 2025 Yellow Arrow Publishing Writers-in-Residence

Every writer has a story to tell and every story is worth telling. Since 2019, Yellow Arrow Publishing has been proud to offer a residency program that enables us to support, uplift, and amplify the voices of women-identifying writers residing in the Baltimore area. We continue to evolve the program and are delighted to share our 2025 writers-in-residence with our community.

First, a note of thanks: As our programs and community continue to grow, we consider our team tremendously fortunate to have once again received such a diverse and talented group of applicants. We are reminded and in awe of the passion and storytelling that surrounds and charms us—our deepest gratitude to all those who applied or took this opportunity to learn more about Yellow Arrow. We encourage you to stay engaged with us and continue sharing your stories.

For 2025, we are thrilled that The Ivy Bookshop, Bird in Hand Coffee & Books, and Backwater Books are partnering with us to provide an inspiring location from which our writers can work at their craft. Each of these beautiful bookstores shares our belief that women’s voices deserve to be fostered, nurtured, and amplified, and we are so thankful for their support.

This year, Yellow Arrow selected three extraordinary women writers for the residency program. Each writer demonstrated not only a unique talent but a genuine desire to immerse themselves within the Baltimore writing community. The passion, heart, and deep love for their craft are truly infectious.

Please join us in congratulating our 2025 writers-in-residence: Mali Collins, Hannah Fenster, and Lillian Snortland. We at Yellow Arrow are proud and honored to have you!

Mali D. Collins (she/her) is a doula, writer, and assistant professor of African American studies at American University. Her first monograph, Scrap Theory: Reproductive Injustice in the Black Feminist Imagination, was published earlier this year by Ohio State University Press. Her other academic work can be found in American Quarterly, Souls, and The Black Scholar. She has written for popular outlets such as Rewire News, AfroPunk, and The Root and has creative work published by SALT: Contemporary Art + Feminism and the HAUNT Journal of Art. During her residency, she’ll be working on her experimental and free form poetry collection which explores the themes of kinship, care, ancestry, and relationships through the prism of the restless self (un)made through the markers of gender and Blackness in our contemporary moment. Find her on Instagram and Threads @protectblackmotherhood and on Twitter/X @dr_reprojustice.

Hannah Fenster (she/her) is a writer, movement artist, and bookseller based in Baltimore, where she is the events manager with The Ivy Bookshop and Bird in Hand Coffee & Books. Since 2019, she’s performed and designed immersive theater with Submersive Productions, which transforms spaces around Baltimore into audience-centered, connective experiences. She writes on performance for The Hopkins Review and serves as a managing editor with 3Cents Magazine. Her work appears in The Lacanian Review, The Urban Activist, Lumina Journal, Entropy Magazine, and elsewhere. Before becoming a bookseller, she taught writing at Goucher College, her alma mater. Find her on Instagram @hwindow21.

Lillian Snortland’s (she/her) poetry, essays, features, creative nonfiction, and short stories have appeared in Postscript Magazine, OUCH! Magazine, Goucher Magazine, Yellow Arrow Journal, and Amplify Arts publications, as well as been performed at Voxel Theater and exhibited at the Temporary Arts Centre in Eindhoven, Netherlands. Her essay “The Tragedies of Ecstasy” was nominated for a 2025 Pushcart Prize through After the Art Literary Magazine. Her work moves within the intersection of internal social anxiety and external visceral transformation, often situated in surreal liminal spaces and featuring the permeability of the physical body. She loves collaborating with killer teams in any creative medium, including film writing/production (having participated in the Baltimore 48 Hour Film Project and the Maryland 72 Film Fest), tabletop role play, and musical jams. Originally from Eugene, Oregon, Snortland graduated from Carleton College with a BA in Classical studies and a minor in French/Francophone studies, and has an MFA in nonfiction from Goucher College. She enjoys lounging in parks, zooming via public transit to Baltimore cultural events, and hosting thematic parties in her apartment. Find her on Instagram @chaimihai.

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Kapua Iao 8/26/25 Kapua Iao 8/26/25

Follow your spark, your ember: Yellow Arrow Vignette BLAZE

Welcome to the fourth issue of Yellow Arrow Vignette, Yellow Arrow Publishing’s online creative nonfiction and poetry series. For this issue, we aligned with our 2025 yearly value BLAZE.

The heat of passion. The beginning of a flame. The way the wind takes a spark or an ember and carries it, igniting more fire (or change) elsewhere. The changing of seasons. Transformation. The concept of being in heat and the way our sexual desires can send out their own strong signals—a blaze of pheromones. A blaze of glory. And, of course, the temptation to burn it all down.

With that, here is the BLAZE issue of Yellow Arrow Vignette:

yellowarrowpublishing.com/vignette/blaze-2025

Vignette BLAZE continues to focus on sharing and augmenting the creative work of voices and themes that aren’t heard loudly enough, showcasing writers who live in or are otherwise connected to our home base of Baltimore. We want our readers to experience the spectrum of voices that Charm City offers.

Before diving into the pages and words of our incredible BLAZE authors, explore the ‘cover art’ for the issue on the landing page, “Manchada” by Clara Longo de Freitas. Longo de Freitas is an illustrator and writer. Her editorial artwork has been published at The Washington Post, The Hill, and NPR. She enjoys painting with acrylic and drawing with ink in her free time, especially rats and bats. Originally from Brazil, she has called Baltimore, Maryland, her home for three years, where she lives with her 9-year-old Brittany Spaniel. According to Longo de Freitas,

“The theme BLAZE suggested a release, the expansion of something ‘conspicuously brilliant.’ What happens after that initial spark? The one that leads to combustion, that jolts you and your surroundings into movement. BLAZE also suggests shedding light. I painted a woman radiating her insides out, revealing herself, albeit not completely graceful. She is burnt and hurt and bruised. But I doubt she regrets it. Because BLAZE is also about direction, and it doesn’t look like she will be going back.”

Discover more of Longo de Freitas’ work at claralongodefreitas.com. We hope you see the intensity burning in the cover art and through the poetry and creative nonfiction in BLAZE. Thank you to all the writers who followed the call and sent in their beautiful pieces. We were amazed by the breadth of our collection of submitters and hope that you have the opportunity to blaze your own path. And to the incredible creatives who let us include their work in BLAZE: Catarina Broccolino, Rebecca Brock, Trinity Chapree, Brianna Coleman, Tracy Dimond, Kat Flores, Kassie Foster, Thomasin LaMay, Clara Longo de Freitas, Kavitha Rath, Lillian Deja Snortland, Liz Swanson, Veracruz, Marceline White, and Kitty Yanson. Thank you for trusting us with your words.

And of course, thank you to the Yellow Arrow Vignette team, Catharine Robertson and Sophia Graney, along with the rest of the staff that worked on BLAZE: Kristen Caruso, Jill Earl, Jennifer M. Eyre, Meg Gamble, Kerry Graham, Kapua Iao, Nat Kaplan, Alexa Laharty, Anna Leonard, Annie Marhefka, Siobhan McKenna, Kait Quinn, and Mickey Revenaugh. Our staff diligently read through every submission, worked on edits, and contributed amazing feedback!

The reading for Vignette BLAZE is 6:00 p.m. Friday, September 5, at Bird in Hand. RSVP here. See all events from Bird in Hand.

*****

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

Kapua Iao 8/1/25 Kapua Iao 8/1/25

Yellow Arrow Journal (X/02) KAIROS Submissions are Now Open!

Yellow Arrow Publishing is excited to announce that submissions for our next issue of Yellow Arrow Journal, Vol. X, No. 2 (fall 2025) are open August 1-31, exploring the aftermath and aftereffects of catalytic moments, forged from either small flash fires or conflagration. And in her introductory blog, guest editor Darah Schillinger (she/her) explained how moments of her life, even those painful, helped to shape the person she is today.

“Over the two and half decades of my life so far, I have become and unbecome, unveiled and recovered, so many parts of my identity that when I look at a picture of myself young (“straight, neurotypical, healthy”) I instead see a child that I haven’t spoken to in 20 years and wish well. As a writer, I have spent much of my adult life considering the aftermath of these catalysts, looking for meaning in them and the varied ways these moments have shaped my present and future. And while finding some kind of meaning, every now and then, I know, and am okay with the fact, that I will continue to discover new things about myself through these events.”

By working through the aftermaths of each moment, each event, Darah was able to discover more about who she is and who she wants to be. Darah is a writer based in Lexington Park, Maryland. Her poems have appeared in AVATAR Literary Magazine, Yellow Arrow Journal, Maryland Bards Poetry Review, Empyrean Magazine, Grub Street Magazine, and The Eunoia Review and on the Spillwords Press website. In October 2024, her poem, An elegy for the Pompeii woman the Internet wants to fuck, was named a finalist for the Montreal International Poetry Prize. Her first poetry chapbook, when the daffodils die, was released in July 2022 by Yellow Arrow Publishing. Her second collection, Still Warm, is a work in progress.

The second issue of volume X will reflect on this idea, our (collective/individual) experiences with the blazes, trials, and/or life events that shape both our present and imagined futures as we search for our path(s) forward. This issue’s theme is KAIROS

: a time when conditions are right for the accomplishment of a crucial action

: an opportune and decisive moment

: in modern Greek, also ‘weather’ or ‘time’

: in ancient Greek, ‘the right or critical moment’

Here are some guiding questions about the topic and theme:

Consider the long-term effects of an event, feeling, or experience. How has it shaped you, your speaker, or your writing as a whole?
Has this impactful experience uncovered something positive?
What is the timeliness of your writing? What is it about now that makes you want to reflect?
When you write, what is it you are looking for? If you’re unsure, search for something.

Yellow Arrow Journal is looking for creative nonfiction, poetry, and cover art submissions by writers/artists who identify as women, on the theme of KAIROS. 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 November 2025.

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

*****

Kapua Iao 7/22/25 Kapua Iao 7/22/25

Breath, Poetry, Belonging, and Love—Homing: Poems by Emily Decker

Yellow Arrow Publishing announces the release of our second chapbook of 2025, Homing: Poems by Emily Decker. Since its establishment in 2016, Yellow Arrow has devoted its efforts to advocate for all women writers through inclusion in the biannual Yellow Arrow Journal as well as single-author publications and Yellow Arrow Vignette, and by providing strong author support, writing workshops, and volunteering opportunities. We at Yellow Arrow are excited to continue our mission by supporting Decker in all her writing and publishing endeavors. Get your copy today at yellowarrowpublishing.com/store/homing-poems-paperback.

Homing: Poems explores the transitory nature of belonging and how we navigate our sense of place within our communities, relationships, and the natural world. The poems in this debut collection reflect on the interconnectedness of the paths we take and the moments along the way—between tides and seasons, in nature, amidst love and friendship, through memory and loss, over generations, and most of all, within ourselves—as we seek, find, and return to a place called home.

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

The cover and interior art were created by Alexa Laharty. According to Decker, the cover is based on a photograph she took of herself. Alexa “was able to take that photo and run with it, creating an image that I think sets up the themes across the collection quite poignantly.”

Paperback and PDF versions Homing: Poems are now available from the Yellow Arrow bookstore. If interested in purchasing more than one paperback copy for friends and family, check out our discounted wholesale prices here. You can also search for Homing: Poems wherever you purchase your books including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo. To learn more about Decker and Homing: Poems, check out our recent interview with her.

You can find Emily Decker on Instagram and Facebook @emadeck or at emilydeckerpoetry.com and connect with Yellow Arrow on Facebook and Instagram, to share some love for this chapbook. You can also share a review to any of the major distributors or by emailing editor@yellowarrowpublishing.com. We’d love to hear from you.

*****

Kapua Iao 7/15/25 Kapua Iao 7/15/25

Become and Unbecome, Unveil and Recover

Yellow Arrow Publishing would like to announce the next guest editor for Yellow Arrow Journal, Darah Schillinger. Darah will oversee the creation of our Vol. X, No. 2 issue (fall 2025). This next issue of Yellow Arrow Journal examines the aftermath and aftereffects of catalytic moments, forged from either small flash fires or conflagration. It will reflect on our (collective/individual) experiences with the blazes, trials, and/or life events that shape both our present and imagined futures as we search for our path(s) forward.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS:

Theme announcement: July 21
Submissions open: August 1
Submissions close: August 31
Issue release: November 11

Darah Schillinger (she/her) is a writer based in Lexington Park, Maryland. Her poems have appeared in AVATAR Literary Magazine, Yellow Arrow Journal, Maryland Bards Poetry Review, Empyrean Magazine, Grub Street Magazine, and The Eunoia Review and on the Spillwords Press website. In October 2024, her poem, An elegy for the Pompeii woman the Internet wants to fuck, was named a finalist for the Montreal International Poetry Prize. Her first poetry chapbook, when the daffodils die, was released in July 2022 by Yellow Arrow Publishing. Her second collection, Still Warm, is a work in progress.

Please follow Yellow Arrow on Facebook and Instagram for the theme announcement. Below, Darah explains how moments of her life, even those painful, helped to shape the person she is today. By working through the aftermaths of each moment, each event, Darah was able to discover more about who she is and who she wants to be. We look forward to working with Darah over the next few months and can’t wait to hear your words.

The following contains description of trauma

By Darah Schillinger

When I was seven years old, my father’s brother passed away suddenly, and I was told he had suffered a heart attack. It wasn’t until I was 15 that I learned he was bipolar and had violently taken his own life after multiple attempts over the years, and that my parents had protected me from knowing about his struggle with depression. As a child, mental illness was not discussed in my household because it was often synonymous with substance abuse, or rage, or betrayal. Testing and therapy were not considered, and if a family member was showing obvious signs or symptoms of an illness, it was whispered about in car rides before holidays or hushed corners of my grandmother’s house between dinner and dessert. We rarely spoke of my uncle, a veteran; by all accounts an angry man who failed, or was failed by, the system.

In middle school, I gravitated toward the “funny” kids that seemed to only fit in with each other. Looking back, they were all neurodivergent in some way, though we hadn’t been given a word for it yet. Many of them also identified as bisexual, or lesbian, or queer, and I was bestowed the honor of “the token straight friend” of the group, which I carried for years with pride. When my friends began confiding in me about their depression, or their social anxiety, or inability to understand social cues, I listened and did my best to remain empathetic, though I often struggled to understand because I had never experienced what they were describing. Growing up, I was considered a happy, outgoing, high-achieving kid with a stable home life. The one time I was tested for ADHD, the child psychiatrist told my parents I was just smart and bored, so I was acting out, which they proudly told to the rest of the family. In this way, I became the “token neurotypical friend,” too, though I wouldn’t confront this label for another decade.

I didn’t find many large pieces of my identity, such as my queerness, my chronic illness, or my mental illness, until I was a young adult. I spent my entire childhood wrongly labelled an ally to the queer and disabled communities, when, in reality, I was a part of the communities the entire time. But with all these aspects of my identity, there is a doubt that creeps into their legitimacy. I am mentally ill, but I’m “high functioning.” I am queer, but in a straight passing relationship. I am chronically ill but carry forward an invisible illness. I pose every day as a supportive ally when, in reality, I am a rightful member of the communities I serve, and this dichotomy often seeps into my writing. So, when I began brainstorming themes for this upcoming issue of Yellow Arrow Journal, I kept thinking about my uncle and my need for answers—for closure. In returning to these seemingly contradictory parts of myself, their discovery and their long-term effects on my identity, I am finding something entirely new.

There was a catalyst that accompanied each of my discoveries: a fatigue, or event, or an epiphany that led to me uncovering each buried part of myself. I discovered my bisexuality by chance during the first week of college, when I picked up a pin with the bisexual flag colors and allowed myself to consider, for the first time, my repressed feelings of attraction toward women. My chronic illness stemmed from a doctor’s visit after weeks of severe abdominal pain that was misdiagnosed twice before being taken seriously. My mental illness, which I have only this past June been formally diagnosed with, began as a minor inconvenience and turned into severe burnout that led to the beginnings of a nervous break. Even my uncle’s passing, though I can barely remember it now, was a catalyst for something I have yet to title or address.

Over the two and half decades of my life so far, I have become and unbecome, unveiled and recovered, so many parts of my identity that when I look at a picture of myself young (“straight, neurotypical, healthy”) I instead see a child that I haven’t spoken to in 20 years and wish well. As a writer, I have spent much of my adult life considering the aftermath of these catalysts, looking for meaning in them and the varied ways these moments have shaped my present and future. And while finding some kind of meaning, every now and then, I know, and am okay with the fact, that I will continue to discover new things about myself through these events.

In this issue of Yellow Arrow Journal, let’s reflect on our catalysts, the moments and memories that shape us, and the timeliness of the aftermath. In what ways has it shaped our identities? Our imagined futures? I invite you to take this submission period as an opportunity to dig into the core memories and catalysts until you find something worth writing about.

*****

Kapua Iao 6/24/25 Kapua Iao 6/24/25

The Breath of Poetry: A Conversation with Emily Decker

Poetry is an elastic and enigmatic form that can herald epic histories and also whisper the simple narratives of life. Beauty and inspiration can be found in poetry, whatever the subject, whatever the form. Poets like Emily Decker, whose debut poetry chapbook Homing: Poems is forthcoming from Yellow Arrow Publishing, remind us to stop and breathe in our environment, to appreciate each moment for all it contains.

Decker is a poet who currently resides in Baltimore, Maryland. Homing: Poems reflects relational connections and seasons of community in our lives and breathes new life into themes surrounding identity and belonging. The collection embraces the energy of the quotidian and yet encourages readers to look beyond the surface of our surroundings. We are excited to introduce Decker along with the exquisite cover of Homing: Poems (discussed further below). Reserve your copy at yellowarrowpublishing.com/store/homing-poems-paperback and make sure to leave some love for Decker here or on social media.

Melissa Nunez, Yellow Arrow interviewer, and Decker engaged in conversation through email where they discussed the creative impact of nature and our (human) habitats, and the magic encompassed in everyday existence.

May you outlive yourself by lifetimes,
storing up your sporadic fill of city tap
and regenerating from your hacked off stems,
so the next generations—or maybe just a future me—
can see what it means to grow out of our ends.

“Ode to Granddaddy Aloe”

Who are some of your favorite women-identified writers?

Oh, where to begin? Ada Limón, Linda Pastan, Marie Howe, and Mary Oliver have been my go-to poetry companions the past few years. In the fiction realm, I’ve been catching up on Nicole Krauss and Zadie Smith novels. Bernadine Evaristo’s Girl, Woman, Other was one of my favorite reads within the past several years. Ann Patchett’s novels have also been regulars in the nightstand pile.

What first drew you to poetry?

Throughout school, I always enjoyed reading and analyzing poetry. During undergrad, I gravitated toward the Victorians and the Beat poets of the ‘50s—something about the lyricism and angst of each of those eras really captivated me.

But I didn’t start writing poetry until grad school when—on a whim—my friend and I signed up for a workshop with David Bottoms, Georgia’s poet laureate at the time. He emphasized the role of narrative in a poem, and it was the first time I felt like the poem is where I belong as a writer.

His encouragement in that class, along with that of dear friends over the years, is what has continued to bring me back to the form—even after some long writing dry spells.

How did you hear about Yellow Arrow Publishing? What inspired you to submit your work?

Not long after I moved from Atlanta [to Baltimore] a few years ago, I started to focus on my writing again and took a poetry class with Ann Quinn through The Writer’s Center. Ann works with many of the authors at Yellow Arrow Publishing and encouraged us to submit for their upcoming journal, KINDLING (Yellow Arrow Journal, Vol. VIII, No. 1). I did, and “Boxing Day” became my first published poem. I loved the mission of Yellow Arrow from the start and knew that if I ever finished this chapbook, they would be at the top of my submission list. I’m beyond thrilled that Homing: Poems is in their hands.

The ruins speak to you,
don’t they? I smile, mostly
at the irony of your sound.
A squawk, really. A reminder
that grace can also be jarring,
that sometimes presence is
more memorable
than performance.

“Heron in Blue”

I love the nature imagery in your collection. Can you share your favorite bird and its significance in your life and writing?

Any time I’m near the water, I’m looking for great blue herons. They are the most elegant birds when you see them standing still, but there’s a delightful awkwardness to them, too—almost like they’re out of place and time. I often feel that way, and that out-of-placeness is a throughline in this collection. It’s just one of many examples of how we often look to the natural world and other forms of life to see ourselves reflected back in some universal way.

As an extension of that, can you also share your favorite flower and its significance in your life and writing?

I am notorious for killing my plants, although I have acquired a slightly greener thumb over the years. The aloe in “Granddaddy Aloe” is the only plant I’ve kept alive for any great length of time. But I do love flowers and generally try to keep fresh cut ones around. Not to be morose, but flowers remind me that delight and beauty are often ephemeral. So, in terms of a favorite flower, it’s usually whatever is right in front of me.

In your experience, how much do our habitats, like the creatures in your poems, speak to our identities?

I think we come to know who we are—as individuals and within the human collective—by recognizing the symbols of ourselves in the world around us. My habitat tends to be a reflection of me, or at least an aspect of my identity in the moment (e.g., the growing pile of unfolded clothes on the bed when I’m overwhelmed and myriad other ways the level of tidy or untidy in my life reflects my state of mind).

So, when I’m in another habitat, natural or otherwise, I think I’m instinctively looking for signs of myself to be reflected back, either for a sense of belonging or for insight about the world and my place within it. That’s what much of this collection and my own growth as a woman and a writer swirl around.

They say “when pigs fly” as if it’s something impossible, fantastical even. But clearly, they’ve never met my sisters and me.

“Sisterhood”

I loved the magic in your poem “Sisterhood.” What about this relationship drew you to the surreal?

The very nature of relationships, particularly between women, have a surreal quality to me. It’s a collision of stark reality and the magic of living, fantastical or not, that moves us from moment to moment in our shared lives. So, I wanted to try to capture that in this poem and through the surreal form. The sisters in my life—by birth and by friendship—are incredible women, and they are my constant reminder that not everything is beyond my capacity for endurance, for belief, for joy, or for love.

How do you tap into the mystical in the mundane in your poetry (i.e., “Road-Trip Coffee” and “Theme on a Pink Geranium”)?

I so resonate with the philosophy of everyday life as a source of wonder and the sublime. I grew up within a belief system based on an absolute idea of good and bad, heaven and hell, right and wrong, and a goal to make others subscribe to those same beliefs. Very little of what I was taught when I was young had to do with acknowledging the mystery in things and other people. These days, I fall somewhere between agnosticism and mysticism in my approach to life. But at the end of the day, I believe there is more to be gained in recognizing the unknown—and therefore the magic—flowing through our everyday lives.

As a poet, the senses are the vehicle for tapping into this concept. In “Road-Trip Coffee,” I use synesthesia to illustrate the associative nature of our senses within our memories and the feeling of uncertainty that comes in ending relationships. “Theme on a Pink Geranium” uses a familiar melody as the backdrop to a seemingly mundane interaction during a trip to a grocery store. In these examples, and in life in general, I find our senses work together, and in conflict at times, to provide our little revelations about the world and all that we don’t (or can’t) know.

The radio static smokes
out what I’ve wanted to say
for a week—the words,
a little acrid. My voice
cracks into embers
that slow dance by you

“Road-Trip Coffee”

Can you talk about the cover selection process for this collection?

Given the water settings and undefined quality of many of the poems within this collection, I wanted a watercolor-esque look to the cover. One weekend when I was working on this collection, I walked over the first bridge mentioned in “High Tide” and took a photo of myself looking down at my reflection in the water; not in a Narcissus sort of way, but as you do when you take a moment to stop and see where you are and what’s flowing past. Alexa Laharty [Yellow Arrow Creative Director], who designed the cover, was able to take that photo and run with it, creating an image that I think sets up the themes across the collection quite poignantly.

Do you have any advice for fellow women-identified writers?

I’m not sure about advice, but I will share something I’ve been struggling with as a poet in this time and hope it helps others. As this collection gets published, I’ve struggled with relevance. These poems seem so small, so insignificant against the backdrop of the very big things happening to so many people, especially to those who haven’t and still don’t have the voice they should. My poems don’t speak out about injustice, or take a stand, or challenge convention. They reflect, they muse, they wonder, they just are. So, I’ve asked myself why: Why poetry? Why publish? Why assume anyone needs to read what I’ve written?

But I keep going back to an interview Ada Limón did a couple years ago in which she talks about the breath built into poetry and how that’s what we need, especially when we feel like “the wind’s at our back and we’re just being pulled and shoved in a direction without so much as a moment to even recognize where we are.” Poetry reminds us to breathe, and that’s my hope for these poems and the ones I write in the future and the ones that any other poet—especially fellow women writers—are putting out in the world. We must keep breathing, and so we must keep writing.

it’s just me and some tulip petals
on the coffee table wrinkled and fading

in a spreading pool of light

“Morning After”

Are there any future projects in the works you would like to share with Yellow Arrow readers?

I’m working on the sketches for another collection (slowly) and submitting to journals as I polish things, but there’s nothing immediate on the horizon. Just focusing on breathing for now!

Thank you Emily and Melissa for such an engaging conversation. You can order your copy of Homing: Poems at yellowarrowpublishing.com/store/homing-poems-paperback. We appreciate your support.

Homing: Poems by Emily Decker explores the transitory nature of belonging and how we navigate our sense of place within our communities, relationships, and the natural world. The poems in this debut collection reflect on the interconnectedness of the paths we take and the moments along the way—between tides and seasons, in nature, amidst love and friendship, through memory and loss, over generations, and most of all, within ourselves—as we seek, find, and return to a place called home.

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 at her website melissaknunez.com and follow her on Twitter @MelissaKNunez and Instagram @melissa.king.nunez.

*****

Kapua Iao 6/3/25 Kapua Iao 6/3/25

A Chorus of Many: Reflecting on the UNFURL Issue

By Sara J. Streeter

In 2021, I remember how drawn I was to Yellow Arrow Journal as I began my foray into the literary journal abyss. Their values and mission aligned with my own, and as a fellow Marylander, I felt a connection to Baltimore. Little did I know I would be a guest editor just a few years later!

All my nonfiction writing is vulnerable and hard to put out into the world, but my story, “Bitter / Sweet” was a particularly tender piece about my adoption journey. After working on it on and off for years, a Yellow Arrow workshop I took with Kerry Graham helped me align the string I was trying to thread through it, and “Bitter / Sweet” was published in Yellow Arrow Journal, kitalo, Vol. IX, No. 2.

In early December 2024, when the email asking if I would be the guest editor popped in my inbox, I had no idea what the next months held—for me personally or for the country. As a working parent with two young kids, I worried about taking on something else, but I knew I would regret passing on the opportunity if I didn’t try. There is never a perfect time to do anything; you just have to do it.

Unfurl: I’ve always loved the word. It ignites so many delicious metaphors and images. When we chose it for the issue’s theme, I envisioned contributors really pushing and pulling the idea, sculpting it into their own. They did not disappoint! Each piece I read was a different interpretation with a range of subjects that captured unfurl from every angle, sense, and phase. I found solace, compassion, and humanity in the words of our contributors. Each piece was a single voice, which together became a powerful chorus of many.

The idea of community has recently been at the forefront of my mind. In her book The Serviceberry, Robin Wall Kimmerer reflects on something she refers to as a “gift economy,” in which individuals share what they have with each other to strengthen connections and invest in trust. “A gift economy nurtures the community bonds that enhance mutual well-being; the economic unit is ‘we’ rather than ‘I,’ as all flourishing is mutual.” To me, this collection of writing embodies a gift economy. Each of these pieces is a unique gift of lived experience and vulnerability. In sharing their precious time, talent, and energy, our contributors make the Yellow Arrow community a rich, vibrant space. Similarly, throughout this months’ long experience (new to me!), Yellow Arrow’s staff and volunteers have extended such gracious support to me every step of the way. Finally, Yellow Arrow Creative Director Alexa Laharty’s contribution of creativity and patience resulted in a truly sensational cover design.

Thank you to our contributors, volunteers, staff, and readers for sharing your gifts. You make our community flourish.

Onward to joy,

Sara

*****

Kapua Iao 5/20/25 Kapua Iao 5/20/25

Finding Self-Reflection and Strength in Community: Yellow Arrow Journal (Vol. X, No. 1) UNFURL

We are the same.
Drained, chafed, stripped, scavenged,
we submit to the great unveiling;

“Fruit of the Spirit” by Kellie D. Brown

UNFURL, the just released issue of Yellow Arrow Journal, Vol. X, No. 1, guest edited by Sara J. Streeter, explores how people seek to find themselves. UNFURL is a soul-searching survey of the unique journeys people take when experiencing and undergoing self-transformation, journeys that all start with a little fire, a desire, deep inside. We are honored to have had the opportunity to work with the included creatives to craft such a vibrant narrative, especially at a time when such personal, heart-wrenching stories are so vital. We are also privileged to be able to share it (and them) with you. In the issue’s introduction, Sara adds:

“I am honored to bear witness to stories that weave perspective and deep reflection into such strength. They remind me that community and imagination are powerful gifts we all have access to.”

UNFURL features Storm Ainsely, Heather Brown Barrett, Michelle Bovée Stange, Kellie D. Brown, Tricia Gates Brown, Carrie Aurelius Carlisle, Brandy Bell Carter, Alexis F., Hillary Gonzalez, LuLu Grant, Melanie Hyo-In Han, Kalehua Kim, Majiq Vu Mai, Mansi, Sini Marcks, Mary McAfoose, Shannon McNicholas, Nia P., Emma Reyes, Lindsay B. Sears, Alyce Shu, Cat Speranzini, Beverley Sylvester, Laura Taber, Bethany Tap, Jo Tyler, and Jessica Zarrillo.

The cover of UNFURL had its own journey to creation from choosing one to feature among the incredible submissions we received to unfortunately not hearing back from the artist, and finally and happily, to finding the perfect voice for the issue’s cover in Yellow Arrow’s Creative Director Alexa Laharty. According to Alexa, “My intention with the piece was to portray the joyous emotions that accompany a release from the constraints of worry and anxiety.” Sara adds, “Alexa brilliantly showcases the cover woman’s unfurling sense of joy and freedom through her expression and stance.” Thank you, Alexa and Sara, for your incredible vision.

A huge thanks to the rest of the Yellow Arrow team for helping to shape this issue: guest editor Sara J. Streeter, along with the UNFURL editorial team, Arrieonna Derricoatte, Jill Earl, Angela Firman, Barbara Frey, Meg Gamble, Gabby Granillo, Jacqueline Goldman, Siobhan McKenna, Melissa Nunez, Kait Quinn, Leticia Priebe Rocha, and Emily Ross.

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

*****

Kapua Iao 5/15/25 Kapua Iao 5/15/25

Yellow Arrow Vignette BLAZE 2025

Submissions for Yellow Arrow Vignette BLAZE were open May 15 - June 15. Now in its fourth 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.

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.

This year, we are excited to work with a new team on Vignette. Catharine Robertson will be the managing editor of Vignette BLAZE and will have help from Sophia Graney, our summer Vignette intern, along with the incredible Yellow Arrow editorial team. Below, you can read more about Catharine’s views on blaze and why she is ready to see how other Baltimore-area creatives are getting fired up about their personal (and professional) values.

What are your values? How do you know?

As I step into the Managing Editor role of Yellow Arrow Vignette BLAZE, I’m asking myself these questions at least daily. It’s been a scant three months since the slow creep of authoritarianism suddenly accelerated to a methodical march. Books have been banned from school libraries. Universities and law firms have bent the knee. Propaganda is streaming from institutions we rely on to keep us from harm.

This week I had the privilege of coaching federal employees on how to declare their values to themselves and their director, whom they admire as their protector from unethical influence by the new political appointee who heads the agency. The director is a woman of color, widely esteemed by the staff for being the most approachable leader they’ve ever had. She has BLAZED a precedent of authenticity and compassion that was lacking in the agency. They love her for it. They trust her. And after helming the largest division in the agency for two years—the division that makes policy decisions affecting the daily lives of 130 million people—she now wants them to codify team values.

I posed the following conundrum to the employees I was coaching:

If there’s ever been a time to declare our values, it’s now. We all have to say them out loud and write them down, while we can. On the other hand, if we ask staff to document their values, and then they are asked to compromise their values, it’ll be demoralizing. Or worse.

Ultimately the employees concluded that the values proclaimed by the division should flow bottom up—from the staff to the leadership. Not the other way around. That team values come from the team. Not from the top down.

We in the United States are all facing the same conundrum: What are our values? How do we know? And what will we do when they are challenged, as a challenge currently feels inevitable for many of us?

In her 1961 essay “Self respect: Its source, its power” Joan Didion wrote, “In order to remember it, one must have known it.” Because I work alongside federal employees in leadership roles, I’m doubling down now on knowing my own core values. I may be called on to remember them if I’m asked to act in ways that don’t accord with them.

The core personal values I am writing down and carrying around, like my own mini Constitution of Catharine: Justice. Honesty. Creativity. Integrity. Anyone who knows me won’t be surprised that these values are where, if violated, I’m most likely to feel moral injury. I might even postulate that integrity is my super value: If I avoid acting in ways that violate my values (justice, honesty, creativity), then I have acted with integrity.

How about you? It feels early in my relationship with you, the Yellow Arrow community, to ask very much of you. Maybe your own values are already shining through your writing. Maybe you’re the poet or the op-ed writer or the novelist or the essayist who radiates their values in their speaking and their actions. Maybe you already trumpet your values on the regular.

But I’m declaring that in 2025 there’s room to BLAZE an even clearer constellation of your values.

Know your values so that you can remember them. Write them down. Take an hour or an evening and talk it over with your loved ones. Then, like the writer you are, revise if needed. Hold on to your list of values. Post it up somewhere you’ll see it often. BLAZE it into your memory. Or maybe even into a tattoo?

What are your values? How do you know? What of them do you want others to know? What of them will you remember? How and where will you emblazon your values?

For Yellow Arrow Vignette BLAZE, we’re looking for creative nonfiction, poetry, and cover art by writers 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. If you have any questions, send them to submissions@yellowarrowpublishing.com. The online issue will be released in August.

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 and every story is worth telling.

*****

Kapua Iao 4/22/25 Kapua Iao 4/22/25

Wild Resilience: Little by Little by Ann marie Houghtailing

Yellow Arrow Publishing announces the release of our first chapbook of 2025, Little by Little by Ann marie Houghtailing. Since its establishment in 2016, Yellow Arrow has devoted its efforts to advocate for all women writers through inclusion in the biannual Yellow Arrow Journal as well as single-author publications and Yellow Arrow Vignette, and by providing strong author support, writing workshops, and volunteering opportunities. We at Yellow Arrow are excited to continue our mission by supporting Houghtailing in all her writing and publishing endeavors.

Little by Little explores the universality of human suffering and how we find our way to meaning and purpose. Houghtailing is a visual artist and cofounder of the firm Story Imprinting. She delivered a TEDx Talk entitled Raising Humans and performed her critically acclaimed one woman show, Renegade Princess, in New York, Chicago, Santa Fe, San Francisco, and San Diego. “Little by little” is the phrase that Houghtailing’s mother used to say when things were hard. Things were almost always hard. Houghtailing grew up in a culture of poverty and witnessed violence, struggle, and wild resilience every day. What she did not realize was that her mother’s phrase would become a life affirming strategy. It was a map that took her back to herself when life took so much from her.

From 2019–2020, four members of Houghtailing’s family died in rapid succession, including her mother. Their deaths were an extension of historic and epigenetic trauma that would require her to sit inside of suffering and paint, write, and garden her way through to transformation. Little by Little delves into how Houghtailing was able to find meaning in the suffering by examining the beauty of life itself. Every day we experience loss. The loss of innocence, youth, relationships, jobs, money, confidence, power, life, and hope are in constant play. Learning to sit inside of deep suffering can be intellectually, emotionally, and physically demanding territory that invites us to examine who we are and what we are made of. Little by Little is a way to see, a way to suffer, and ultimately, a way to live.

The cover and interior art were created by Houghtailing. According to her, “All my work is filled with color, which is very much rooted in my mom’s background from Hawai’i. . . . Color is joyful. It’s life affirming. The cross-section of painting and writing [are] the ways in which the intersection of life and death [come] together for me. The cover art is a collage piece of a woman with a typewriter on her head. It came from the same period as the poems, so it felt very right to pair these together.”

Paperback and PDF versions of Little by Little are now available from the Yellow Arrow bookstore. If interested in purchasing more than one paperback copy for friends and family, check out our discounted wholesale prices here. You can also search for Little by Little wherever you purchase your books including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo. To learn more about Houghtailing and Little by Little , check out our recent interview with her.

You can find out more about Ann marie Houghtailing and her work at her website annmariehoughtailing.com and on Instagram @trailsnotpaths and Facebook @annmariehoughtailing and connect with Yellow Arrow on Facebook and Instagram, to share some love for this chapbook. You can also share a review to any of the major distributors or by emailing editor@yellowarrowpublishing.com. We’d love to hear from you.

*****

Kapua Iao 4/8/25 Kapua Iao 4/8/25

The Literary Therapist: Delving into Reflection

By Arrieonna Derricoatte, written March 2025

Writing and journaling are more than just putting pen to paper, they can be a way to work through things going on in your life. Therapeutic writing can offer a way to reflect on your emotions and experiences and give you insight into your feelings and behaviors. Through therapeutic writing, you can find ways to move through grief and complex life events, aiding in the healing process. As well, it can be good for reducing stress and anxiety. It can also help navigate challenges and organize your thoughts, leading to clarity and calmness.

To start the therapeutic writing process, set aside some undisturbed time to write. You can decide on a frequency that works for you right now. Use this time to express yourself using visuals, prompts, poetry, or any medium. Sometimes, even just free writing for 15 minutes to an hour, putting whatever you’re feeling on a page, helps.

If you’re looking for more inspiration for therapeutic writing, you can join our spring workshop offering, The Literary Therapist: A Creative Writer’s Guide To Therapy, taught Caroline R. Jennings. This workshop invites you to begin the cathartic and therapeutic process of putting pen to paper. Participants should be open to personal growth, insight, exploration, and healing. Each session will begin with a prompt from a woman-identifying writer (a poem, quote, or excerpt from a short story), and then participants will have the opportunity to write, journal, and reflect. Through your writing, you will be encouraged to identify challenges and navigate patterns to better process grief and loss and begin the art of self-healing. At the end of each session, Jennings will allow everyone to come together and share their writing. The group will practice reflective listening to create an environment built upon empathy, acceptance, and mutual trust.

Jennings knows the power of therapeutic writing on a personal level. She holds a master’s in rehabilitation counseling from The University of Texas at Southwestern. She recently found her way back to creative writing about three years ago after her mother passed away from ALS. Her husband was advancing in his career at a law firm, and their children were getting older and busier. Jennings felt lonely and lost, which led her back to writing. Caroline shared the following about her return to the page:

“I discovered the Westport Writers’ Workshop and signed up for a class, and then another. I’m not saying it was a cure-all, but slowly and surely, I found my way back to myself . . . writing was often my saving grace as I found solace in poems and short stories. But once I had children, my time was often not my own. My experiences aren’t unique. . . . Grief is not linear. Marriage and motherhood are hard. But we have one another, and we have our craft. And while writing can feel scary and vulnerable, it is also incredibly cathartic and therapeutic.”

Yellow Arrow Publishing is honored to offer this workshop because we believe writing and healing don’t have to be done alone. We can do this in community with others. This workshop is less about teaching writing but centered on fostering an environment where people are encouraged to process and reflect on their experiences. Jennings will meet you as a woman, mother, and friend in this space. Writing, listening, and reflecting, among others, is a start to initiate the healing process. If you’re interested in this kind of writing, this workshop is for you.

Arrieonna Derricoatte (she/her) is currently a senior at Ohio State University. She is an English major with a concentration in writing, rhetoric, and literacy with minors in human rights and professional writing. She is passionate about reading and community building around arts, education, and policy. Arrieonna is also a student art administrator and writing intern at Urban Arts Space. She plans to pursue a master’s in public administration upon graduation. After school, she hopes to further her career in nonprofit work and community programming while seeking a career in publishing. She can be found on Instagram @arrieonna derricoatte.

*****

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

*****

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

The Desire and Fire Within All of Us to Find Ourselves

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

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

MARK YOUR CALENDARS:

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

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

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

By Sara J. Streeter

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

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

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

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

*****

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

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

Dear Yellow Arrow Community,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Annie Marhefka and the Yellow Arrow Publishing team

*****

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

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

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

Dear Yellow Arrow Community,

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

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

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

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

Kitalo guest editor Tramaine Suubi shared, “Being the guest editor is a privilege, but the greatest gift I received in this role is true vulnerability. I grieve and give thanks alongside each of our artists here. I hope their words are lifegiving for you, just as they are for me.” (P.S. If you don’t have copies of either issue yet or want to gift them to someone for the holidays, you can buy them at a discount of $27 here.)

We published 79 incredible writers in Yellow Arrow Journal and Yellow Arrow Vignette this year and are so happy to have had the chance to hear so many diverse, rich voices. In addition to these creatives, we published three incredible poetry collections: Beyond the Galleons by Isabel Cristina Legarda, Iridescent Pigeons by Candace Walsh, and Ghosts Only I Can See by Julie Alden Cullinane. We recently announced our 2025 chapbook authors and are eagerly looking ahead to their publications next year and can’t wait to support them and our future vignette and journal authors.

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

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

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

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

We could never do this incredible work without our tremendous team who collaborate so diligently behind the scenes. Every single team member, whether volunteer, staff, workshop instructor, intern, guest editor, or board member, is focused on supporting and empowering women-identifying writers at every stage of their artistic journey.

We are so grateful for everyone’s continued support of women-identifying writers, and we need your support now more than ever. You can check out our holiday gift guide here. We welcome donations that support our mission, especially as we wrap up the year and plan for 2025. Donate today to support our 2025 initiatives! via PayPal (staff@yellowarrowpublishing.com), Venmo (@DonateYAP), or US mail (PO Box 65185, Baltimore, MD 21209). You can further support us by purchasing one of our publications from the Yellow Arrow bookstore, joining our newsletter, following us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, or subscribing to our YouTube channel.

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

Warmest Wishes,

Annie Marhefka and the Yellow Arrow Publishing team

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

Meet the 2025 Yellow Arrow Publishing Pushcart Prize Nominees

The Prize represents an incredible opportunity for Yellow Arrow to further showcase and support our authors. Our staff is committed to letting our authors shine. Every writer has a story to tell and every story is worth telling. We are so proud of everyone we publish at Yellow Arrow. Without further ado, let’s meet the 2025 Yellow Arrow Pushcart Prize Nominees!

Julie Alden Cullinane

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

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

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

Belinda J. Kein

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

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

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

Isabel Cristina Legarda

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

Isabel Cristina Legarda was born in the Philippines and spent her early childhood there before moving to Bethesda, Maryland. She holds degrees in literature and bioethics and is currently a practicing physician in Boston, Massachusetts. She enjoys writing about women’s lived experience, cultural issues, and finding grace in a challenging world. Her work has appeared in America Magazine, Cleaver, The Dewdrop, The Lowestoft Chronicle, Ruminate, Sky Island Review, Smartish Pace, Qu, West Trestle Review, and others. Find Isabel on Instagram and Twitter @poetintheOR.

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

Angelica Terso

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

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

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

Candace Walsh

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

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

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

*****

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.

Emily Decker

~ i found you once between the creases,and i’ll find you again, just in pieces. ~

Johanna Elattar

~ The siren taught me silence. But the cake, the song, the mimed applause—they taught me something stronger. Joy doesn’t need permission. It can whisper and still survive. ~

Ann marie Houghtailing

~ Even the wisdom was smallThree wordsyou could fit into the palm of your hand ~

Majiq Vu Mai

~ What could small flying creatures like us do after a life shaking fall like that, but take our time? ~

Vic Nogay

~ I know your hillsare a small bump, emptying, cowing to the weightof loss, of naming a dying thing. ~

Michele Evans

Dana Knott

coming April 2026

Minyong Cho

coming July 2026

Matilda Young

coming October 2026

Barbara Westwood Diehl

“Wish You Were Here”

Tracy Dimond

“IT WORKS, THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH IT”

Katherine Fallon

“ON THE NTH ANNIVERSARY OF YOUR DEATH”

My-Azia Johnson

“Crisis in the Club”

Anne Slesinki

“I am not her mother”

Laura Taber

“Undressing”

Julie Alden Cullinane

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

Belinda J. Kein

Isabel Cristina Legarda

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

Angelica Terso

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

Candace Walsh

~ something flying fast

iridescent pigeonscloudy future flocks a peacock butterfly ~

~ i found you once between the creases,
and i’ll find you again, just in pieces. ~

~ Even the wisdom was small
Three words
you could fit into the palm of your hand ~

~ I know your hills
are a small bump, emptying, cowing to the weight
of loss, of naming a dying thing. ~

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

iridescent pigeons
cloudy future flocks
a peacock butterfly ~