Yellow Arrow Publishing Blog
Her View Friday
Yellow Arrow Publishing supports women-identifying writers from a wide variety of backgrounds, not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it makes us stronger. Women’s voices have historically been underrepresented in literature, and we aim to elevate those voices and stories through our programs, publications, and support.
Part of our mission in supporting and uplifting women writers is to promote the Yellow Arrow community’s individual accomplishments. We’d like to further expand that support and promotion outside of our Yellow Arrow publications. Twice a month, we’d like to give a shout out to those within the Yellow Arrow community who recently published:
single-author publications
single pieces in journals, anthologies, etc.
You can support our authors by reading this blog and their work, sharing their news, and commenting below or on the blog. Congratulations to all the included authors. We are so proud of you!
Every writer has a story to tell and every story is worth telling.
“When My College Roommate Visited Peru” by Joanne Durham from Prince George’s County, Maryland
Genre: poetry
Name of publisher: Gyroscope Review
Date published: October 1, 2022
Type of publication: print and online
gyroscopereview.com/welcome/issue/
“Deeda” by Ute Carson from Austin, Texas
Genre: poetry
Name of publisher: 34th Parallel Magazine
Date published: October 3, 2022
Type of publication: print and online
magcloud.com/browse/issue/2308621
“Called Into the Office to Meet My First Woman Boss” by Joanne Durham from Prince George’s County, Maryland
Genre: poetry
Name of publisher: Quartet Journal
Date published: October 5, 2022
Type of publication: online
quartetjournal.com/current-issue
You can find Joanne on Twitter @DurhamJoanne and on Instagram @poetryjoanne.
“The Waiting Room,” “Graceful Light,” “An Old Woman’s Body,” “Earth Beneath My Feet,” and “The Rainbow Tree” by Ute Carson from Austin, Texas
Genre: poetry
Name of publisher: Indolent Books
Date published: October 17, 2022
Type of publication: online
indolentbooks.com/a-river-sings-ute-carson-10-17-22/
Want to learn more about Ute? You can find her on Facebook @ute.carson.
Yellow Arrow (past and present) board, staff, interns, authors, residents, and instructors alike! Got a publication coming out? Let us help celebrate for you in Her View Friday.
Single-author publications: here.
Single pieces: here.
Please read the instructions on each form carefully; we look forward to congratulating you!
*****
Yellow Arrow recently revamped and restructured its Yellow Arrow Journal subscription plan to include two levels. Do you think you are an Avid Reader or a Literary Lover? Find out more about the discounts and goodies involved at yellowarrowpublishing.com/store/yellow-arrow-journal-subscription. Yellow Arrow Publishing is a nonprofit supporting women writers through publication and access to the literary arts.
You can support us as we AWAKEN in a variety of ways: purchase one of our publications from the Yellow Arrow bookstore, join our newsletter, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter or subscribe to our YouTube channel. Donations are appreciated via PayPal (staff@yellowarrowpublishing.com), Venmo (@yellowarrowpublishing), or US mail (PO Box 102, Glen Arm, MD 21057). More than anything, messages of support through any one of our channels are greatly appreciated.
Her View Friday
Yellow Arrow Publishing supports women-identifying writers from a wide variety of backgrounds, not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it makes us stronger. Women’s voices have historically been underrepresented in literature, and we aim to elevate those voices and stories through our programs, publications, and support.
Part of our mission in supporting and uplifting women writers is to promote the Yellow Arrow community’s individual accomplishments. We’d like to further expand that support and promotion outside of our Yellow Arrow publications. Twice a month, we’d like to give a shout out to those within the Yellow Arrow community who recently published:
single-author publications
single pieces in journals, anthologies, etc.
You can support our authors by reading this blog and their work, sharing their news, and commenting below or on the blog. Congratulations to all the included authors. We are so proud of you!
Every writer has a story to tell and every story is worth telling.
“Betrayal” by Ute Carson from Austin, Texas
Genre: fiction
Name of publisher: Pithead Chapel
Date published: September 2022
Type of publication: online
“Where Azaleas Grow” by Sara Palmer from Baltimore, Maryland
Genre: poetry
Name of publisher: Pen in Hand Literary Journal
Date published: July 2022
Type of publication: print and online
marylandwriters.org/Pen_in_Hand
Want to learn more about Sara? You can find her on Facebook @sara.palmer.5455 and @sara.p5455.
“The Certain Old Man” by Heather Brown Barrett from Southeastern Virginia
Genre: poetry
Name of publisher: Virtual Verse
Date published: August 31, 2022
Type of publication: online
visualverse.org/submissions/the-certain-old-man/
“Ars Bestia Domitor” and “Trees of Life” also by Heather Brown Barrett from Southeastern Virginia
Genre: poetry
Name of publisher: The Ekphrastic Review
Date published: September 9, 2022 and September 23, 2022
Type of publication: online
ekphrastic.net/the-ekphrastic-challenges/luristan-bronze-ekphrastic-responses
ekphrastic.net/the-ekphrastic-challenges/jo-zider-ekphrastic-challenge-responses
You can find Heather on Instagram @heatherbrownbarrett.
Yellow Arrow (past and present) board, staff, interns, authors, residents, and instructors alike! Got a publication coming out? Let us help celebrate for you in Her View Friday.
Single-author publications: here.
Single pieces: here.
Please read the instructions on each form carefully; we look forward to congratulating you!
*****
Yellow Arrow recently revamped and restructured its Yellow Arrow Journal subscription plan to include two levels. Do you think you are an Avid Reader or a Literary Lover? Find out more about the discounts and goodies involved at yellowarrowpublishing.com/store/yellow-arrow-journal-subscription. Yellow Arrow Publishing is a nonprofit supporting women writers through publication and access to the literary arts.
You can support us as we AWAKEN in a variety of ways: purchase one of our publications from the Yellow Arrow bookstore, join our newsletter, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter or subscribe to our YouTube channel. Donations are appreciated via PayPal (staff@yellowarrowpublishing.com), Venmo (@yellowarrowpublishing), or US mail (PO Box 102, Glen Arm, MD 21057). More than anything, messages of support through any one of our channels are greatly appreciated.
Meet an Artist: Megha Balooni
from the 2021 art series
Storytelling takes place in many different forms, not just writing. When an artist shares a piece with others they also share a piece of who they are with their audience. We see the expression of their aesthetic, culture, and identity woven into their work.
This is definitely visible in the artwork for Yellow Arrow Journal. During each journal submission period, we ask for creative nonfiction, poetry, and cover art that reflects a chosen theme. We get incredible artwork created in various media and choose the one that best represents the theme.
To celebrate our talented cover artists, we will be releasing a series of blogs to share their stories and the importance that art has on their lives.
The fourth artist that we are featuring in our Art Series is Megha Balooni. Megha is an architect currently residing in India. Realizing her love for stories—written and visual—from early on, she believes these two mediums to be her most strong communications tool. Through her visual designs, she is striving to curate a more inclusive and optimistic world. Her works take inspiration from nature, emotions, and expressions. She also contributes to World Architecture Community, an online architectural publication platform, where she enjoys curating interviews. She enjoys reading, cooking, and spending time wondering. Her art piece, “Lidya,” was seen on the cover of Yellow Arrow Journal, Resilience: Vol. V, No. 1, Winter 2020.
You can find Megha at thelidyart.com or on Instagram and Facebook. And in September, you can see her incredible artwork on the covers of Yellow Arrow’s EMERGE zines: Pandemic Stories and Coming into View. More information about EMERGE will be available soon.
Megha recently took some time to answer a few questions for us.
What do you love most about art and why?
Just the fluidity and how there is no right or wrong in art. Humans are conditioned to abide by rules otherwise we would go bonkers. But with art, you can truly discover yourself. It can be a way for you to express and cope. It can be a way to feel good about yourself, it could be healing.
What are your top five tips for aspiring artists?
Some learnings that I can definitely say apply to all creative endeavors: make a vision board that includes your inspiration and aspirations, have faith in yourself and your abilities, allow yourself to learn and unlearn as you grow (shed that past skin if it doesn’t feel like you anymore!), there’s space for everyone to thrive, and don’t allow your insecurities project onto your personality. Things might seem rocky and too bright some days but if you keep pursuing, it will create a path for you. And lastly, love what you do!
In three words how would you describe your aesthetic in art?
My aesthetic takes inspiration from nature, emotions, and female expressions. It’s a culmination of what I’m feeling the most at the moment which contributes to the colour palette and textures.
Thank you, Megha for answering our questions. You can purchase a PDF of Resilience in the Yellow Arrow bookstore, along with other Yellow Arrow publications.
*****
The 2021 art series was created and put together by Marketing Associate, Michelle Lin. Yellow Arrow Publishing is a nonprofit supporting women writers through publication and access to the literary arts. Thank you for supporting independent publishing.
Meet an Artist: Ann Marie Sekeres
from the 2021 art series
Storytelling takes place in many different forms, not just writing. When an artist shares a piece with others they also share a piece of who they are with their audience. We see the expression of their aesthetic, culture, and identity woven into their work.
This is definitely visible in the artwork for Yellow Arrow Journal. During each journal submission period, we ask for creative nonfiction, poetry, and cover art that reflects a chosen theme. We get incredible artwork created in various media and choose the one that best represents the theme.
To celebrate our talented cover artists, we will be releasing a series of blogs to share their stories and the importance that art has on their lives.
The third artist that we are featuring in our Art Series is Ann Marie Sekeres. Ann Marie is an illustrator whose drawings have appeared in publications worldwide. She recently illustrated the cover for the samurai by Linda M. Crate, published by Yellow Arrow. She lives in the New York area and draws every day. Follow her work on Instagram @annmarieprojects and at annmarieprojects.com. Her art piece, “Couch,” was seen on the cover of Yellow Arrow Journal HOME: Vol. V, No. 2, Spring 2020.
Ann Marie recently took some time to answer a few questions for us.
If you weren’t an artist today, what would you be doing?
I’m 51. I think part of getting older is that you no longer identify yourself by one label or profession. I do a lot of different stuff. I’m an artist when I’m drawing. I’m a student when I try to speak French. It’s okay to do a million different things and some of them, not very well. I didn’t feel that way as a kid. I wanted to be one great thing. Life, at least mine, turned out much different than that.
Who is your favorite artist and why?
Florine Stettheimer. For embracing the girly in early American modernism.
What inspired the piece that you created for Yellow Arrow?
I was thinking of Henri Matisse and his shapes and drawings. That was the goal.
Thank you, Ann Marie, for answering our questions. You can purchase a PDF of HOME in the Yellow Arrow bookstore, along with other Yellow Arrow publications.
*****
The 2021 art series was created and put together by Marketing Associate, Michelle Lin. Yellow Arrow Publishing is a nonprofit supporting women writers through publication and access to the literary arts. Like us on Facebook and Instagram for news about the next journal submissions period. Thank you for supporting independent publishing.
Meet an Artist: Kalichi Lamar
from the 2021 art series
Storytelling takes place in many different forms, not just writing. When an artist shares a piece with others they also share a piece of who they are with their audience. We see the expression of their aesthetic, culture, and identity woven into their work.
This is definitely visible in the artwork for Yellow Arrow Journal. During each journal submission period, we ask for creative nonfiction, poetry, and cover art that reflects a chosen theme. We get incredible artwork created in various media and choose the one that best represents the theme.
To celebrate our talented cover artists, we will be releasing a series of blogs to share their stories and the importance that art has on their lives.
The second artist that we are featuring in our Art Series is Kalichi Lamar. Kalichi’s first name is Taíno for “fountain of the high mountain.” She is a Higuayagua-Taino from the island of Borikén where her roots are tied to her name and her connection to nature. Kalichi has an MS/MA in Psychology and Arts in Medicine, and she has worked professionally with cancer patients and the elderly. Additionally, Kalichi runs an online shop of wood-burn pieces, crafted items, and creative wellness sessions. Her work is inspired by nature and Taíno roots. As smoke envelops her space, it becomes incense and prayer infused into each piece. Kalichi creates to inspire others to reconnect to self, nature, and Spirit. Her art piece, “Nature Springs From Her” was seen on the cover of Yellow Arrow Journal: RENASCENCE, Vol. VI, No.1, Spring 2021.
You can find Kalichi at kalichisessentials.com or on Instagram and Facebook.
Kalichi recently took some time to answer a few questions for us.
As an artist what types of habits have you developed when creating art?
One of the most important habits I developed when creating art is the state of mindfulness. This mindfulness often transfers to a flow state. I get into this state by tending my plants in my art space, turning on instrumental music, lighting candles or incense, thanking the Creator and my ancestors, and allowing natural light to come in. This sets the tone to create and puts me in a headspace for inspiration. The result is often an intuitive and meditative creation.
What are your top five tips for aspiring artists?
Great question! My five tips for aspiring artists would be:
Start with a small, economical kit. If you are not sure what method you like, it’s best to start small; rather than purchasing all the oil paints, oil brushes, etc., to then realize you don’t enjoy or are not good at oil painting.
Try a variety of genres. You might not be good at painting, but you might be amazing at collages. Or, you might be a great jewelry maker or woodcarver. There are a plethora of creative outlets. So, try different art methods to find your niche.
Keep creating! Don’t stop creating, even if it does not take off professionally. Create because it comes from your soul.
Avoid comparing yourself to other artists. Art is subjective to each person’s taste. What may seem like an amazing art piece to one person, might not be to another. Additionally, each person’s skill develops differently. Therefore, don’t compare yourself! Art can be so many things and opportunities! Each artist has their own unique ability. Hone in on yours, fall in love with it. If it brings you joy, keep creating!
Make sure you create from your soul. Your art is a reflection of you.
What inspired you to submit to Yellow Arrow?
I learned about Yellow Arrow through a fellow tribal sister. She told me about Yellow Arrow’s RENASCENCE edition and its mission to give voices to marginalized/self-identifying women. I fell in love with this mission and felt it was a great opportunity to give a voice and exposure to my Taíno community. Every day, I am grateful I was given the opportunity.
Thank you, Kalichi, for answering our questions. You can purchase a paperback or PDF of RENASCENCE in the Yellow Arrow bookstore, along with other Yellow Arrow publications.
*****
The 2021 art series was created and put together by Marketing Associate, Michelle Lin. Yellow Arrow Publishing is a nonprofit supporting women writers through publication and access to the literary arts. Like us on Facebook and Instagram for news about the next journal submissions period. Thank you for supporting independent publishing.
An Interview with Eva Niessner
Interview from fall 2020
Our fall 2020 marketing intern, Elaine Batty, recently interviewed author Eva Niessner. Eva is a writer living in Timonium, Maryland. Her work has been featured in Baltimore Magazine, Grub Street Literary Magazine, Phemme, and Crepe & Penn. She teaches English at the Community College of Baltimore County.
Huge thank you to Eva for sharing her insights with Elaine and for sharing her story as a writer.
EB: How did you get started as a writer? Do you have any favorite writers or any you draw inspiration from?
I know this is going to sound pretentious, but I don’t really ever feel like I ‘got started.’ I just was. Writing is as much an aspect of my identity as it is something that I do. That doesn’t mean I was naturally a fantastic writer with no practice and never had to learn or put in any effort, of course. It just means that learning and growing felt completely natural. I think of a baby just learning to walk. The baby isn’t born walking, and it takes a lot of stumbling and plopping over and whacking its head on the coffee table to go from crawling to running. But the baby never worries or wonders, “Wouldn’t it be great to be a walker?” It just happens. That’s kind of how I feel about developing as a writer. I had to smack my head on a lot of metaphorical coffee tables, but I always knew that’s what I would be. Even when I feel doubt or angst about a specific piece, I have very rarely doubted that I am a writer.
I think Mary Roach of Stiff fame might be one of my biggest inspirations, period. She really did set the tone for balancing the funny and the weird and the informative, and the qualities that I want people to associate with me are funny, weird, and informative. So she’s quite an idol of mine. If I could write any creative nonfiction piece half as entertaining as her stuff, I’d die happy. I’ve also been a huge fan of David Sedaris for many years, though ‘fan’ has sort of shifted into a Deadhead-ish follower (I’ve been to readings in three states) and then into a loose friendship.
EB: What do you think the implications of being a woman writer/woman in the literary world are and what does this mean to you?
For a long time, I didn’t really think about this. I spent my youth reading female authors like Joyce Carol Oates, Madeleine L’Engle, Margaret Atwood, Sylvia Plath, and Judy Blume, and so it took me a long time to recognize that there was really anything distinctive or unique about making it as a woman writer. That’s a privilege of my age, I think, being a child of the girl-power 90s. I grew up in a household where my ambitions to write were deeply and loudly encouraged, and then I had a lot of fantastic female writing teachers and professors. But as I grew up I realized how much intersectionality mattered and how necessary it was to go looking for more [women-created] works. A woman of color writing about her experiences, or an immigrant woman writing about her experiences, or a queer woman writing about her experiences—these are not really taught in schools as frequently. Maybe you’ll read Zora Neale Hurston in high school, or maybe you’ll read Amy Tan. That’s often it. It usually takes having a special teacher who will encourage you to go further and seek out the kind of books that aren’t part of the curriculum. I never saw my own queerness in anything I read in high school, only in books I was guided toward or that I discovered on my own. And I still got far more representation than many. As a white woman, I know it’s so easy to get complacent and think, “Oh, I read plenty of women writers.” Sure, but if you’re leaving out works by women of color, or queer women, or trans women, or women from other religions or cultures or backgrounds, you’re only broadening your horizons slightly.
One of the areas I’ve seen more debate over the role of women writers is in fan fiction. I write quite a bit of that, and often there’s a weird stigma given to adult women who choose to do it. You sometimes see criticism that’s essentially, “Don’t you have kids to take care of?” when an adult woman wants to write, like, erotic fan stuff. I’d love to see a shift in that thinking that says women are either homemakers or deviants. I certainly don’t think of myself as either of those.
EB: What are your favorite things to write and why?
For a long time I pretty much only wrote fiction. Then in college and graduate school I was reading a lot of memoirs and creative nonfiction pieces, and that just clicked perfectly. I love talking about myself, but I am also wildly intrigued by trivia facts. My whole family is like this. We’ll just sit around and quiz each other. Creative nonfiction is a great way to just muse about trivia for me. You can take your obsession du jour and expand on your thoughts. Somewhere along the way, that blob of rambling and opinion can be shaped, like potter’s clay, into something that’s actually interesting and cohesive. That’s so rewarding to me—seeing all of my random thoughts and bits and lines that I was proud of actually connect and become a full and vibrant work. It’s almost like . . . the good version of [the] imposter syndrome, the feeling that only you know how rough and random it started out. Someone can read it and say, “Oh this is so well-done,” and you can sit there and think, heh, this used to just be a bunch of facts about birds that I taped together and now look at it.
EB: What is your writing process like and what do you do to get motivated?
When I took writing classes, I would always feel like a real loser when I’d learn about how, I don’t know, Ernest Hemingway would get up at 5 a.m. and write until noon every day and then go sport fishing or punch someone in the face over and over until it was dinnertime. I never had the kind of discipline to get up early and write, and I suspect I never will. It took a long time for me to realize that you don’t have to do things a certain way to get results. I’m not a morning person, and I do almost all of my writing in the evening, after I’m finished working for the day and I don’t have that stuff hanging over me.
I usually get ideas when I’m driving to a very familiar place or washing dishes or when I’m in the middle of any fairly mindless task. There’s something great about being in that mode, with your body on autopilot and then your brain allowed to wander. I usually let an idea simmer for a long time. The story I wrote for this newest issue of Grub Street, for instance, “Ballad of the Weird Girl,” that was maybe a year and a half in the making. Originally, I was just going to write about how weirdly connected I felt to true crime podcast hosts because I would listen to them talk all night and their voices became so familiar to me. But I started working backward and thinking about, well, why would that kind of thing be so appealing to me in the first place? So that was how that came about.
EB: In what ways do you think writers, specifically female writers, can change the world?
Something that I think is a huge problem in the world of writing in general, though it also applies to movies and TV shows and things like that, is the idea that men are the default and that anyone can project their own hopes and dreams and fears onto a male character, while female characters are somehow only for women. I don’t disagree with the idea that a person who doesn’t identify as a man can connect to and love and empathize with a male character. I do all the time! But there’s an assumption that starts when kids are little, that boys will not like stories about girls because they can’t relate. Well, we can’t relate to anything we’re not exposed to.
To the actual question, then—I think female writers specifically can change the world by not compromising their vision or experience or their stories because they’re ‘girl stories.’ The more ‘girl stories’ that get put out into the world, the more readers will realize how rich and different and worthwhile they are.
EB: Where can our readers find your work?
I’ve been published in Grub Street twice as well as several online journals and zines—Crepe & Penn and Phemme. Right now, I’m hoping to wrangle some short pieces of nonfiction into a collection.
Elaine Batty is a student at Towson University graduating with a BS in English on the literature track. Her poetry has been featured in the College of Southern Maryland’s Connections literary magazine. In her free time, she enjoys reading all genres of fiction, writing poetry, and playing with her two cats, Catlynn and Cleocatra. Elaine’s two real passions are literature and travel, and she plans to look for a job following graduation that will allow her to pursue both full time. We at Yellow Arrow want to send a huge thank you to her for all her hard work over the past few months. Mahalo nui loa!
You can follow Eva Niessner on Instagram @asongoficeandeva.
*****
Yellow Arrow Publishing is a nonprofit supporting women writers through publication and access to the literary arts.
Meet the 2021 Yellow Arrow Publishing Pushcart Prize Nominees!
The Pushcart Prize honors the incredible work of authors published by small presses and has since 1976. And since then, thousands of writers have been featured in its annual collections—most of whom are new to the series. The Pushcart Prize is a wonderful opportunity for writers of short stories, poetry, and essays to jump further into the literary world and see their work gain recognition and appreciation.
The Prize represents an incredible opportunity for Yellow Arrow to further showcase and support our authors. Our staff is committed to letting our authors shine. Every writer has a story to tell and every story is worth telling. We are so proud of everyone we publish at Yellow Arrow. Without further ado, let’s meet the 2021 Yellow Arrow Pushcart Prize Nominees!
Linda M. Crate
“i will never give this up,” the samurai
~when i first recalled her, i remembered who i truly was; a fierce, courageous fighter~
Linda M. Crate is a Pennsylvanian born in Pittsburgh but raised in Conneautville. Her work has been published in numerous magazines and anthologies, both online and in print. She is the author of six poetry chapbooks, the latest two which are the samurai (October 2020) and More Than Bone Music (March 2019). She also is the author of the novel Phoenix Tears (June 2018) and two micropoetry collections. Recently, she has published two full-length poetry collections, Vampire Daughter (February 2020) and The Sweetest Blood (February 2020). Linda is also a past Pushcart nominee. Follow her on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.
You can learn more about Linda from her July 2019 Yellow Arrow Journal .W.o.W. or by reading her written words in Yellow Arrow Journal’s COURAGE and FREEDOM, or in the samurai.
Courtney Essary Messenbaugh
“Our Hearth,” Yellow Arrow Journal, Vol. V, No. 2 HOME
~Engorging itself to inspire / Howling monsters, thick with legend, while / Awaiting its next set of footprints.~
Courtney Essary Messenbaugh is a practiced dilettante and has been everything from a waitress to a political fundraiser to a bond analyst. She has climbed a big mountain in Tanzania, lived in Switzerland, New York, and Chicago, and loves to laugh and try new things. She currently lives in Colorado and delights in the blanket of neon blue sky there. She is mother to three wildling children, wife to one husband, and best friend to one Muppet-looking dog. Her work has appeared in FERAL: A Journal of Poetry and Art, at Motherwell, and of course, Yellow Arrow Journal.
Deja Ryland
“Sand,” Yellow Arrow Journal Vol. V, No. 3 (Re)Formation
~The sand reminds me that there are compositions—imperishable histories—that will always align our stories together.~
Deja Ryland is an emerging writer who has recently graduated with her BS in English from Towson University. With boundless curiosity, she writes to ask questions, reflect on experiences, and start conversations. She loves adventure which sparks her love for reading, writing, traveling, and eating. She currently resides in Baltimore, Maryland.
Taína
“Killing Ty,” Yellow Arrow Journal Vol. V, No. 1 RESILIENCE
~I’m killing her. Right here. Right now. This string of words is her final dagger. The Smithsonian calls it Paper Genocide, the destruction of my name.~
Taína is a Baltimore-based Higuaygua Taíno writer, on a mission to write the Taíno culture into existence the same way the colonizers have attempted to erase it: one word, one Taíno at a time. Find out more at TainaWrites.com.
You can learn more about Taína in her May 2020 Yellow Arrow Journal .W.o.W. or through VIRTUAL Voces Latinas.
Roz Weaver
“Smoke the Peace Pipe,” Smoke the Peace Pipe
~We, wild spirits, being all at once / in this one lifetime, / found here like some long lost siblings, / our everything alive.~
Roz Weaver is a spoken-word performer and internationally published poet living in West Yorkshire, England. She has been published in a number of journals, zines, and anthologies, including most recently with The Resilience of Being, Disquiet Arts, and Token Magazine. Her work has been on exhibit with Chicago based Awakenings Art Gallery and London Design Festival, and she has performed at Leeds International Festival and Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Her first poetry collection, Smoke the Peace Pipe, was released by Yellow Arrow in August 2020.
You can learn more about Roz by reading her written words in Yellow Arrow Journal’s COURAGE, DOUBT, and FREEDOM, or in Smoke the Peace Pipe. Roz also taught a sold-out class for Yellow Arrow called Poetry as Therapy.
Thank you to everyone who supports these women and all writers who toil away day after day. Please show them some love in the comments below or on Yellow Arrow’s Facebook or Instagram.
Yellow Arrow Publishing is a nonprofit supporting women writers through publication and access to the literary arts. To learn more about publishing, volunteering, or donating, visit yellowarrowpublishing.com.
Literary Night 2020
On August 7, 2020 we had planned to host the 2nd annual Literary Night, a celebration of Baltimore area authors, writers, small presses, and literary organizations as part of the Highlandtown First Friday Art Walk in partnership with Highlandtown Main Street, Highlandtown Arts District, and Southeast CDC. Check out highlights from 2019 here and here and here.
This year, since we are unable to gather in person, we’ve opted to share information on each of the literary organizations and authors who had planned to join us below. Please take a moment to learn about the vibrant literary scene right here in Baltimore and support them by reading their publications or spreading the word about what they do.
We’ve also organized a virtual reading with a wonderful group of local writers, which you can watch here: A Celebration of Local Authors.
Thank you for supporting our mission and the voices all around Baltimore!
