Yellow Arrow Publishing Blog

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

Her View Friday

Yellow Arrow Publishing supports women-identifying writers from a wide variety of backgrounds, not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it makes us stronger. Women’s voices have historically been underrepresented in literature, and we aim to elevate those voices and stories through our programs, publications, and support.

Part of our mission in supporting and uplifting women-identifying creatives is to promote the Yellow Arrow community’s individual accomplishments. We’d like to further expand that support and promotion outside of our Yellow Arrow publications. Twice a month, we’d like to give a shout out to those within the Yellow Arrow community who recently published:

single-author publications
single pieces in journals, anthologies, etc., as well as prizes/awards, book reviews, and podcasts/interviews

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

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

“Intervals” by Heather Brown Barrett from Virginia

Genre: poetry

Name of publication: The Ekphrastic Review

Date Released: June 27, 2025

Type of publication: online (scroll down to find the poem)

ekphrastic.net/the-ekphrastic-challenges/kaz-ogino-ekphrastic-writing-responses

Find Heather on Instagram @heatherbrownbarrett.

PRIZES/AWARDS

“Song” by Rebecca Brock from Virginia

Genre: poetry

Name of award: 2025 Lascaux Prize in Poetry from The Lascaux Review

Date: June 26, 2025

lascauxreview.com/contest-results/

Find Rebecca on Instagram @rebecca_brock.writer.

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

Single-author publications: here.

Single pieces as well as prizes/awards, book reviews, and podcasts/interviews: here.

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

*****

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 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 7/8/25 Kapua Iao 7/8/25

Review of God Mornings, Tiger Nights by Nuha Fariha

By Cecelia Caldwell

What does it mean, as a person, to be whole? In her recently published poetry collection, God Mornings, Tiger Nights, Nuha Fariha answers that to be whole is to be an amalgamation of many different pieces.

As a writer myself, I often struggle to decide what to write about. Both the world and my identity boast infinite issues, nuances, and quirks about which I could write, but at the same time I always doubt if there’s any one thing I can write about in a way that is thorough, moving, interesting, and the list goes on. I think I could learn a thing or two from Nuha and her embrace of transforming the disjointed into something whole.

From abecedarians to prose poems, and everything in between, God Mornings, Tiger Nights is just as varied in structure as it is in content. Nuha, in only 55 pages, manages to navigate and explore with nuance her identity as a first generation Bangladeshi American, body image and the ways in which women are perceived and degraded in society, motherhood, racism, and family—the list goes on.

I thoroughly relished my reading experience of this book, though as I sat down to write this review, I struggled to think of what to say. God Mornings, Tiger Nights isn’t really about anything. Rather, it lives and breathes; it meanders down the road that is life and, on its way, manages to paint images that are eloquent and tender yet acerbic and hard hitting at the same time. I direct you first to a passage from “Anthem for a Young Girl with a Positive PPD Test”:

“Your cells are 56,977 miles squared. They are small mountains with rambling goats, dense forests with stalking tigresses, clear lakes with diving kingfishers, algae dappled ponds with swimming monkeys. Your tissues are holy: like the marriage of cardamom, cloves and cinnamon sticks. Your heartbeat is the steady tabla under Ferdous’s callused hands. You are 56,977 miles squared, 3 million people strong. You are a miracle and nothing less.”

Here, Nuha focuses her gaze from the atomic level all the way up to the divine. “Your tissues are holy. You are a miracle and nothing less.” Is there anything more remarkable than that?

In “Shanta in her Kitchen,” Nuha’s words, written in both English and Bengali, invite the reader into the kitchen, allowing us to relish in spellbinding sights, sounds, and aromas:

“Lamb’s breath sauteed with cumin, onions, garlic and green chillis from Aladdin’s Grocery on 14th and Jasper clings to her collar like an expensive perfume. The water hisses when it’s poured over, steam rising in protest. She traps under the lid, allowing a single stream to whistle her a lonely tune.”

Nuha’s lyrical verse has a way of capturing you, sucking you into her world and making sure you’re experiencing everything as if you’re there with her. She is not only a master of imagery, but a master of all the senses, in a way that I’ve rarely seen before. “Shanta in her Kitchen” makes me feel like I’m in a kitchen myself, listening to the sizzle of garlic in oil and inhaling its aromatic sweetness.

“A New Citizenship Test,” in contrast, skews political, as Nuha challenges the United States’ so-called “democratic” structures and practices through a series of rhetorical questions. She especially directs her indictment toward Donald Trump, infusing her searing critique with statistics and fact:

“What are the duties of the President?
To keep peace and unity among the American people.
Who was the only American president to be impeached twice?
Donald Trump.
If over 650 white supremacists convene in one area, plant a bomb, and kill 5 people, what does the President do?
Nothing.”

While Nuha knows how to master subtlety, she simultaneously refuses to shy away from bluntness. It is, in one word, refreshing.

Nuha masters what we all know in our hearts as we move through life: that to exist is both beautiful and tragic. It is to be at peace and angry at the same time. It is to read both poetry and the news. Our lives, then, are not novels; they are not stories to read from beginning to end, and that are tied together by one unifying theme. We are, rather, a collage or a collection of poetry. A bunch of lines, thoughts, and hidden meanings, that come together to form something not quite unified, but still whole.

So, after hours spent mulling over what this collection really means to write a meaningful review, I think I’ve come to an answer. It means nothing specific, really, but at the same time it means everything. To be human is, as Walt Whitman so masterfully put it, to contain multitudes. God Mornings, Tiger Nights, in so few pages, spans an entire universe, and while doing so it manages to fill your nose with beautiful scents and your heart with insurmountable grief.

I leave you with this quote, from Nuha’s “Breathe:”

“Breathe. Carve your name on molten surfaces. Breathe. Breathe. Don’t stop. Breathe and breathe and breathe and breathe”

God Mornings, Tiger Nights was released in August 2023 and is available from Game Over Books at gameoverbooks.com/product-page/god-mornings-tiger-nights.

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

*****

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

Writer’s Block: Wanting to Write But Having Nothing to Say

By Jacqueline Goldman, written February 2025

There’s nothing quite as frustrating as staring at a blank page, fingers hovering over the keyboard, mind utterly empty. You want to write. You sit down to do it. But somehow, nothing comes. Your brain, so full of thoughts just moments ago, has hit an inexplicable wall. It’s frustrating, disheartening, and, if you’re working on a deadline, downright stressful.

Here’s the thing—this happens to every writer. You’re not alone, and you’re certainly not any less of a writer because of it. Even the most seasoned authors, those who have written bestsellers or won literary awards, experience this exact struggle. So, what can you do?

Writer’s block isn’t just about being out of ideas. Sometimes, it’s having too many scattered thoughts that refuse to take shape. Other times, it’s feeling like every idea you have is uninspired or not worth writing about. The irony, of course, is that the best way to overcome writer’s block is to write about it.

That’s exactly what I do. When I feel stuck, I write about being stuck. And in doing so, I inevitably find my way out.

It sounds counterintuitive, but if you don’t know what to say, then say exactly that. Describe the frustration, the blinking cursor, the way your mind feels like a snow globe that refuses to settle. Sometimes, the act of acknowledging the block is enough to loosen its grip. Other times, it’s just the beginning of a longer battle, one that requires patience and a willingness to push forward despite the discomfort.

Next, set small, achievable goals. Instead of pressuring yourself to produce a masterpiece, commit to just writing a sentence. Then another. Give yourself permission to write terribly—because bad words on a page are still words, and they can always be revised later.

If you’re stuck, don’t start with your main project. Instead, try a creative warm up. Freewrite for five minutes about anything, use a writing prompt, or describe a mundane object in extreme detail. Engaging with words in a low-pressure way can help ease you into a more productive mindset. I often find myself writing short poems to begin. These exercises may seem trivial, but they act as mental stretches, preparing your brain for deeper creative work.

Another trick? Change your scenery. Step away from your desk, go for a walk, people watch at a café or switch to pen and paper. A shift in surroundings can do wonders for shaking loose new ideas.

Just this afternoon, when I did this, I found a little nook in the Humanities Department at my school. It looked like something straight out of Harry Potter’s world, and that alone was enough to inspire a new piece of writing. Inspiration often hides in unexpected places—you just have to give yourself the chance to find it.

Speaking of books, read something that inspires you. Sometimes, the best way to get words flowing is to consume good writing. Whether it’s poetry, essays, or even an old piece of your own that you’re proud of, seeing the rhythm of language on the page can help reignite your creative instincts. Reading reminds you why you love words in the first place and can rekindle that spark of motivation.

If writer’s block persists, try writing in a distraction-free environment. In today’s world, distractions are everywhere. Social media, emails, and the endless stream of notifications can make it difficult to focus. Use apps that block notifications, set a timer for focused writing, or go old school with a notebook and pen.

And if that doesn’t work? Step away. If the words refuse to come, let them be. Give yourself permission to do something completely different. Cook a meal, take a shower, doodle in a notebook. Sometimes, the best ideas arrive when you’re not searching for them.

I’ve found that movement often helps. A simple walk outside can do wonders, but if you want to shake things up, try a new form of exercise—I commit to spin classes twice a week and sometimes they’ll have unique and creative themes that get me energized, shaking loose whatever thoughts were stuck in my subconscious.

Another approach is to write from a different perspective. If you feel blocked writing in the first person, try the third. If you’re stuck in prose, switch to poetry. If words aren’t working at all, draw. Creativity is fluid, and sometimes, taking a detour helps you return with fresh eyes.

Think about your favorite writers; chances are, they’ve struggled with this, too. Read their interviews, their essays on writing. Many authors openly discuss their battles with writer’s block and their personal tricks to overcome it. Sometimes, just knowing that even the greats wrestle with the blank page can be comforting.

Try embracing the block instead of fighting it. What if, instead of seeing it as an obstacle, you viewed it as a sign that something inside you needs more time to develop? Not every moment has to be productive. Some of the best writing happens after periods of silence.

Alternatively, when you feel the pressure to create, try to start and explore things from a different point of view. You can avoid the trap of rationalization and instead, find yourself accidentally creating something of value.

Writing is an act of discovery. If you sit down expecting brilliance, you’re setting yourself up for frustration. Instead, treat it as an experiment. What happens if you write without thinking? Without worrying? What if you just let the words lead you?

Once you start, momentum takes over. One sentence leads to another. One thought sparks the next. And before you know it, you’re no longer stuck. You’re writing.

You can do anything for five minutes, right? Well, typing with writer’s block is an uncomfortable feeling—like putting in your eye contacts in the morning. But once you’ve fought through the awkward stage, you can finally see clearly.

Above all when you have writer’s block, be kind to yourself. Writing isn’t about perfection—it’s about showing up. Some days will be harder than others, but if you keep putting words down, even when they feel clumsy or pointless, you’ll break through the block. And before you know it, you’ll be writing again.

Jacqueline Goldman (she/her) is an aspiring publishing professional and junior at Loyola University Maryland pursuing a degree in communication and media with a specialization in journalism and a minor in writing and business journalism. With experience as managing editor-in-chief for The Greyhound, nonfiction editor at Corridors Literary Magazine, and acquisitions editor at Apprentice House Press, she enjoys shaping compelling narratives and pushing the envelope.

*****

Kapua Iao 6/27/25 Kapua Iao 6/27/25

Her View Friday

single-author publications
single pieces in journals, anthologies, etc., as well as prizes/awards, book reviews, and podcasts/interviews

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

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

“Hunting Dog” by Heather Brown Barrett from Virginia

Genre: poetry

Name of publication: The Solitude Diaries (Issue IV: Renascent)

Date Released: June 1, 2025

Type of publication: online

aadams26263.wixsite.com/tsdlitmag

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

Single-author publications: here.

Single pieces as well as prizes/awards, book reviews, and podcasts/interviews: here.

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

*****

Kapua Iao 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 6/17/25 Kapua Iao 6/17/25

A Review of Walk Like the Bird Flies by Susan Ayres

By Elizabeth Ottenritter, written December 2024

Susan Ayres’ Walk Like the Bird Flies is an entrancing collection of poetry, one that speaks to the physicality of landscapes with complex histories. Each poem serves as an exploration of the versatility of nature, meditating on the nature of humans as well. Ayres is a poet, lawyer, and a translator, whose language is reflective of her many areas of expertise. Poems such as “Rain in the Green Mountains” are a reminder as to why every word matters in such a work.

Listen to me

as one listens to the rain

falling in sheets against lightning

and the dark sky.

Ayres’ brilliant sense of place is prominent in “Most People Die Unevolved,” which considers themes of time and selective memory. Ayres allows the past to speak for itself, and yet her perspective carefully brings new questions to light. It is as though one is watching the scenery change over time, slowly, deliberately, and reminiscent of cultures engrained. “EL DIABLO ON INTERSTATE 10” accomplishes something similar when it comes to imagery. This poem could be a commentary on how we attach significance to certain people and the places they have touched:

I have always loved spotting

dirt devils, usually in the distance,

in an otherwise still landscape,

brief dance of dust

and wind reaching up to the sky.

There is a deep sense of loss as it pertains to nature, and Ayres’ portrayal of the people she has come to know is just as thoughtful. “PORT ARANSAS VIGIL” tells a story of death and the human instinct to make sense of dying in the way we know how. The significance of watching dolphins at the pier, searching for the meaning we hope will follow death is not only moving but devastatingly familiar. It is the marking of a great poet to take specific experiences and help the reader see them outlined within their own life.

A poem, such as, “LJUBLJANA MUSIC FESTIVAL” is concerned with the passing of time, a major theme in this collection that often serves as a through line. Ayres can say so much in so little words, reflective of the human life cycle and how fleeting it is. Ayres admits she is “trying to carry less” when it comes to her physical belongings, alluding to what she is carrying beyond the surface level as well. It is a beautiful sentiment, one that appreciates time as a structure yet wrestles with time’s tendency to run out.

Ayres’ and her forms change throughout Walk Like the Bird Flies, with some poems reminiscent of traditional stanzas and others appearing as prose. This can be seen in “FOREIGN CITIES 1,” “FOREIGN CITIES 2,” “FOREIGN CITIES 3,” and “FOREIGN CITIES 4,” which offer revelations on traveling and its particulars. Her words are an account, painting Ayres as less of a tourist and more of a witness. She opens up a broader discussion of history and ethics, detailing the routines of fellow visitors.

You’re as empty as the waves that will lull you to sleep.

The poem “TROUVELOT’S CRATER,” a five-part end to this collection, is an epic culmination of history, science, and nature, and how they often contradict each other. The human impact on nature, waging war on something as small as the gypsy moth, is an immediate takeaway. Ayres aims to say something deeper about interconnectedness, tying hard facts into the lyrical almost effortlessly.

Walk Like the Bird Flies is a compelling read, and an important one. Ayres’ love of language, her wit, and perpetual interest in the surrounding world can be seen in every line. Her experiences translate well to the page, turning the reader toward landscapes both familiar and unfamiliar, asking them to be attentive to both the big and the small.

Elizabeth Ottenritter (she/her) is a senior at Loyola University Maryland, where she studies writing. She is passionate about reading, crafting poetry, contributing to Loyola’s literary art magazine, Corridors, and traveling worldwide. Upon graduation, Elizabeth hopes to continue her learning and love of language.

*****

Kapua Iao 6/10/25 Kapua Iao 6/10/25

Truth & Love: A Conversation with Tramaine Suubi

By Melissa Nunez, written March 2025

we are ruthless and raw
we are vengeance
with or without the lord
we turn conquest to consequence
wipe that jungle fever off your face
we are black girl juju
we are ranavalona (1778)

“long live the queen”
Cincinnati Review

Tramaine Suubi is a multilingual writer from Kampala who serves as managing editor of Writivism. She was a writer-in-residence for Yellow Arrow Publishing in 2023 and guest editor of Yellow Arrow Journal kitalo, Vol. IX, No. 2, fall 2024. Her firm beliefs in maternal community, self-reflection and self-love, and the liberation of all oppressed people make her a pivotal voice in the writing world.

Melissa Nunez, Yellow Arrow interviewer, and Tramaine met over Zoom this past January to discuss her journey as a writer, the rich impact of multilingualism on writing, and the importance of uplifting women’s stories and voices.

How did you first connect with Yellow Arrow? Can you describe your experience as a writer in residence?

I was first introduced to Yellow Arrow through a colleague of mine in my MFA program. They sent me a flyer about the writer-in-residence program because they knew I’d be in Baltimore. I thought, “Sure. Why not apply?” I was grateful to have my application accepted. Experiencing that support and community in the time of pandemic was beautiful and restorative for me. Learning more about Yellow Arrow, especially in the culmination of the residency, was a life-giving experience. In February, they hosted a reading for me at Bird in Hand and gave me access to workshops. I unfortunately did not take advantage of the workshops. But getting to know Annie [Marhefka] was a real gift. I really appreciate her and her vision, and it felt natural when they reached out to me last summer to offer my time and my space as a guest editor. They foster a continued connection and relationship with writers better than most writing organizations I’ve encountered.

What was your experience as a guest editor? What insights do you have for future guest editors and submitters?

Serving as guest editor was a humbling experience. I serve as an editor for Writivism, which is a literary organization that aspires to publish an annual anthology (including nonfiction, fiction, and poetry) supporting African diasporic writers. I came into the role with some experience, but I think it’s so different doing it for a magazine that publishes more than once a year, especially in a space where there are themes to consider. The selection process was about which pieces are the most relevant to the theme. Then it became, of these that are the most relevant, which are the strongest. That put me in a difficult place as a writer and editor, where I would see some incredible pieces and feel so heartbroken to acknowledge they did not fit the issue. The theme was about grief, kitalo, and so another interesting factor for me was making sure there was a holistic spectrum of grief in the issue. There was an imbalance of what kinds of grief were received, even though the prompt called to the whole spectrum of grief. People still lean toward grieving the deaths of loved ones. It was refreshing to receive responses to grieving pets and grieving relationships that have ended—not just romantic ones. Some of the most interesting pieces to me were people grieving past selves or grieving past lives or grieving past homes—that felt rich and resonant for me as an immigrant. I really did my best to make sure all the pieces were thematic. All the pieces were holistic in the nature of grief they chose to address or represent.

It was also important for me that we not only had racial and ethnic diversity but also diversity of age and ability. There were so many things that went into my process. I’m a highly strategic person. I live at the intersection of five different marginalized identities so I’m intentional about making sure that I curate inclusive spaces, not just for the sake of inclusion but for the sake of celebration and quality. I think we really lose quality when we’re not inclusive. I think we can lose celebration when we’re not inclusive intentionally. So that was a part of my selection process, and it really did mean that every piece that was selected fully earned its space in the issue. There were also plenty of pieces that were not selected that fully had earned a space, perhaps in a future issue of Yellow Arrow Journal.

It is so important to know as readers who may have submitted for this issue that grief is such a sensitive, loaded conversation and topic. I think every piece that was submitted has a space in a journal somewhere. I think some people were incredibly vulnerable and really challenging in their submissions, and as someone who’s received over a hundred rejection letters to different magazines, journals, and anthologies that I’ve submitted to, it was so humbling to flip the script as an editor and read such a range of submissions. Knowing there is a limit on how many essays and poems can be published, I cannot emphasize enough how much every piece that is submitted was a signal of bravery and a signal of vulnerability that is invaluable. The way pieces are rejected has so little to do with the writer themselves, and one of the best things you can do for yourself as a writer is just try, try again.

Who are some of your favorite or most inspiring women-identified writers?

I am in awe of June Jordan and her commitment to justice and love. Another writer I’m inspired by is Octavia Butler. The Parable of the Sower and The Parable of the Talents absolutely blew me away and totally reshaped how I think about organizing in community, community care, and collectivism. Yesika Salgado is inspiring to me in her love for Echo Park, for women, and for ferocity. She is the only writer of whom I’ve read all her books. She’s a Los Angeles native and she is just so committed to her El Salvadoran community and her Los Angeles community.

What first led you to writing?

I came to writing in my early 20s as a baby poet. I did not start writing creatively and regularly until I was an undergrad. Part of what led to that was my frustration with journaling. I’ve tried so hard with written and even audio journaling. It’s just so hard for me to maintain a regular practice, so I think I came to poetry from a place of humility and curiosity. I was older, I feel, than most poets are, and it was just a beautiful, safe space for me to explore and be experimental. Some of my earliest poems make me cringe, and that’s okay. I was cringe, but I was free. Poetry is my vehicle for truth. Truth is the most important thing to me in this life, and I think truth and love are synonymous. I found that I very much was the chameleon in most spaces I was in. I was a drifter, a floater, very much a social butterfly. I don’t think any of my close friends could tell you who Tramaine was. In poetry I found a space to just be whatever version of Tramaine I was in that moment and have that be enough. I did not have to hedge, or qualify, or explain it. Poetry was a space of freedom. Since then, I’ve explored fiction and I’m now slowly exploring personal essays and nonfiction.

i want to be stronger, for you, than you
will ever be. maybe i can lose
the early hours of day lying
with you, not to you. perhaps
your lifelong curls should remain

“delilah lets go”
Equatorial, Issue Six

I love alternate tales, especially those featuring women. I wholly enjoyed your poem, “delilah lets go.” What drew you to the character of Delilah?

I was raised in a strict Pentecostal household. My theological background is rich and expansive. I took 16 credits of theological courses in undergrad, and I’ve just always been deeply fascinated by the Abrahamic religions: who has a voice and who doesn’t, who tells their own story and who doesn’t, and who tells their story for them if they don’t. The Bible has 66 books and of those only two are named after women, Ruth and Esther, and they still don’t tell their own stories. I was always fascinated by who was villainized and who wasn’t in the Bible. Being raised in this strict bubble of purity culture (which, thank God, has since burst, and I’m doing a lot of healing in that area of my life), I was always stunned by how one-dimensional Delilah was. I was always confused by how singular Jezebel was. I was always fascinated by how people, women who are not wives and mothers, are treated in our storytelling and in our religions as humans. It was interesting to me that Delilah was at fault for her man planting his own downfall. There is so much tension in the story of this woman who was othered. She wasn’t Jewish; she was a Gentile. She was ‘unclean.’ There are other versions of the story where she was a sex worker! “This was intentional. She was plotting Samson’s downfall.” But as referenced in my poem, I think what solidified my draw and interest in Delilah is the song, Samson by Regina Spektor. If you’ve not listened to it, I highly recommend it.

I have always been fascinated by retellings, especially those of powerful women in history, pivotal women. We have authors like Jennifer Saint, who’s written Ariadne, and most recently, Hera. It’s just interesting to me how Delilah is this one-dimensional villainized character. That’s too easy, friends! Do we actually think that’s all there was to her? Who were her parents? Did she have siblings? What did she want in this relationship? Why did she cut the hair? Why is she so maligned for that? Where was she when Samson brought down the entire temple? Was she looking from afar? I have always taught my students (in sixth grade, ninth grade, and 12th grade English) to ask crucial questions of who is telling the story. Who is it for and who are we not hearing in the story? Delilah felt so emblematic of that to me. So yes, there is a Delilah poem, and I love that poem so much. But I want to see a Jezebel poem. I want to see a Bathsheba poem. I want to see a Tamar poem. I want to see alternative Mary poems. Who are these convenient women that we so clearly assign a role without giving thought to their hopes, their fears, their wants, their needs, their humanity?

I also read “tandem” from Sonora Review, and I love the phrase that you used, “mother each other.” Ideally, what would, or could it look like for women today to embrace that mentality?

The most important thing in life to me is friendship. I think friendship can show up in every relationship that we have with ourselves, with others, with the divine. I think one of the most profound places for restoration is motherhood and our mother-wounds that we all carry as human beings. Having learned of the phenomenon of chosen family and experienced it in real time, it’s been a gift to be mothered by the women I love that I’ve chosen to be present with me in my life. It’s been an honor for them to let me mother them. Another way to view that line is oftentimes, I think young girls and young women of color are parentified. Many of us, if you read acknowledgments, speeches, gratitudes, there’s often somewhere in there a “thank you” for an older sibling who parented you. I think that was a thought I was having when I wrote that line. And perhaps a third thought is what it means when it feels like it’s just the two of you against the world. This is a binary and is an oversimplification of perhaps a codependence, but how beautiful to care for each other in a way that a mother couldn’t or didn’t. In a healthy way, of course. We don’t want codependence; we want interdependence. What a beautiful way to mother each other and fill in the gaps where the mother may have fallen short.

laughing offbeat
but dreaming as one
so, we mother

each other
& take turns
flying off the
radar

“tandem”
Sonora Review

Could you share any writing rituals you may practice?

I actually love rituals but I’m a-ritualistic in my writing. Ever since I began writing more seriously as a creative writer at 20, I saw my writing as something to be protected. I didn’t want it to become a rigid practice in my life I was beholden to. I very intentionally never want to rely on my creative writing for my income. I think there are some writers who can do that and do that well, but I don’t think I’m one of them. I do have a few irregular practices I can think of.

I have a note on my notes app where I write down and date fragments. I also use my birthday, as opposed to December 31 or January 1, as placeholders for things to get done. I organize all my poetry in folders based on my birthdays and when it’s coming close, I sit with all those fragments and see if there is a poem I missed. I keep a word bank in my Google Drive of amazing words I’ve come across and have either never heard or never used in a poem before. A fourth writing ritual is one that is unintentional. I tend to live a lot of my life in twos. I don’t know what to do with that. I don’t know what that means or where it’s from, but I’ve noticed there’s a lot of pairs in my writing. There are poem pairs and a pattern of pairs within a poem. I’m noticing now, even as an emerging fiction and nonfiction writer, I’m still drawn to dualities and binaries. This feels contradictory because I’m all about breaking the binary: there are multitudes! But some part of my humanity or creativity is just so drawn to the opposite, to the binary and to the dual, and I think that’s probably why I strive to break it down so much in my writing.

How does multilingualism inhabit your writing? Do you feel that learning new languages, changes the way you think about and relate to words and the page?

Absolutely. I don’t know how learning a new language wouldn’t show up in a writer’s work, and I think I would question it if it didn’t. I speak four languages. I don’t have writing fluency in all four, but I do have speaking and listening fluency in all four. My languages are English, French, and my parents’ two indigenous languages, Luganda and Runyankore. My father tongue Luganda is the language that inspired the theme I chose as guest editor, kitalo. I think something beautiful and heartbreaking about language is it’s finite. We just do not have all the words for all the experiences we would like to, in one language. It’s limited. I think it took a long time for me to accept that. My multilingualism has really stepped in for me and filled gaps that I experienced in my most frequently used language of English. It’s in my poems in my collection that’s coming out this month. There’s multilingualism in a good chunk of them. It’s so funny because I learned English, Luganda, and Runyankole at the same time and so I felt like the most complete conversations I could have were with my parents and my older sister, who also speak the three languages. I could just weave in and out of it seamlessly, like “Oh, I don't have the word for this in English, but I have it in Luganda. Oh, I don’t quite have it in Luganda, but I have it in Runyankore.” Actually, my dad does not speak Runyankore well. It’s just my mother and my older sister who share that with me, and that created a beautiful intimacy. Transferring that to my writing was unavoidable. It had to be multilingual. That’s just such a big part of how I experience the world. I dream in four languages, why wouldn’t I write in four languages? It is interesting because French is a learned language for me, so I feel less comfort and less inheritance there. But I think the more I learn it, the more I feel comfortable claiming it and weaving it in here. I had a poem that actually started in French and then I just translated to English. That was a really beautiful moment of this language becoming a part of my spirit and my mind. Multilingual speakers have this whole other world they have access to. I think it’s an enhancement to any creative writing, and I think it’s really challenged me as a writer in a really good way.

Do you have any advice for women writers specifically on how to balance the mental gymnastics we often face with the necessary work in our lives?

I think it’s really humbling to receive that question, because I feel I’m so early in my journey as a woman and a writer. As someone who loves so many women and is very much a girl’s girl, I’ve had the time and space to observe that a lot of the mental gymnastics around being a woman has something to do with children. Whether it’s having them, not having them, trying to have them, trying not to have them—especially with [the current world situation] and how [people] seek to control women’s bodies more. I do not have a child and have the privilege of access to full reproductive care, but I think my advice would be to listen to yourself. Some people might misconstrue that and think they should listen and immediately follow. I didn’t say to follow everything yourself is saying. I said to listen to yourself, perhaps in lieu of quotes like, “follow your gut” or “follow your heart.” That is all nuanced and complicated. I’ve just noticed that so many women, especially nonwriters, really don’t hear themselves. If they do hear themselves, they don’t make it a daily practice to listen to themselves whether that’s mentally, emotionally, physically, or spiritually. We cannot control our thoughts always, but I think it’s really important to be tapped into them. What is my body telling me right now? What is my mind telling me right now? What is my spirit telling me right now? What are my feelings saying? You don’t have to follow what they’re saying. You don’t have to act on what they’re saying, but there’s so much to be said for self-awareness. Hopefully, once you’ve learned how to listen to yourself, I believe the second piece of advice I would give is to forgive yourself. I think so much of what I see amongst women amongst writers, and especially amongst women writers, is just a deep guilt and a deep shame. I’m sitting as someone who very much is a recovering people pleaser and a recovering perfectionist. Society imposes so much guilt and shame already we don’t need to be adding on to that ourselves. I think there’s a certain power and humility that’s been lost because women have not been taught to or encouraged to forgive ourselves. Once you learn how to listen to yourself and to forgive yourself, you become so much more open to all of who you are. I think once you’re more open to all of who you are, you’re better able to love yourself. Once you’re better able to love yourself, you’re better able to love others. I believe truth is love, and love is truth. Those are my highest ideals. Even though I love writing, I really wish that more women writers knew how to listen to themselves and actively did it. I wish they knew how to forgive themselves, and actively did it. And I think there’s a great poem that encapsulates what I mean by that second piece of advice. It’s called “Things it will take 20 years and a bad liver to work out.” It’s by Yrsa Daly-Ward: “You’d better learn to forgive yourself. Forgive yourself instantly. It’s a skill you’re going to need until you die.” I was so inspired by that. I believe you can forgive others and love others without loving yourself or forgiving yourself. But I think many women would have much richer lives and be much richer writers if we would listen to and forgive ourselves. You cannot be everything to everybody. I think I’m still learning that. Every time I find myself punishing myself or having really negative self-talk about failing to fill a role I thought I was supposed to fill, I think of Mary Oliver’s poem “Wild Geese.” That first line just anchors me: “You do not have to be good.” I wish more women knew they do not have to be good. They just have to let the soft animal of their body “love what it loves.”

& bending over backwards on cue
i do not weave tightrope anymore
my feet are reacquainted with rest
i do not miss the spiraling

“mental gymnastics”
Prompt Press

Can you share a little bit about your upcoming book Phases?

The whole process has felt surreal. phases is my debut and comes out in two weeks. It’s a full-length poetry collection of about a hundred poems. They were written anywhere from eight to four years ago. It’s so bizarre reading that book because I feel like I’m not even that person anymore. I was much younger, more stubborn, more ambitious, and surer of myself. Now I’m older and less ambitious. I’m less sure of myself and not in any self-defeating way. The older I get, the more questions I have and the less answers I’m finding. So, publishing phases has been such a process of listening to myself and forgiving myself because I’m just not that girl anymore. And that’s okay. I’m doing my best to love her and honor where she was when she wrote these poems of heartbreak and healing.

Can you share a bit more about your work with Writivism?

Writivism (which is an obvious blend of writing and activism) is a fairly young organization that was founded in 2013 in Uganda, which is where I was born, by Dr. Bwesigye Bwa Mwesigire. He’s currently an assistant professor in one of the California state universities. I think it’s Dominguez Hills, which is actually a Hispanic Serving Institution. He really had a vision of just challenging writers in Africa and the diaspora to push back against systems of oppression, colonization, and prejudice overall. To come from a place like Uganda, which is heavily censored, really living through an intense period of oppression, he unfortunately had to go on hiatus in 2019. It was really important to revamp it when we did in 2024, or 2023, just in time for the 10-year anniversary. I was brought on and was appointed as the managing editor, unpaid. It’s a small team. It’s a labor of love. We’re all in different parts of the world, all four of us. I’m really looking forward to publishing the backlog of works that were not published in between that hiatus, and I’m really excited to share with the world our 2023 anthology. We’re currently just taking a break trying to fundraise more. I don’t know how Yellow Arrow does it. I have so much respect for y’all. It’s a tougher time in the world where I think, almost just globally, the arts are being suppressed, if not blatantly attacked. Finding the resources has been difficult, but we’re optimistic. We hope to start back again with regular annual publishing in 2026. It’s been a transformative and enlightening experience.

Are there any comments or topics that I might not have touched on that are important for you to share with our readers?

I would like to emphasize that rejections of your writing are not rejections of you as a person. Your piece and the timing are being rejected for that collection. That is not a forever thing. I just really want writers to internalize that. It was really important for me as a writer and then as an editor to understand that.

Another thing I wanted to say is that individualism will not save us. We need each other. I don’t want to encourage this codependence, but I wish there was more interdependence amongst women writers. We are so much more powerful together than alone.

I also want to thank Yellow Arrow Journal for lifting up my voice and lifting up the voices of other women writers who are actively being violently oppressed in Sudan, in Kongo, in Tigray, in Falestin. I cannot tell you how powerful and how much of a lifeline writing has been for me and many of these women. I hope that one day we are all free.

You can purchase a copy of Yellow Arrow Journal kitalo, Vol. IX, No. 2, guest edited by Tramaine at the Yellow Arrow bookstore. You can secure a copy of Tramaine’s debut collection phases from Harper Collins and several online bookstores and follow her work on her website tramainesuubi.com/about.

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

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.

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 joined the Yellow Arrow community when her piece “Bitter / Sweet” was included in Yellow Arrow Journal kitalo Vol. IX, No. 2. You can find her at sarajstreeter.com.

*****

Kapua Iao 5/27/25 Kapua Iao 5/27/25

Best Places to Write and Read in the Baltimore Area

By Gabby Granillo, written March 2025

Baltimore, as I have come to know it, is nothing short of lively, eclectic, and cozy. Reading and writing are two of my favorite things to do and when I have the time, these are my favorite local cafés and small businesses I like to support. Having a safe space to read comfortably, write your next novel, or plan some prose for your next reading is important!

Good Neighbor

Right off the bat, the name is quite fitting. Good Neighbor is a hole in the wall that is bright with large bay windows and found in Hampden, Baltimore. It is typically not loud in noise level, aside from your expected chatter between barista and customer. The seats are very comfy, but everything is first come, first serve. This location is good for both reading and writing, however if you are an individual who needs silence to focus, this is not the place for you. Desperate to try it out anyway? Invest in noise canceling headphones and you’ll be set for hours. If you are not looking to get takeout or order a coffee on the go, I recommend getting there shortly after opening and parking yourself in a chair to read and write. Make a day out of it!

When the weather obliges, Good Neighbor has outdoor seating to accommodate more guests, however, the patio is closed late fall to early spring. Another incentive to visit Good Neighbor is their newly established shoppable hotel, called guesthouse, designed for staycations, rejuvenations, and creative writing retreats. They offer weekday discounts, free daily coffee for specific bookings, and gift cards!

Hours of Operation:

Monday–Wednesday | 7:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

Thursday–Friday | 7:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.

Saturday–Sunday | 8:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.

Location: 3827 Falls Road, Baltimore, Maryland 21211

goodneighborshop.com

Artifact Coffee

A unique artifact indeed! This is one of Baltimore’s best hidden gems. Free Wi-Fi, seasonal menus, handcrafted beverages, and plenty of seating: this has to be your next stop! The rustic and warm environment inside makes this a perfect place for writing inspiration, while the outdoor seating is great for catching rays with your favorite book. The noise level varies depending on the time of day and whether it’s a weekend. Many locals visit Artifact to grab a coffee and stay for the ambiance.

While Artifact is popular, you will never feel out of place in this coffee shop; friendly staff, intimate lighting, and comfortable seating make this an unparalleled experience. Its sister restaurant, Woodberry Kitchen, would also be a perfect place to host a poetry reading or book launch: they have extensive seating, a large cocktail and refreshment menu, with devoted staff and chefs to make your experience unforgettable.

Hours of Operation:

Monday–Friday | 8:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.

Saturday–Sunday | 8:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.

Location: 1500 Union Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland 21211

artifactcoffee.com

Bird in Hand

Bird in Hand is one of Yellow Arrow’s favorite partners to work with; the absolute best place to host a poetry reading, journal about your day, catch up with a fellow author, or write poetry independently. Located on the outskirts of Johns Hopkins University, it is a hub for writers, coffee lovers, and busy students. Bird in Hand doubles as a bookstore with walls lined with novels, ensuring visitors feel immersed and cozy. They have ample seating both inside and outdoors on their elevated patio.

The menu at Bird in Hand is what draws in many visitors as well! Between serving locally crafted coffee, a tea bar, and specialty spirits, they have everything. They offer breakfast meals, sandwiches, salads, and a snack for everyone. The noise level is not excessive, but far from silent. Being a busy spot, I would recommend cozying up in the corner to read or write alone but sitting at any table when working on group projects or meeting a friend.

Hours of Operation:

Sunday–Tuesday | 8:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.

Wednesday–Saturday | 8:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m.

Location: 11 E 33rd Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21218

birdinhandcafe.com

Pitango Bakery & Cafe Fells Point

A favorite of mine is Pitango Bakery & Cafe in Fells Point. Situated right on the water with lots of sunlight and extensive indoor and outdoor seating make this café paramount. This place is fitting for individuals who like to write and read at all hours of the day. With long hours every day of the week, a central location to shops, restaurants, and good views, Pitango is perfect.

Their menu caters to focusing on honest ingredients, inspired by authentic Italian cuisine, paralleling their attention to detail at Pitango Gelato, their sister shop.

Pitango Bakery’s vibe is light, fresh, and comfortable. You will not have trouble finding a seat with ample room, as Pitango caters to all kinds of customers: families, locals, and tourists, and it’s the perfect date location!

Hours of Operation:

Sunday–Tuesday | 7:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m.

Wednesday–Saturday | 7:00 a.m.–10:00 p.m.

Location: 903 S Ann Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21231

pitangogelato.com/location/pitango-bakery-cafe

Enoch Pratt Library

A must for any Baltimore resident, Enoch Pratt Library is a free, intellectually stimulating, and comfortable environment to write your next novel or poetry composition. The silence this spot has to offer is important and one of its best features as a reading and writing spot. They offer an online catalogue to conduct research, spark your imagination, and access audiobooks!

With long hours and hundreds of seats, make sure to take advantage of this wonderful resource: free Wi-Fi, job and career assistance, photocopier and printing services, computers for public use, and ADA/handicap accessible.

Hours of Operation:

Monday–Thursday | 10:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m.

Friday–Saturday | 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

Location: Central Library 400 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21201

prattlibrary.org/locations/central

The Bun Shop

The Bun Shop is a must-visit café in Mount Vernon, with late-night hours and an extensive selection of snacking buns. This is one of Baltimore’s most unique spots, praised by customers as cozy, inclusive, and friendly. The Bun Shop is great for reading and writing, with an ambiance that will most definitely inspire your latest works. With jazz playing on the overhead speakers, and plenty of outlets, this café creates community and inspires creativity. They have free Wi-Fi, vegan food options, and plentiful seating.

Catch up with friends, grab a bite to eat, or camp out at a table finishing your writing drafts! With seating indoors and a patio outside, take advantage of this adorable Baltimore café.

Hours of Operation:

Sunday–Saturday | 8:00 a.m.–3:00 a.m.

Location: 239 W Read Street, Baltimore, Maryland 212101

thebunshop.feastbuffet.site

If you’re looking for more places to check out, check out Siobhan McKenna’s blog from a few years ago: https://www.yellowarrowpublishing.com/news/inspiring-locations-to-write-baltimore-mckenna. Where do you choose to write in Baltimore?

Gabrielle Granillo is studying English and writing at Loyola University Maryland, minoring in environmental science and art. Raised in Arizona, with much of her family still on the west coast, she now lives in central Massachusetts, her home for the past 12 years. She aims to live in northern Europe after graduation and receive a master’s degree in photojournalism. Gabby spends her days reading Irish novels, practicing street photography, and trying out new recipes. Her three favorite things are hot tea, antiquing, and road trips. She looks forward to making valuable contributions to the Yellow Arrow team, as a woman-identifying writer herself, looking to explore further editorial practices and enhance her voice using inspiration of her fellow staff members.

*****

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 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 5/13/25 Kapua Iao 5/13/25

You published a book… What’s next?

By Ashley Elizabeth, written January 2025

You’ve done it.

From drafting your manuscript to editing, to editing again, to putting it away, then editing again, through submissions and rejections, then finally: that acceptance email comes. You’ve gone through the secrecy stage (or at least I did) until the press announces its next selections. Then you’re thrust back into editing. At least this time the next thing to do is cover design, interior layout, exterior layout, asking for blurbs, etc.—but you get it. The list goes on and on as to all the work required for your book to exist in your readers’ hands.

So, what do you do when the book is actually out?

The truth is what comes next is a personal decision, but one that should align with what you want of the manuscript. This is much easier than it sounds.

By the end of 2023, I knew that I would have two collections coming out in 2024: my debut full-length collection, A Family Thing, and my third chapbook, CHARM(ed). That said, I already knew I had a daunting task ahead of me since these two collections were vastly different thematically, and I felt like there was no connecting thread to market them together. I also wanted better for these two collections than what my first two collections garnered, so I knew I had to get to planning early, but what did “wanting better” mean?

It took a while for me to answer that specific question, but in the end, I came up with three wants: more visibility, more celebrations, and more spaces to share my work. I applied for various places to assist in widening my reach outside of Twitter/X, but to no avail, so I got even busier reaching out to venues I had read at previously and even being brave and contacting new ones to book readings or see how I could get involved. While some places said they had no openings for the year, they put me on their list for 2025, and I was grateful.

Alone, this one act combined more visibility and more spaces to share. While yes, this was a want of mine, it also was frightening for someone with social anxiety, but let’s consider this a challenge in the right direction.

Being a poet with these incredibly high expectations of myself, adding that to being a middle school educator comes with its own set of goals, challenges, and expectations. While managing the balance between edits of two different manuscripts in addition to my full-time job and other life events like one of my students stealing my car, I was continuing to submit work outside of these manuscripts and then the unthinkable happened: another chapbook of mine, red line, was accepted for publication—also in 2024.

A Family Thing was due to come out in August, and CHARM(ed) in November, so for red line to be slated for October rose internal panic because it meant that much more work had to be done. It also meant when I book events in the city talking about my experiences as an educator, I have to watch how I approach what I say, which is not so fun (red line covers part of my life as an educator after losing two of my students, my lens as a Black educator in a formerly white-led school, our lockdown situation, and my unconventional ways in the classroom).

But I don’t shy away from challenges: I embrace them.

For people with day jobs, writing by itself can feel like something you don’t have enough time for, let alone all these other moving parts. I would have loved to go coast to coast spreading my voice, but my reality isn’t set up that way as someone with such a demanding career and family life.

There have been times along my publishing journey this year that have veered me into the lane of giving up one, the other, or both, but that wouldn’t have been fair to my readers or my students, those who I continue to work for every day. It also wouldn’t have been fair to me. Since I was younger, I dreamt of becoming an author. Writing, especially writing my subject matter, is good work. Messy work at times, but good, important work.

So, after the collections came out and I spoke at all the planned readings and other engagements I had except for one due to illness, what was there to do?

I didn’t have to wait long to find my answer: After A Family Thing released, school was quickly starting and my car got stolen again, so I had life issues to worry about. After red line released, I picked up a terrible illness from school and was sick for several weeks where I was mainly focused on my health, which then also ran into the release of CHARM(ed) where I was starting to feel better but then ran into issues at school.

I haven’t touched much on the celebrations behind these publications because I consider each time I get to read from them to be a celebration of sorts, especially when I consider the themes within each manuscript. I made it through everything A Family Thing talks about, which is a celebration. Putting a good word into the atmosphere about Baltimore in CHARM(ed) is a celebration when people do nothing but try to destroy it (though I did treat myself to a chicken box and half-and-half both when I got the acceptance and when it was released). Uplifting my deceased scholars that I discuss in red line will also always be an honor and celebration as to know them, to say their names is a privilege.

Now if you asked me, “What do I recommend doing after publishing a book?” I could say take yourself on a solo date, eat a piece or two or five of your favorite cake, rest, dance in your underwear, call your sister and yap for two hours about everything and nothing, order your favorite takeout, marathon your favorite shows that you’ve seen maybe one too many times.

What I’m going to say is: Give yourself credit. You have created something no one in this world has. You have used your voice to speak up and out about something you believe in and that is probably the greatest, bravest thing you could ever do.

In short, what comes next is up to you. There is no right or wrong to your next steps, or any mandated steps for that matter, but whatever you decide to do, enjoy the journey. You’ve earned it, however “it” looks for you.

Ashley Elizabeth (she/her) is a winner of the 2024 Garden Party Collective Chapbook Contest. She is a Pushcart-nominated writer and teacher whose work has appeared in SWWIM, Voicemail Poems, Rigorous, and Sage Cigarettes, among others. Ashley is the author of A Family Thing (Redacted Books/ELJ Editions, 2024) and chapbooks red line (Garden Party Collective, 2024), CHARM(ed) (fifth wheel press, 2024), black has every right to be angry (Alternating Current, 2023), and you were supposed to be a friend (Nightingale & Sparrow, 2020). When she isn't teaching, reading, or writing, Ashley works as chapbook editor at Sundress Publications. She lives on the original land of the Piscataway (Baltimore, Maryland) with her partner and their cats.

*****

Kapua Iao 5/6/25 Kapua Iao 5/6/25

Poetry as it is, as I love it

By Elizabeth Ottenritter, written November 2024

“If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can ever warm me,

I know that is poetry.”

– Emily Dickinson

They say poetry is the only form of literary art that is for no one but the poet themself. This undeniable notion is what had drawn me to poetry in late high school. At first, I thought that poetry always had to rhyme, skipping stanzas to accomplish a consistent sound above all else. I would open my notes app and type something candid, and vaguely lyrical. My first poem was written on March 8, 2020, ironically titled “Thanksgiving.” I won’t expose my young self just yet, but the content was centered around my first love, who I never dated. The repetitiveness of this in my mind was surprisingly easy to put into words. Then, I was slowly able to move into free-verse after discovering poetry doesn’t owe a rhyme—it doesn’t owe anything at all.

I didn’t tell anyone about my sudden interest in the genre nor did I show anyone what I had been writing in fear it would go misunderstood. At the time, I had been trudging through a brutal senior year of high school that had been entirely online due to COVID. I often felt lonely, confused, and undeserving, which reflected in the subjects I’d write about as a subconscious form of consolation. In no way does poetry always come from such circumstances. Some of my favorite poems are about very pleasant things. I found comfort in writing my feelings, which allowed me to better understand myself in return.

I was admitted to Loyola University Maryland that spring and chose to major in writing. While the writing major is an uncommon track at most universities, I felt a sudden surge of confidence during my first semester of college. Writing had been the only thing I never minded looking at or putting time into. In December of that year, I saw that our literary art magazine at Loyola, Corridors, was accepting submissions for their spring issue. I nervously submitted two poems, thinking neither would be taken to publication, but I had nothing to lose anyway. That March, I received an email that changed my life, reading Congratulations! and We would like to accept “Dear Sun” and “No Nutrition.” I waited until I got to hold the publication in my hands and saw my printed work. I even read my poem “Dear Sun” at the release party, my shyness slowly dissipating for good. I was finally in the right place.

Three years later, I am still in love with poetry and language. I am enamored with those who have the talent to create, what I like to call “portrait poems” with words that depict how something appears visually. A good example of this would come from poet Jane Hirschfield and her book The October Palace. Hirschfield’s language is transparent as though you were looking at the hidden wonders of the world through clear glass. Her poetry is a homage to what is around her; there is a physicality to everything she writes. I enjoy Hirschfield’s poem “Page” for how particular and hard-hitting the lines are:

It waits for the old

to grow young, fed and unfearful,

for freighters to carry their hold-held oil

back into unfractured ground,

for fires to return

their shoeboxes of photos and risen homes

Poems such as these are easy to be inspired by and difficult to write. I admire U.S. poet laureate Ada Limón for this reason. Her ability to bend structure to her will is compelling, as is her way of redefining what poetry may look like within her forms. Limón’s poems “Calling Things What They Are” and “The Hurting Kind” are especially reflective of this.

Often, the poetry and art that I respond to is more self-centered. I am drawn to confessional, personal anecdotes that aim to say something larger than the work itself. I like poems about specific experiences—but ones that speak to universal experiences simultaneously.

The first poem I ever loved was “Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allan Poe. I remember sitting in my middle school English class, holding back tears over the final line: “In her tomb by the sounding sea.” I didn’t understand why the words had upset me so viscerally. It might have been the building repetition of “Annabel Lee,” the closeness you feel to her through the eyes of Poe, how you never get to know her outside of him, her sudden untimely death and the terrifying notion that love lasts forever. All these concepts, new to me at the time, were the foundation for my interest in writing the human experience. While not everyone has buried a lover in a sepulchre by the sea, most can relate to losing someone they love. A poem has this remarkable ability, one that allows you to see what is already there, as well as the invisible strings that bind us together.

A song has a similar effect. Poetry and music are intertwined for me—much of my poetry has been inspired by music. I am not musically inclined, and I am aware that songwriting has a different intention than poetry, as it is written to accompany music for wide audiences. Even still, many of my favorite recording artists are beautiful writers who are also gifted with the talent for music. For some of my most listened-to songs, I could read the lyrics as a poem itself. Take, for instance, the song “Chelsea” by Phoebe Bridgers.

You are somebody’s baby

Some mother held you near

No, it’s not important

They’re just pretty words, my dear

There is no distraction

That can make me disappear

No, there’s nothin’ that won’t remind you

I will always be right here

When it comes to discovering new and old poetry, I am a big fan of the classic Poetry Foundation website. They post a poem of the day, often coinciding with holidays, historical events, and poets’ anniversaries. Often, I will get distracted on my laptop and find myself lost in a collection of poems on various subjects, like autumn or love. The New Yorker has an excellent fiction and poetry collection as well, which is always changing to highlight a wide range of voices.

As much as poetry is for the writer, it is meant to be shared. I have found both clarity and inspiration while workshopping my own poetry, as well as the poems of others. Art has always been a source of bonding. When something is close to your heart, there is a tendency to hide it within yourself. A poem, piece of prose, or even a song can challenge this notion, as our words live well beyond us. My grandmother passed away this summer, and while we remember her for so many things, she had signs hanging in her house that were so her. One read, “I was so far behind I thought I was first.” We smile when we remember those words and how they have touched us, and that is poetry to me.

*****

Kapua Iao 4/29/25 Kapua Iao 4/29/25

The Power of Being Heard: A Voice for Women with Traumatic Pasts

By Julie Alden Cullinane, written November 2024

The ability to have one’s voice heard is more than just a privilege; it is an act of defiance, survival, and healing, especially for women who have endured trauma. As the author of Ghosts Only I Can See (2024), I have found that sharing my story not only liberates me but also empowers others. My mission is to be a voice for women with traumatic pasts, especially those who have survived childhood trauma. Through writing and witnessing, I aim to dismantle the silence that often surrounds these experiences, challenging the gaslighting and denial that frequently accompany them. Amplifying voices is not just a personal endeavor—it is a collective call for change and validation.

The Healing Power of Storytelling

Trauma silences. It isolates and convinces survivors that their experiences are invalid or insignificant. Growing up with unresolved pain, many women internalize the belief that their voices do not matter. Sharing my story in Ghosts Only I Can See was not simply about revisiting the past; it was about reclaiming my narrative and affirming my worth. Writing creates space for healing—it allows us to process, understand, and contextualize our pain.

For women with traumatic childhoods, storytelling offers the opportunity to name what was once unnameable. When we write our stories, we confront the ghosts that haunt us, giving them shape and, ultimately, taking away their power to control us. Writing is both catharsis and resistance—a way of saying, “I was here, and my experience matters.”

Combating Gaslighting and Denial

A pervasive challenge for trauma survivors is the denial or minimization of their experiences, often perpetuated by those closest to them or society at large. Gaslighting, the deliberate manipulation to make someone doubt their reality, is particularly harmful. It leaves survivors questioning their memories, their feelings, and even their sanity. For women, whose voices are historically undervalued, this form of invalidation is especially insidious.

By amplifying my voice and encouraging others to do the same, I aim to dismantle this dynamic. When women share their stories, they assert their reality in the face of doubt. They become witnesses—not only to their pain but also to their strength. Writing, in this sense, is an act of validation and defiance. It is a declaration that our stories are not only real but also worth hearing.

Being a Witness for Others

Beyond sharing my own story, I feel a profound responsibility to be a witness for other women. Trauma often leaves survivors feeling invisible. By acknowledging and amplifying their voices, we create a space where they feel seen and heard. This role is both humbling and transformative. To witness another’s pain is to affirm their humanity, to stand in solidarity with their struggles, and to remind them they are not alone.

Women with traumatic pasts often carry immense guilt, shame, and isolation. When we share and bear witness, we disrupt these cycles. We create communities of understanding and support, where vulnerability is met with compassion rather than judgment. I want to be the voice that says, “I believe you,” and to inspire others to say the same.

Empowering Women to Write Their Stories

Writing is an accessible and transformative tool for self-expression and advocacy. Encouraging women to write their stories is central to my mission. Each story, no matter how small or large it may seem, holds the potential to inspire, educate, and heal. When women write, they reclaim their agency. They transform from passive victims of circumstance to active narrators of their lives.

Writing also ensures that our stories endure. It creates a record, a testament to our resilience. In a world where women’s experiences are often dismissed or erased, writing is an act of preservation and legacy. I want every woman to know that her voice matters, that her story is worth telling, and that she has the power to change the narrative—not just for herself but for others who follow.

Amplifying Voices for Systemic Change

While individual healing is essential, the amplification of women’s voices has broader implications. Systemic change begins with awareness, and awareness grows when diverse, authentic voices are heard. By sharing our stories, we challenge societal norms that perpetuate silence and stigma around trauma. We shift the cultural conversation from one of shame and secrecy to one of empowerment and understanding.

For women who have endured traumatic childhoods, this shift is especially vital. Childhood trauma shapes the way we view ourselves and the world. By addressing these issues publicly, we advocate for better resources, policies, and support systems for survivors. Amplifying our voices is not just about personal validation—it is about creating a world where future generations are better equipped to confront and overcome trauma.

The Ripple Effect of Sharing

When one woman shares her story, it creates a ripple effect. Her courage inspires others to speak out, creating a chain reaction of honesty and empowerment. As the author of Ghosts Only I Can See, I have witnessed this phenomenon firsthand. Readers have reached out to share how my words resonated with their own experiences, how my story gave them the courage to confront their past or to begin writing their own.

This ripple effect is why amplification matters. It is not about a single voice but about a collective chorus. Each story adds depth and nuance to the larger narrative of women’s resilience and strength. Together, our voices become impossible to ignore.

Moving Forward: A Call to Action

The work of amplifying voices is never finished. It requires continual effort, vulnerability, and courage. For me, this means continuing to write, to speak, and to advocate. It means creating spaces where women feel safe to share their truths and ensuring those spaces are inclusive and supportive.

I call on other women to join me in this mission. Whether through writing, speaking, or simply listening, we all have a role to play in amplifying voices. Together, we can challenge the silence that surrounds trauma, confront the forces that perpetuate it, and build a world where every woman feels seen, heard, and valued.

Having my voice heard and amplified is not just important to me—it is essential. It is a way to heal, to resist, and to inspire. As the author of Ghosts Only I Can See, I am committed to being a voice for women who have endured trauma, particularly those with painful childhoods. I want to be a witness, to combat gaslighting and denial, and to empower women to write their stories. Amplifying our voices is how we reclaim our power, transform our pain into purpose, and create a more just and compassionate world. Together, we can ensure that no woman ever feels silenced or invisible again.

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.

*****

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

Her View Friday

single-author publications
single pieces in journals, anthologies, etc., as well as prizes/awards, book reviews, and podcasts/interviews

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

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

The poems and review below were written by Heather Brown Barrett
from Southeastern Virginia

“Mother Tongue”

Genre: poetry

Name of publication: The Ekphrastic Review (for The Ekphrastic Challenges)

Date Released: March 21, 2025

Type of publication: online

ekphrastic.net/the-ekphrastic-challenges/dyane-jackson-ekphrastic-writing-responses-curated-by-kate-copeland

**“Meaning in Making: A Review of Good Mom on Paper: Writers on Creativity and Motherhood”**

Genre: review

Name of publication: Literary Mama

Date Released: March 19, 2025

Type of publication: online

literarymama.com/articles/departments/2025/03/meaning-in-making-a-review-of-good-mom-on-paper-writers-on-creativity-and-motherhood

“Storybook of Heavenly Bodies”

Genre: poetry

Name of publication: formidable woman sanctuary: solace IV (for an Editor’s Choice Award)

Date Released: April 3, 2025

Type of publication: online

formidablewoman.org/fall-2024-fws-solace-iv/

“benign”

Genre: poetry

Name of publication: The Ekphrastic Review (for The Ekphrastic Challenges)

Date Released: April 4, 2025

Type of publication: online

ekphrastic.net/the-ekphrastic-challenges/cookie-wells-ekphrastic-writing-responses-curated-by-sandi-stromberg

Thank you Heather for letting us celebrate with you! Learn more about Heather on Instagram @heatherbrownbarrett.

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

Single-author publications: here.

Single pieces as well as prizes/awards, book reviews, and podcasts/interviews: here.

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

*****

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 4/15/25 Kapua Iao 4/15/25

Gratitude is a Divine Emotion: Yellow Arrow Interns

“Gratitude is a divine emotion: it fills the heart, but not to bursting; it warms it, but not to fever.”

from Shirley by Charlotte Brontë

One of the many ways Yellow Arrow Publishing encourages women writers and women in publishing is through inclusion within the organization itself. We welcome (and thrive with) our volunteers and interns, not only for our own benefit but to also (hopefully) provide a prospective future publisher with some necessary tools and knowledge about the publishing world. And even if a volunteer/intern does not plan to continue within the publishing world, the tools and knowledge of working in a women-led, collaborative organization. One that champions the different and the unique. One that looks for partners and allies rather than simple connections (see our current list of partners here).

We try to find each volunteer, each intern, space in our organization to grow and flourish in the area they are most interested in (and of course where we need the most help!). Past staff members have worked at our live events and at Yellow Arrow House. They hand bound our publications and put as much love and tenderness into each copy as we could hope. Today they focus on the ins and outs of releasing a publication, running a publishing company, and our community-driven projects. Tasks can range from editing to formatting, marketing, and putting together events and workshops. Above all else, our interns support and champion staff/board, authors, workshop attendees, and themselves. We are so thankful to have had them with us on this journey.

So let’s introduce the spring 2025 interns. Each has our appreciation.

Arrieonna Derricoatte, Program Management Intern

Lives in Columbus, Ohio

*What do you do*? My main role at Yellow Arrow is to help support workshops and events through social media posts by creating graphics in Canva to promote different activities. I also write the monthly newsletter and by the end of the internship, two blog posts.
*Where do you go to school*? I got to Ohio State University. I graduate in May this year.
*What are you currently working on*? I am currently in my last semester of undergrad and am a community engagement arts administrator at Urban Arts Space. I am editing and planning the launch of their first community journal. I have also begun to work on my own independent research using docupoetics as an archival tool.

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 @arrieonnaderricoatte.

She plans to attend graduate school next fall to pursue a masters in public affair.

What is your favorite course at school? Why did you choose to take it?

My favorite course this semester is Black women: culture and politics. I chose to take this course because I wanted to know more about the genealogy of Black feminism and where it appears in literature, media, and politics.

Have you read anything this year that has stuck with you?

Long After We Are Gone by Terah Shelton Harris is about healing intergenerational trauma through a Black family in the South after their land is seized by private investors. I’m invested in not only affordable housing but land restoration and equitable home/land ownership for marginalized communities.

Why did you choose an internship with Yellow Arrow?

I chose this internship with Yellow Arrow because I not only wanted experience in the publishing industry but because I am deeply invested in lifting up the voices and history of marginalized peoples especially women of color.

How are things going so far?

I am enjoying my internship so far. I have learned about the publication from submissions to release. I have also been a part of programming like fundraising and workshop curriculum and marketing.

Jacqueline Goldman, Publications Intern

Lives in Baltimore, Maryland

*What do you do*? Several things! I draft and publish the .W.o.W. and Her View Friday blogs on the website and social media, reviewed submissions for *Yellow Arrow Journal*, write blogs, research for Yellow Arrow mentions, edit, and much, much more.
*Where do you go to school*? Loyola University Maryland. I will graduate May 2026.
*What are you currently working on*? Currently I’m submitting applications for internships over the summer, fingers crossed! I’m also planning to go to a renaissance faire this Sunday [now, a few Sundays ago!] so I’m prepping for that.

Jacqueline Goldman (she/her) is an aspiring publishing professional pursuing a degree in communications and media with a specialization in journalism and a minor in writing and business journalism at Loyola University Maryland. With experience as Publication Intern for Yellow Arrow Publishing, Managing Editor-in-Chief for The Greyhound, Nonfiction Editor at Corridors Literary Magazine, and an acquisitions editor at Apprentice House Press, she enjoys shaping compelling narratives and pushing the envelope.

She would love to work toward becoming an acquisitions editor at a publishing company.

What is your favorite course at school? Why did you choose to take it?

My favorite course was a manuscript development and evaluation course in the communication and media department. I took it because I’ve always loved reviewing other individuals work. After taking the course, I realized I wanted to go into the publishing industry.

Have you read anything this year that has stuck with you?

“Counting Dogwood Flowers” by Lish Ciambrone from Yellow Arrow Journal kitalo (Vol. IX, No. 2) touched me since my dog passed away recently. Seeing her read it in person was even more striking.

Why did you choose to do an internship with Yellow Arrow?

One of my professor’s in the writing department suggested that I apply for Yellow Arrow as I was looking to gain more hands-on experience in the publishing industry. Yellow Arrow stuck out because of its goal of uplifting women’s voices, which aligns with my personal values.

How are things going so far?

I think things are going well so far! . . . So much information to take in at once, it was a lot! But as I received feedback and tasks became more repetitive I found them coming to me more naturally.

Gabby Granillo, Author Support Intern (6 months)

From Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, but lives in Baltimore, Maryland

*What do you do*? I work closely with the chapbook authors and other published authors to develop a network and foundation for future interns. I pride myself on building relationships with past and present authors and fostering a comfortable environment for the creative minds of our company. I am working on developing blog posts, social media graphics, and planning events, such as poetry readings, to celebrate the successes and contributions of our authors to the literary world. It is a pleasure to be a member of such an invaluable team and get to know all the different moving parts that make Yellow Arrow a wonderful place to work.
*Where do you go to school*? I attend Loyola University Maryland, and I will graduate in the spring of 2026. I am an English and writing major with minors in environmental studies and art.
*What are you currently working on*? I am currently working on creative nonfiction short essays that will be used in my writing portfolio for graduate school. I love art as a creative medium outside of writing and work on collages from vintage magazines and printouts in my free time. I go for a lot of walks about Baltimore and am a huge foodie. My favorite thing to do is cook dinner and create new recipes.

In the fall of 2025, she will be living in Copenhagen, Denmark, and attending DIS Study Abroad as a study abroad student through Loyola Maryland. She will be studying photojournalism, creative writing, and environmental science while in Europe.

What is your favorite course at school? Why did you choose to take it?

My favorite course is a seminar on James Joyce. I am currently taking it for degree credit toward my major. It has enhanced my ability to do close readings, and I find the class to be joyful, entertaining, and enlightening. It has changed my perception of the English language and the different ways to interpret how authors choose to convey a message or theme.

Have you read anything this year that has stuck with you?

I read Breakdown by Cathy Sweeney, and it was one of my favorite novels I have read. I have a preference for Irish literature and Irish authors. There is something about their writing styles and scenes that is so intriguing. I felt that the novel was enjoyable for the sake of it being an easy read but packed full of gendered philosophy, and it challenges what it means to be a woman and a mother in a world so set out to determine our identities for us.

Why did you choose to do an internship with Yellow Arrow?

I was inspired by the idea of being a support system for other individuals in the writing community. This opportunity presented itself unexpectedly, as Annie Marhefka (Executive Director) came to visit one of my seminars and pitched Yellow Arrow’s mission to the students. I felt moved by the work she was developing and desired to be a member of her team. Yellow Arrow proved to be unlike any other internships I looked into, and the platform they provide for female-identifying authors to express themselves is vital to the publishing community.

How are things going so far?

Things are going very well. It is important work that Yellow Arrow does, and I feel challenged. I am learning a lot about event planning and professional communication. I am working with a diverse group of individuals, and the tasks being asked of us interns are not busy work. Each task is meticulously crafted and I find myself brainstorming things for my position outside of the job description. I feel motivated to work toward the goals with my team and look forward to meeting with them each week. It is a treat to work with such like-minded and devoted individuals.

*****

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 social media. If interested in joining us as an intern, you can learn more at yellowarrowpublishing.com/internships.

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 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.

“Intervals” by Heather Brown Barrett from Virginia

PRIZES/AWARDS

“Song” by Rebecca Brock from Virginia

“Hunting Dog” by Heather Brown Barrett from Virginia

The poems and review below were written by Heather Brown Barrettfrom Southeastern Virginia

“Mother Tongue”

“Meaning in Making: A Review of Good Mom on Paper: Writers on Creativity and Motherhood”

“Storybook of Heavenly Bodies”

“benign”

Arrieonna Derricoatte, Program Management Intern

Lives in Columbus, Ohio

Jacqueline Goldman, Publications Intern

Lives in Baltimore, Maryland

Gabby Granillo, Author Support Intern (6 months)

From Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, but lives in Baltimore, Maryland

The poems and review below were written by Heather Brown Barrett
from Southeastern Virginia

**“Meaning in Making: A Review of Good Mom on Paper: Writers on Creativity and Motherhood”**