SUBMIT TO VIGNETTE

Submissions are now open for VIGNETTE BLAZE


Welcome to the Yellow Arrow Publishing online series, Yellow Arrow Vignette, in its fourth season. Submissions are open May 15-June 15 for Yellow Arrow Vignette BLAZE.

This year, submissions for Vignette will align with Yellow Arrow’s 2025 yearly value

BLAZE

 

: intense direct light often accompanied by heat
: to be conspicuously brilliant or resplendent
: to lead in some direction or activity

 
 
 

We began the practice of selecting a yearly value at Yellow Arrow in 2020 with REFUGE, continued in 2021 with EMERGE, building momentum with AWAKEN in 2022, and lighting things up with SPARK in 2023. In 2024, we focused on the value AMPLIFY.

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

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

With Vignette BLAZE, we want to return to some of the earliest goals of Yellow Arrow: sharing and amplifying the creative work of voices and themes that aren’t heard loudly enough. This summer’s Vignette series is dedicated to emphasizing those women who aren’t often heard enough, and the stories, essays, poems, themes, and topics that are too often missed. And as part of commitment to our roots in Charm City: we want to hear from writers who live in or are otherwise connected to our home base of Baltimore.

Baltimore is a big, diverse, beautiful city, and we want to see its diversity represented in Vignette BLAZE. From Highlandtown (our starting point!) to Hampden, Pigtown to the Black Arts District, we want our readers to experience the spectrum of voices that Charm City offers. 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 below carefully before submitting.

Now in its fourth summer, Yellow Arrow is delighted to continue its online creative nonfiction and poetry series, Yellow Arrow Vignette. We began Vignette to further expand our mission of creating a space for writers who identify as women, giving them room to have their voices heard and to ripple out in waves of empathy and resilience. We landed on “vignette” because literary vignettes are known to be pieces of writing that depict brief but highly detailed moments in time. Through Yellow Arrow Vignette, we share vibrant and poignant glimpses into our writers’ lives; when viewed as a collective, we hope these stories tell an expansive and inclusive narrative.


Meet the 2025 Vignette team!

BLAZE Managing Editor, Catharine Robertson

Catharine is a writer, storyteller, and former comedian. After starting out as a science writer, she pivoted into public health, including running strategic planning for a moonshot NIH study focusing on precision medicine by diversifying biomedical research to include more than just white men. For nearly 20 years she has been writing and telling true, personal tales about herself for audiences of up to 1,000 people for the Stoop Storytelling series, Ignite Baltimore, and TEDx Baltimore. She was a comedy performer with and executive director of the Baltimore Improv Group and founder and producer of the Baltimore Improv Festival. Catharine is again revising her main character by focusing on writing memoir and nonfiction. She is an MFA candidate at the University of Baltimore and Managing Coeditor of the 2025 issue of Welter Magazine.

BLAZE Intern, Sophia Graney

Sophia is a rising senior at Loyola University Maryland double majoring in English and writing with a keen interest in Shakespearean studies. With a myriad of passions, Sophia has been a member of Loyola’s Student Government Association to change policy and accessibility for the student body, has worked with the One Love Loyola club to bring resources on healthy relationship dynamics and habits to make healthy relationships possible for everyone, and has previously interned at the Baltimore Review and helped review submissions for the online journal publication. When not studying or writing her own poetry and prose in Loyola’s Humanities building, Sophia can be found at Loyola’s rock-climbing wall or at the beach in her hometown, Fairfield, Connecticut.

 
 

Submission Guidelines

  • These guidelines only apply during open submissions periods.

  • Accepted submissions include creative nonfiction, poetry (including spoken-word poetry), and cover art by writers/artists who identify as women.

  • We’re looking foremost for women-identifying creatives from the Baltimore region or have a connection to Charm City. This means women-identifying writers/authors who currently live in, grew up in, or recently lived in the Baltimore or surrounding area.

  • We want Vignette to champion, explore, and amplify the diverse, unique voices that make Baltimore what it is today. This issue of Vignette welcomes submitters to consider what the theme BLAZE means to them (the submission does not need to be about Baltimore to be included).

  • Creative nonfiction (1 submission per author) must be between 100 and 1,000 words. Poetry (up to 3 poems per author, grouped into a single document) must be less than 30 lines. Given that Baltimore has such a large spoken-word community, we also welcome spoken-word submissions; at this time, we cannot accept audio or video and ask spoken-word creatives to submit their work as text and include ‘spoken word’ at top. The goal is to include spoken word either as audio or video upon release.

  • Cover art (1 submission per artist) can be a painting, drawing, print, photo, graphic design, comic, or anything else that can be dreamed up by artists identifying as women, as related to the theme. Please note that the artwork will be displayed online with the issue.

  • Authors/artists should only submit one type of submission per issue.

  • Submissions do not need to be in English but must include an English translation.

  • No previously published work will be accepted at this time—this includes all printed and online material; simultaneous submissions are okay, but please let us know if a submission is published elsewhere in the interim by sending an email to submissions@yellowarrowpublishing.com.

  • There is NO FEE for submitting to Vignette. If selected for BLAZE, you will be published online by Yellow Arrow Vignette and will receive $10.00USD. Note that payments are through PayPal; while we try to accommodate those that do not have a PayPal account, this is not always possible, especially for people outside of the U.S. Thank you for understanding. 

    Thank you for choosing to tell your story to the Yellow Arrow community.

Are you ready to submit?

Submissions to Vignette BLAZE are open May 15 - June 15. Information collected in the Vignette submissions form includes:

  • Your full name (and name you would want Yellow Arrow to use), age, nationality, current city/state/country of residence, and Baltimore area where you live or lived (required)

  • Your pronouns (optional)

  • Our writers and readers come from all walks of life and so do we. We are taking steps across our portfolio to increase representation and give greater visibility to the voices of underrepresented women-identifying storytellers. If you are comfortable doing so, please share with us which underrepresented communities you identify with that may make you uniquely positioned to connect with a particular group of readers (optional)

  • Where you heard about us (optional)

Note that submissions are anonymously reviewed in-house; the identifying information you provide in the submission form is used only to better understand the composition of our audience. You’ll be asked to upload a document within the form; use minimal document styling and do not include identifying information on your piece.

Submission Terms

By sending your submission you agree to the following statements:

  • You are a writer/artist who identifies as a woman.

  • You currently live or lived in the Baltimore area.

  • You have completely read and submitted within the guidelines.

All who submit within the guidelines, whether accepted to the 2025 summer series or not, will receive an email after submissions have closed—please do not email us to inquire about a submission. Please do not be discouraged if your submission is not accepted or you miss the deadline—there will be more opportunities available to you in the future.

We are grateful that you would like to share your story with us and our readers. Any questions? Email submissions@yellowarrowpublishing.com.