January 2019 – Women Who Submit

January 31, 2019January 31, 2019

A WWS Publication Roundup for January

A laptop computer with an article titled "Submissions Made Simple" on the screen and a stack of literary journals sits on top of the laptop base, titles facing out

Happy New Year! And happy Women Who Submit publications! Congratulations to all the writers who were published in January.

From Ryane Nicole Granados‘ “Course Offers Specials-Needs Moms a Mindful Return to Work” at LA Parent:

Having a baby is a transformative experience, bringing intense physical changes and engulfing emotional ones due to the pending needs of this new human. The mind races from nesting to nursing to concern over who will care for this bundle of joy once parents return to work. These concerns are heightened when a child is born with a disability of medical condition.

From Noriko Nakada‘s “People Don’t Strike for 6%; We Strike for Justice” at United Teacher:

…this weekend was not like all the others, because I’m an LAUSD public school teacher, and like every other year, I had many papers to grade and many students on my mind as I made my way through the weekend, but unlike other years, this year held an added stress. All weekend I carried the weight of a looming work stoppage and very
public contract negotiations that put my colleagues and me in the crosshairs of public conversation on the sidelines of sporting events or gathered around a table waiting for the cake to come out.

Also from Noriko, “Lessons from the Picket Line,” at Cultural Weekly:

We are both UTLA members and we had been bracing for this day since December 19th when our winter break was interrupted by the setting of the strike date. Over the holidays we talked with friends and family about the strike and made plans for our kids during the work stoppage. Then, we worried and waited. After the new year, we went back to work at our school sites, and the strike was postponed, and maybe wouldn’t even happen, but that Sunday night, when the strike was definitely happening, new levels of anxiety rose to the surface: Would all of the teachers who had committed to strike show up to the picket? Would the lines hold? Would the community support us?

From “Yesterday Small Voices” by Donna Spruijt-Metz at Poets Reading the News:

whispered to me through the day
slick-nosed, nudging
demanding my elusive attention

I looked up from my
busy ephemera, startled,
as if caught in mid-slaughter

From “The Promotion” by Karin Aurino at Literary Orphans:

His eyelids fluttered. There was a ringing in his left ear. He didn’t think he would be nervous, but maybe he was.

It was the fifth city in six days. The audience had settled into their seats. It was a large crowd, maybe a hundred and fifty people at the Westfield Mall. He had done these over a hundred times before. He could do it in his sleep.

Congratulations to Anita Gill whose essay, “Hair,” was published this month in the Iowa Review!

Congratulations to Nina Clements whose poem, “Our Mother of Sorrows,” was published in Prairie Schooner!

January 24, 2019January 24, 2019

Writing Through the Storm

By Noriko Nakada

Even as I sit here writing this column, I’m not sure how it will be written.

I missed writing the last Breathe and Push post of the 2018. I had every intention of writing a summary of this column’s first year, of this Women Who Submit community willing into publication essays about the labor of writing, about Stephon Clark and Black Lives Matter, about teaching while breathless, and the refugee crisis, about writing while mothering, and creating poetry in the midst of tragic news, about gentrification, and Mr. Rogers, and finally, about the upcoming LA teacher strike.

And then, on December 19^th, the day I was supposed to publish that column about Breathe and Push’s first year, the UTLA (United Teachers Los Angeles) set a January 10^th strike date and the words for that last column were lost in a sea of text messages and emails.

Winter vacation for our two-teacher household revolved around strike preparations, getting our heads around the work stoppage and organizing our family and school communities. Then we waited, wondering if and when the strike would come, until all of a sudden, after all of those days, it was here.

If you were in Los Angeles during the strike, you might have seen us. We wore red and carried pickets. We chanted on neighborhood streets and on major thoroughfares. We accepted donations of umbrellas, coffee, and doughnuts. We carried beautiful handmade signs that disintegrated in the wet, and then we remade them. We danced on sidewalks and onto computers, and we screamed and sang until our throats grew hoarse. We moved through rain and wind all week in numbers that surprised even us: 30,000 teachers out on strike, rallying crowds of 40,000; 50,000; 60,000.

public ed rally in LA — Thousands rally for public education in Los Angeles.

We stood shoulder to shoulder in awe of the collective power of our city pulling in the direction of a common good: quality public schools for kids and families and communities. We pushed: a whole city, in rain and wind and finally into sunlight, and by the start of the second week of the strike, an agreement was reached, members cast votes, and small victories were won.

These were not the glorious victories you might think 60,000 people in the streets would win. The contract teachers won was not glamorous, but all of those teachers, and students, and families breathed and pushed public education in the right direction.

And guess what. I barely wrote a word about it.

But now the column is almost done, on the night after my first day back teaching, when I wasn’t sure I would be able to write at all.

Neil Gaiman says of writing “You write. That’s the hard bit that nobody sees. You write on the good days and you write on the lousy days. Like a shark, you have to keep moving forward or you die. Writing may or may not be your salvation; it might or might not be your destiny. But that does not matter. What matters right now are the words, one after another. Find the next word. Write it down. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.”

So keep those words coming. Keep on breathing, pushing, and writing because that is what matters. We might not always win. Every draft won’t be pretty or perfect, but we have to keep moving forward. Keep going. Keep writing.

Noriko Nakada is a public school teacher and the editor of the Breathe and Push column. She writes, blogs, tweets, and parents in Los Angeles. She is committed to writing thought-provoking creative non-fiction, fiction, and poetry.

January 16, 2019

Behind The Editor’s Desk: Megha Majumdar

At Women Who Submit, we encourage our members to submit their writing to journals that value their writers, journals that publish excellent writing from new and established authors, and who have a clear mission statement. Many of our members have submitted prose to Catapult, a relatively new but widely respected online magazine and press that publishes dynamic fiction and nonfiction. Catapult also offers classes for writers looking to hone skills such as writing personal essays, humor writing, and finding an agent.

I corresponded with associate editor Megha Majumdar about her work at Catapult.

Continue reading “Behind The Editor’s Desk: Megha Majumdar”

January 10, 2019January 10, 2019

2018 Report and What’s to Come in 2019

A woman standing before a room of women writers speaking.

In 2018, WWS hosted five public career development workshops led by local professionals, which were livestreamed and archived on our public Facebook page. At these free, public events we orientated 66 new members into our community and granted nearly $900 to existing members to help with submission fees. In September, we hosted our 5th Annual Submission Blitz at The Faculty Bar in East Hollywood where those in attendance racked up 35 total submissions in four hours.

On our blog, we celebrated 131 publications and awards in our monthly WWS Publication Roundup edited by Laura K. Warrell, and we brought two new series: “Breathe & Push,” essays focused on the strength and space to breathe through bleak circumstances and push our creative works into the world, edited by Noriko Nakada, and “Writing on Budget” edited by Lisbeth Coiman. Nakada also published the original essay, “Why LAUSD Teachers Might Strike” on our site, and we are happy to support LA teachers. Another piece of advocacy we are proud of is, “WWS statement against the Trump Administration’s racist immigration policy,” a collective piece led by blog editor and leadership team member, Lauren Eggert-Crowe.

On our leadership team, we wished farewell to long-time team member, Ramona Pilar Gonzales who is taking a step back from WWS planning to focus on her career goals, and we welcomed two new members, Noriko Nakada and Ryane Granados.

Black and white photo of three women sitting in a lounge and in mid discussion. — Kit Reed facilitating a writing workshop at Wesleyan University.

In 2019, we have many exciting things in store starting with the announcement of The Kit Reed Travel Fund for Women-Identifying & Non-Binary Writers of Color. Two $340 grants will be awarded in 2019 to writers seeking advancement through participation in a conference, workshop or residency. Kit Reed was a prolific novelist and short story writer who advocated for her marginalized students, colleagues, and writer friends. This fund was made possible by a donation from Reed’s family in honor of her work as a writer, feminist, professor, and mentor.

Our first ever, anthology is also in the works. More details on the open call to come at AWP19 where we are hosting a WWS Happy Hour on Thursday, March 28th at Nucleus Portland from 3pm-6pm.

Lastly, be sure to join us for our WWS Workshop & New Member Orientation series beginning Saturday, February 9, 2019 at 10am with “You Need a Website! A Practical Guide to the What, Why, and How of Building (or Strategically Updating) Your Author Website” with Li Yun Alvarado.

If you would like to support our programming and help fund speaker honorariums and submission fee grants, you can now donate here.

From the WWS Leadership Team: Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo, Lauren Eggert-Crowe, Ryane Granados, Ashaki M. Jackson, Noriko Nakada, Ashley Perez, Tisha Marie Reichle-Aguilera, and Rachael Warecki.

January 2, 2019March 6, 2019

Writing on a Budget: Support Fellow Writers

By Lisbeth Coiman

For a cost-conscious person, I have little self-control when it comes to books. I browse bookstores inhaling the sweet aroma of the unread pages; then, I bring out my credit card at the counter to pay for two or three books. At literary readings, I listen to the writers carefully, and then choose one or two books to bring home with me. It’s my way to support fellow writers, but also a form of self-indulgence. As the cost of my rent increases, and the stack of unread books keeps piling up on my bedside table, I am aware that I need to do something about my book-buying habit.

Because it is that time of the year when we set goals and decide, mostly without success, to break old habits, I’ve resolved to find a solution to this conundrum: how to support emerging writers while minding my small writing budget. Observing my peers at readings and bookstores, I noted some writers using one of the following three strategies

1. Request and borrow books from the library.

My friend Shelly never buys books despite expressing a life long love for words and all things lit. I used to see her at readings, in the city where we met, her eyes closed to recreate in her mind the stories or poems she heard. She took time to chat with the writers, and then left without spending a cent.

“It’s not for you. We must support each other,” I told her once.

“I don’t have space, and I move frequently. Instead of buying, I request the book at the local library, then borrow it.”

“Clever and inexpensive,” I admitted.

2. Exchange books with fellow writers

At one particular reading, I observed another friend, Cruz, approach another writer and ask if she was interested in exchanging books. “What a creative notion,” I thought. Both women are well-known and respected in their own communities and were interested in reading each other’s work. They signed copies, promised to read, and presented their business cards. The whole experience lasted a few minutes, with pleasantries and all. And they saved at least $20

3. Look out for review requests

Mary never buys books either. She browses FB groups searching for review opportunities. Mary submits the reviews to magazines and journals. When she can not land a submission, she posts a shorter version of her review in Goodreads, and Amazon, helping the writer with the promoting efforts. Not a bad idea if the reader is also trying to build her own name.

Submission Calls
The new year is bursting with submission opportunities. These are only a few for writers on a budget.

1. Waxwing Magazine
Genre: Poetry, short fiction, literary essays, translation of poetry or prose, and art.
No payment
Submission Fee: 0
Deadline: May 1
Word count: up to five poems, 3 short-shorts, or micro-essays, up to three images
Submission Guidelines

2. Brain Mill Press: 2018 Driftless Unsolicited Novella Contest
Genre: Fiction
Prize: $250 and Publication
Submission fee: $0, but they appreciate $12 will give the writer a copy of the winning novella.
Deadline: 01/23/19
Word count: 20 to 45,000 novella or novella-length collection of short stories.
Submission Guidelines

3. City Lights Booksellers and Publishers
Genre: Memoir
Submission fee: $0
Word count: Sample of 10-20 pages, book proposal, outline and table of contents, letter with summary and resume.
Submission Guidelines

Writer Lisbeth Coiman from the shoulders up, standing in front of a flower bush

headshot of Lisbeth Coiman Lisbeth Coiman is an author, poet, educator, cultural worker, and rezandera born in Venezuela. Coiman’s wanderlust spirit landed her to three countries—from her birthplace to Canada, and finally the USA, where she self-published her first book, I Asked the Blue Heron: A Memoir (2017). She dedicated her bilingual poetry collection, Uprising / Alzamiento, Finishing Line Press( Sept. 2021) to her homeland, Venezuela. An avid hiker, and teacher of English as a Second Language, Coiman lives in Los Angeles, CA.