By Lisbeth Coiman
Most writers I know, including myself, are activists or behind-the-scenes supporters of several causes. When the political conjuncture we are living through in America threatens everybody’s sanity, writers struggle to focus before stepping up. Facing a myriad of social issues hurts these writers both emotionally and financially.
Creativity dilutes in the stream of information/petitions/demonstrations, and the ordinary responsibilities of work. I can’t even come close to imagine what it is like to live through these times with children to take care of. The emotional load seems to grow by the minute. The writer feels like borrowing a “welder’s mask” to look at the blinding reality without hurting, without revealing tears.
With the emotional burden of political activism comes the added weight of financial demands. Bills can pile up easily on top of donations and contributions. The line between urgency and necessary disappears in the mists of a stream of crisis. We wake up to news of mass shootings, racial violence, and sexual violations of immigrant minors in detention. At work, fundraisers and pot-lucks drain the bank account. Add to that a humanitarian crisis in a homeland and you wish going to sleep on the eighth day of the month and wake up on payday.
When my budget became unbalanced, like a flight attendant, I told myself, “put on your own oxygen mask before helping others, even your family.” My livelihood depends on my mental health. Without money, I can’t write. Since writing is therapeutic for me, my sanity is at risk.
That’s when I jumped at the opportunity to take a scholarship for a social consciousness poetry class online, Poetry for Survival taught by Xochitl Bermejo. Through this class, I’m learning that I can’t see the page through tears. By detaching myself emotionally from the issues dearest to me – Venezuela and immigration – I hope to bring my unique perspective of the devastating reality of which I’m both a witness and a subject.
Perhaps the only advise I have for my readers tonight is to take a social consciousness vacation before taking a stand. Disconnect, put the check book in a locked box and forget where you hide the key. Go for an extended walk by the beach. Only then, your voice will sound clear.
This month, the short list includes some free submission opportunities.
1.The Booklist – seeking reviewers of diverse backgrounds
The Booklist is part of the American Library Association.
Genre: All
Languages: English and Spanish
Application Fee: $0
Submission Guidelines
2. Green Linden Press
Genre: Poetry, interviews and reviews
Submission fee: Up to $12.50
Deadline: March 20, 2019
Submission Guidelines
3. Catapult
Tiny Nightmares: An Anthology of Short Horror Fiction
Genre: Short Horror Fiction
Payment: $100
Submission fee: 0
Deadline: May 1, 2019
Word count: Under 1200 words
Submission Guidelines
4. Ripples in Space: Flash Fiction for Weekly Podcast
Gener: Flash Fiction
Submission fee: $6
Deadline: Open
Word count: Max 1500 words
Submission Guidelines
5. Dusk and Shiver Magazine
Genre: Fiction, Poetry, Artwork
Submission fee: $0
Deadline: April 13, 2019
Word count: 5,000 to 7,000 words (Fiction)
Submission Guidelines
Lisbeth Coiman is an emerging, bilingual writer wandering the immigration path from Venezuela to Canada to the US. She has performed any available job from maid to college administrator, and adult teacher. Her work has been published in Hip Mama, the Literary Kitchen, YAY LA, Nailed Magazine, Entropy, and RabidOak. She was also featured in the Listen to Your Mother Show in 2015. In her self-published memoir, I Asked the Blue Heron (Nov 2017), Coiman celebrates female friendship while exploring issues of child abuse, mental disorder, and her own journey as an immigrant.
She lives in Los Angeles, where she teaches at Harbor Occupational Center and speaks for NAMI about living with a mental disorder.