I spent September doing a residency at Ragdale in Illinois, where I was lucky to have a great cohort that included two wonderful WWS members, Lauren Eggert-Crowe and Siel Ju. Never have I been more grateful to enjoy such good company and to have such a big chunk of time to contemplate and to write.
Submitting, though, has escaped me, which makes me even more in awe of those of you who participated in WWS’s Submit 1 submission event on September 10th. Congratulations to all who participated and to those who have already heard from their publication venues of choice, whatever the response. Sending out our work into the world is an act of bravery deserving of recognition.
Meanwhile, the WWS members included in this post published their work in amazing places during the month of September. I’ve included an excerpt from published pieces (if available) or a blurb (if available) if the publication is a book, along with a link (if available) to where the pieces can be purchased and/or read in their entirety.
Please join me in celebrating our members who published in September!
Congratulations to Ariadne Makridakis Arroyo, whose personal essay “Cuando Estoy Contigo: Writing Letters to the Dead” appeared in Latin@ Literatures.
When my abuela passed away from cancer on Christmas Eve of 2019, I was defeated, and not even a word like that describes the intense grief that overcame me during that time. I was in my senior year of college. I kept thinking about how my grandmother wouldn’t be there during such a pivotal time in my life. How she wouldn’t be there to see me graduate, an accomplishment she was so proud of that she thought of it as her own, especially since I was the first descendant of hers who would receive a Bachelor’s degree. Until then, I had luckily remained untouched from the heavy hand of death with only distant relatives passing, but hers was different—she was practically a mother to me. When she left this world, I had to learn very rapidly that death waits for no one, and it doesn’t care for your plans or your dreams.
Congrats also to Désirée Zamorano, whose short story “If Found Please Return to Abigail Serna 158 3/4 E MLK Blvs” appeared in the anthology South Central Noir, edited by Gary Phillips and published by Akashic Books. Says Publishers Weekly of the anthology:
“The 14 tales in this strong entry in Akashic’s noir series focus on the robust past and present of one of the most notorious areas not just in Southern California but the country … Phillips and his contributors dig deep, presenting a rich tapestry of stories varied in tone and perspective.“
Kudos to Sara Ellen Fowler, whose poem “Above my hunger, across my wingspread” appeared in Thin Air Magazine.
A shout out to Tisha Marie Reichle-Aguilera, whose personal essay “#OnlineDating” appeared in Five Minutes.
I open the app to smiling brown eyes and a tight blue tee. Zoom in on a cigarette. Ugh! But dimples! Before I can swipe left, you call.
In addition Tisha’s flash fiction “We are itchy, bumpy, scratchy, and scarred” appeared in Alebrijes Review.
We have chicken pox. Our spring breaks were the same week for the first time in never. But last Wednesday, Maribel came home from school with a few spots and a fever. Tía said flea bites, gave her a couple of aspirin, and rubbed vaporu into each one.
The next morning, there were more bumps, all over, even on her nalgas.
Finally, Tisha’s book review “Stories About Breaking the Family Curse” appeared in High Country News.
Rubén Degollado’s linked stories, The Family Izquierdo, reveals family troubles and secrets that span generations. He explores the conflicting dualities of Catholicism and curanderismo, what it means to be Mexican on both sides of the border, and the rich complexity of the Spanish language, both pure and pocho.
Congrats to Tanya Ko Hong, whose poem “Dead bouquet floats on the summer ocean” appeared in the anthology Arriving at a Shore, published by great weather for MEDIA.
In addition, Tanya’s poems “Answer, “Diaspora,” and “Rendezvous Notes, XXI Century, City of Angels” appeared in Allium, A Journal of Poetry & Prose. Here’s an excerpt from “Diaspora:”
When you hear that word, how do you feel?
She asked me in the Zoom on the other side of the world
I am staring at a wall
I hear the whir of a departing airplane
Well, how should I answer
I feel I do not belong anywhere
like night fog
And here’s an excerpt from Tanya‘s poem “Rendezvous Notes, XXI Century, City of Angels:”
1.
You suck on
my heart like a star
fish on rock
How did I get in
to your heart—
I don’t even speak
your language
I make love to myself—
I conceive
Pure, perfect, innocent baby
This Friday is a
short day for my kids—I can’t
meet you (sorry)
Congratulations to Marianne Simon, whose personal essay “Kismet” appeared in the anthology Chicken Soup for Soul: Miracles and the Unexplainable!
Kudos to Eva Recinos, whose book review “In ‘Solito,’ a Child’s Harrowing Solo Migration is Laid Bare” appeared in High Country News.
In heartbreaking detail, Javier Zamora’s Solito: A Memoir recounts the author’s unaccompanied journey to a new country, supported only by strangers and his steadfast determination to see his parents. Though Zamora left El Salvador decades ago, the present-day situation for immigrants is still dire; UNICEF USA reports that from March to November 2020, the U.S. deported approximately 13,000 children without parents or guardians back to Central America and Mexico. The BBC reports that in early May 2021, the U.S. was detaining approximately 22,500 unaccompanied children.
A shout out to Elizabeth Galoozis, whose poem “Leap Year” appeared in Fatal Flaw.
If only I could stop my mouth
the way I do my hands—
in fists in gloves in pockets—
but it keeps going, like the month,
a little longer than it should.
Congrats to Roseanne Freed, whose poems “A Fearful Thing” and “This Isn’t About You” appeared in MacQueen’s Quinterly. Here’s an excerpt from “A Fearful Thing:”
Soup, I thought, after the colonoscopy
when they said your colon
was blocked by a tumor.
A pot of my lentil soup,
our staple meal through the Canadian
winters of your childhood.
And here’s an excerpt from Roseanne’s poem “This Isn’t About You:”
Your daughter is dying. You don’t understand
why she doesn’t want you at her bedside,
and write to her friend Kate, I fear
I’ll always regret obeying her wish not to come.
Kate replies—
Mahalia sees your photos
every time she opens her eyes.
Does she think that comforts you?
Congratulations also to Carla Sameth, whose poems “Love Letter to a Burning World,” “June 2020: Alarm goes off,” The Fragility of Home,” “The Gods in the Middle of Election Week,” I am a woman of almost 62 years old,” and “Your Eyes Are Seacolor but Do You Remember?” appeared in the anthology Pasadena Rose Poets Poetry Collection 2022, Not So Perfect Storm, edited by Gerda Govine Ituarte, EdD and published by Shabda Press.
Kudos to Michelle Y. Smith, whose poetry was published in the chapbook Tastes of Southern California: Poetry of Music by Four Feathers Press.