The WWS members included in this post published their work in amazing places during March and April of 2024. I’ve included an excerpt from published pieces (if available), 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 March and April of 2024!
Congratulations to Maria Z. Caponi, whose memoir An Accidental Pilgrim was published by Atmosphere Press.
Congrats also to Shieva Salehnia, whose poem “Baptism” appeared in Writers Resist.
Kudos to Ronna Magy, whose poem “In the Distance” appeared in Rise Up Review.
In the old Jewish cemetery Earth and roses
flung on mother and grandmother’s graves.
Those women walk with me now
I ask Why we are taking this road?
Faces scarved to the winds they murmur
There is nowhere to go.
A shout out to Romaine Washington, whose poems “Bookshelf” and “Where Sand Begins and Ocean Ends” appeared in the anthology Cholla Needles 88. In addition, her poem “Balloons” appeared in The Longest Night.
Congratulations to Laura Sturza, whose essay “A Rock Star of My Own” appeared in WWPH Writes.
Back when I fell hard for David Cassidy, I was sure I was destined to have musicians for boyfriends. They had the moves, the hair, the sexy voices. I wanted all of it. After I outgrew the Partridge Family, I developed a penchant for edgy guys with killer lyrics. At fifteen, David Bowie’s 1976 tour was my first concert at the Capital Centre.
None of my early rock star fantasies panned out. I now know why. I was too young to realize I was living vicariously through famous, showy men because I was desperate to express my own power and creativity. I had to wait until middle age before realizing my romantic and artistic dreams.
In addition, Laura’s article “The Bachelorettes of the DMV” appeared in The Beacon.
The hope that lasting love can happen later in life recently got a huge boost, thanks to Joan Vassos of Rockville and Nancy Hulkower of Alexandria. Both appeared on the first season of the popular ABC program “The Golden Bachelor,” which premiered last fall.
The show is a spinoff of the reality TV shows “The Bachelor,” which premiered in 2002, and the 2003 series “The Bachelorette.” The franchise produces romance and relationship programs that offer unmarried contestants a chance to find love — on national television.
Congrats also to Diosa Xochiquetzalcóatl, whose poem “Espiral de abejas” appeared in the anthology Ediciones Voces Nuestras Mexico. Another of her poems appeared in the anthology Coordenadas de voces femeninas XXII. In addition, Diosa’s poem “Enigma” appeared in Boundless 2024: The Anthology of the Rio Grande Valley International Poetry Festival. Plus, her poem “Brown” appeared in the San Diego Poetry Annual.
Brown is the color of my eyes.
Brown is the color of my skin.
Brown is the ground which I call home.
Brown is the color of my seraphim.
Kudos to Amy Raasch, whose article “This teacher will guide you into talking with your dreams. A warning: They will talk back” appeared in the LA Times.
Two weeks after I lost my sister, she visited me in a dream. Was it her, or was the dream a construction of my psyche, made to process this sudden loss? Either way, it shook me to my core.
Since childhood, I’ve transcribed thousands of pages of dreams into bedside notebooks in the dark, but it wasn’t until I studied dream work, using techniques pioneered by Carl Jung and adapted for artists, that dreams began to change me.
A shout out to Carla R. Sameth, whose poem “Requiem for Believers” appeared in the Altadena Poetry Review. In addition, her essay “On Poetry and Community” appeared on poets.org.
Usually, I am one to find the thread of dark humor even in the worst of circumstances. But I found myself at a loss. I had been increasingly depressed and anxious since a confluence of world and family events descended, including family deaths and friends’ severe illnesses. I’ve had trouble finding sources of light, my poems becoming increasingly morose. But I don’t believe in writing a book of only sad poems. We deserve a glimpse of hope along with the despair, so we don’t get buried alive.
Congratulations to Elizabeth Galoozis, whose poem “Don’t Be a Stranger” appeared in Leon Literary Review.
Be something more interesting,
a ghost, maybe. An earworm.
Materialize in a dream to kiss me on the nose
without showing your face.
Skirt the edges of my awareness; surface
when I’m pulling warm underwear out of the dryer,
pushing my thumb into a rotten orange.
Congrats also to Toni Ann Johnson, whose short story “Gramercy Park is Closed” appeared in Air/Light.
Dex was on his way to Cornell in the fall and Luna had another year of high school. The looming separation impelled them to cling together that summer.
His appreciation for Black culture was sincere and infectious and he insisted she avail herself of activities the city had to offer—museum and gallery visits, comedy shows, and jazz and blues concerts—all things his intellectually curious father had exposed him to. Dex also recommended books by Baldwin, Morrison, and Ellison, plays by Leroi Jones and Lorraine Hansberry, and essays by W.E.B. Du Bois and George S. Schuyler. Luna found it embarrassing that her white boyfriend felt obliged to educate her on Blackness. But she enjoyed the attention. She didn’t tell him she already knew about most of the stuff he shared, because if she did, he might spend less time with her. Sometimes, in addition to recommending things, he actually provided them. When he gave her books, Luna didn’t mention that they were readily available in her own house.
Kudos to Kate Mo, whose poem appeared in The Altadena Review of Poetry.
A shout out to Paola Gutiérrez, whose poetry chapbook La Niña De Mis Ojos was published by Riot of Roses Publishing House.
Congratulations to Heather Pegas, whose short story “Volcanoville” appeared in Roi Faineant Literary Press.
Monday’s moon shone full and bright over the mountain, illuminating diffuse and unusual white wisps in the sky above. Shari Feinstrom, town ombudsperson, headed out for City Hall, determined to wrangle the town council (five individuals with the acumen and decorum of half-drugged feral cats) into finally prioritizing Volcanoville’s critical action items, including the $3.7M operating deficit.
Her heart sank as she approached the entrance. Councilmembers Vondela Crassus and Corky Dupree stood there with at least thirty congregants from VV Baptist, waiting to ambush her about taking down the rainbow flag that marked the start of Pride week. They’d been through this a million times, and the other three council members insisted it fly. There would be blood tonight.
“War shadowed dusty dresses…” Oh my, Ronna Magy! So heartbreaking and so real.
Laura! “…brought the music into their bodies.” Love this! I also watched the video and have to say how many smiles it gave me to experience your and Tom’s collaboration with these young people of color and of different shapes/sizes. Unexpected and so very appreciated. Thank you!