TRANSFORMATION: A Women Who Submit Anthology

Join Women Who Submit in celebrating the publication of our third anthology, TRANSFORMATION! Thanks to the work of Managing Editors, Ryane Granados and Noriko Nakada, Advising Editor, Tisha Marie Reichle-Aguilera, eight Genre Editors, Lorinda Toledo, Erin Anadkat, Flint, Laura Sturza, Luivette Resto, Hazel Kight Witham, Aruni Wijesinghe, Lucy Rodriguez-Hanley, and publisher Nikia Chaney and Jamii Publishing, our third anthology features poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and drama from 42 women and nonbinary writers from around the world.

“Given these perilous times of great global and local humanitarian
failures, cruel objectives cemented by morally repugnant mindsets,
and given the history of violence which has proven all too
predictable, I know my words may appear hugely insufficient in
protecting the most vulnerable, may prove never to be enough to
diminish the sorrow and suffering of others, and yet as a writer,
I continue to write.”

Inspired by these words by Helena Maria Viramontes, shared at her AWP 2020 keynote address, Women Who Submit’s third anthology, TRANSFORMATION, centers work that speaks to the ways writers and other artists can promote change in the world.

To order a copy, visit our partner and bookseller, Libromobile.

TRANSFORMATION BOOK RELEASE PARTY WITH WEHO ARTS

Saturday April 13, 2024, 2pm-5pm

Plummer Park: 7377 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90046, at the Great Hall patio

Readings by liz gonzĂ¡lez, Erika AyĂ³n, Lisa Cheby, Sandy Yang, Aruni Wijesinghe, and Monona Wali

Hosted by Angela Franklin

Music by DJ Langosta

And now with a welcome from special guest, WeHo Poet Laureate, Jen Cheng.

The party will include snacks, book cake, and expo of LA literary orgs and booksellers.

This is a free event and open to all!

Final Workshop of 2020

Join us Saturday, November 14th at 10am for our final workshop of 2020, “How To Boost Your Literary Citizenry By Writing and Placing Book Reviews” with Melissa Chadburn. Chadburn has placed book reviews in such prestigious publications as The LA Times, Los Angeles Review of Books, New York Times Book Review, and the New York Review of Books. Help in our mission for gender parity in publishing by learning how to write and place book reviews and bring visibility to historically marginalized voices.

Women Who Submit is a supportive community for women and non-binary writers submitting work for publication. To become a member, you can register and participate in this month’s new member orientation. EDIT: NEW MEMBER REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED DUE TO BEING OVER CAPACITY. * There is no fee to join.

The Schedule for the Day:

10am-11am – “How To Boost Your Literary Citizenry By Writing and Placing Book Reviews” with Melissa Chadburn and hosted by Lauren Eggert-Crowe

11am-12pm – New Member Orientation with Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo

11am-12pm – Returning Members Checkin with TBD

12pm-1pm – WWS Submission Party

This workshop is over Zoom. Those admitted to the orientation will receive the Zoom link through email a week before. To participate, you’ll need a laptop or desktop computer, personal research on magazines, journals, and open calls, and crafted poems/essay/short story ready to submit.

* Orientation is limited to 20 participants and preference will be given to LA writers, BIPOC writers, LGBTQ writers, and writers who’ve tried to attend a previous orientation.

WWS is a grass-roots, volunteer organization. Though online workshops have made us more accessible to writers outside of Los Angeles, we do not have the funding or support to serve people beyond the LA area.

But don’t worry! We have chapters all across the country including three chapters in the greater Los Angeles area in Long Beach, West Los Angeles, and Pasadena. If you do not make it into our November orientation, you can connect with a chapter lead near you. And if you don’t have a chapter in your area, we can help you get one started!

Connect with chapters here.

About our workshop facilitator:

Melissa Chadburn’s work has appeared in The LA Times, NYT Book Review, NYRB, Longreads, and dozens other places. Her essay on food insecurity was selected for Best American Food Writing 2019. She is the recipient of the Mildred Fox Hanson Award for Women in Creative Writing. She is an Atul Gawande mentee with the Solutions Journalism Network. Her debut novel, A Tiny Upward Shove, is forthcoming with Farrar, Straus, & Giroux. She is a PhD candidate at USC’s Creative Writing Program. She loves your whole outfit right now.

WWS at AWP17

10 women stand behind a table with a Women Who Submit logo banner hanging down the front of it. They are smiling.

Are you feeling anxious just yet about this year’s AWP conference? Not to worry because we have a guide to all events where you can find the happy, shining faces of Women Who Submit and friends. And while you are combing the bookfair, be sure to find us at booth 975 with Roar Feminist Magazine and Dandelion Review to pick up an “I submitted!” button and to add your name to the WWS daily giveaway. It will include one WWS tote with books, chapbooks, and zines from our members including copies of Posada: Offerings of Wintess and Refuge (Sundress Publications 2016) by Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo, Gent/Re Place Ing (Write Large Press 2016) by Jessica Ceballos Campbell, Surveillance (Write Large Press 2016) by Ashaki M. Jackson, Cake Time (Red Hen Press 2017) by Siel Ju, Excavation (Future Tense Books 2014) by Wendy C. Ortiz, Wrestling Alligators (Martin Brown Publishers 2016) by Diane Sherlock, Traci Traci Love Fest, a collection of poems from L.A. poets writing in support of poet, performer and community activist Traci Kato Kiriyama as she battles breast cancer and more!

L-R in clockwise order: a zine title Love Fest, Excavation, a book by Wendy C. Ortiz, a chapbook with a beige cover with a black design, Wrestling Alligators, a book by Diane Sherlock, and Posada, a book by Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo

Plus, don’t forget to reread this piece by Lauren Eggert-Crowe for reminders on how to stay happy and healthy over the next week, and we recommend checking out Entropy’s guide if you are looking for avenues of resistance and action. Continue reading “WWS at AWP17”