Tag: Jamii Publishing

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WWS at the Start of 2020

Three women writers of color sitting at a table discussing the validity of writing programs. WWS banner in blue and green is displayed behind them.

By Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo

February has been exciting! WWS partnered with #DignidadLiteraria and Antioch University Los Angeles to host the conversation, “Latinos and the Crisis in U.S. Publishing,” addressing the American Dirt and Flatiron controversy first ignited by Myriam Gurba’s review, “Pendeja, You Ain’t Steinbeck: My Bronca with Fake-Ass Social Justice Literature” published at Tropics of Meta. The panel conversation featured, Roxane Gay (founder of Gay Mag), Myriam Gurba (author of Mean), Romeo Guzman (editor at Tropics of Meta), Christopher Soto (cofounder of Undocupoets), Wendy C. Ortiz (author of Excavation), and moderated by yours truly. The night included a community conversation where those in the audience were invited to share their own grievances and solutions. You can see coverage of the night from L.A. Times, or watch the full conversation on the WWS Facebook page.

Writers of color sitting at a long table with microphones speaking on a panel on the crisis of Latinx writers in publighing.
From left to right: Christopher Soto, Myriam Gurba, Romeo Guzman, Roxane Gay, Wendy C. Ortiz.

This past weekend we hosted our first public workshop of 2020 at the Exposition Park Regional Library. Saturday, February 8th, we began at 10am with “Should I Go?” a discussion on applying to and attending creative writing programs with Dana Johnson, Sara Borjas, and Tisha Marie Reichle-Aguilera. They talked about financial barriers, family expectations, traversing white spaces, and more. You can catch the full conversation on the WWS Facebook page. At this event we also gifted five regrants to WWS members to offset submission fees. Our next regrants will be offered in May.

We are excited to announce the release of our very first anthology, ACCOLADES, edited by Tisha Marie Reichle-Aguilera and Rachael Warecki and published by Jamii Publishing. Join us Thursday, March 5th at 4pm at La Botanica in San Antonio for our AWP release party featuring Sakae Manning, Désirée Zamorano, Cybele Garcia Kohel, Kate Maruyama, Cynthia Carlson, Heather Romero Kornblum, Sehba Sarwar, Tanya Ko Hong, Mia Nakaji Monnier, Leticia Urieta, and hosted by Noriko Nakada. This anthology was made possible by the Center for Cultural Innovation, Investing in Tomorrow grant.

Mexican-American woman with short black hair, yellow top and red-lipped smile

New this month, we welcome back former “Claps and Cheers” editor, Ramona Pilar Gonzales with her new series, “Storytelling in Action,” which highlights interesting, alternative professional applications for (creative) writing skills and experience: podcasting, marketing, content creation/development, and whatever else there might be! Ramona Pilar Gonzales writes plays, prose, and songs. Her works have been produced around Los Angeles, published online and in print, and performed across Southern California. Her dramatized essay “Del Plato a la Boca” was produced via a grant from La Plaza Cultura y Artes Foundation.

Here at the WWS website, we offer new content every Wednesday. Be sure to visit us each week for new writing from “Submitting on a Budget” with Lisbeth Coiman, “Closing the Gap” with Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo, “Storytelling in Action” with Ramona Pilar Gonzales, “Breathe and Push” with Noriko Nakada, and “WWS Publication Round Up” with Laura K. Warrell published on the last day of the month. And check out our guidelines and consider submitting an essay to any of the above.

Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo is the daughter of Mexican immigrants and the author of Posada: Offerings of Witness and Refuge (Sundress Publications 2016). A former Steinbeck Fellow, Poets & Writers California Writers Exchange winner, and Barbara Deming Memorial Fund grantee, she’s received residencies from Hedgebrook, Ragdale, National Parks Arts Foundation and Poetry Foundation. A Macondo Writers’ Workshop member, she has work published in Acentos Review, CALYX, crazyhorse, and American Poetry Review among others. A dramatization of her poem “Our Lady of the Water Gallons,” directed by Jesús Salvador Treviño, can be viewed at latinopia.com. She is a cofounder of Women Who Submit.

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Behind the Editor’s Desk: Nikia Chaney

by Lauren Eggert-Crowe

As you may know, Women Who Submit received our first grant last year from the Center for Cultural Innovation. One of our projects for this grant is to compile an anthology of work submitted and published through our bimonthly submission parties. This anthology will be published by Jamii, an independent press in San Bernardino that focuses on writing by women of color who are active in the community. In light of that, we’d like to reprint last year’s interview with Jamii editor Nikia Chaney:

Early in 2017, Women Who Submit invited Nikia Chaney to one of our submission parties. It was the beginning of the year, so the room was packed with writers excited and motivated to accomplish their goals and renew their commitments to good work. We hung posterboard on the wall with goals like “Submit to Residencies,” “Get Paid For Work,” “Finish a Project,” and “Activist Writing.” We each scrawled our names in marker underneath the goals that spoke to us. Still buzzing from the spirit of the Women’s March and the inspiration of powerful intersectional feminist leaders, many of us were eager to connect our creative work to community building. Nikia Chaney, of Jamii Publishing, led new and seasoned WWS members in a great discussion about starting collaborative projects like a press or a journal, and how to best involve the community in the artistic process.

It’s safe to say Nikia knows a lot about goal setting. Jamii, an independent press based in San Bernardino, beautifully lays out its vision, mission, and goal: “Our mission at Jamii Publishing is to foster the communion of artists from all genres, foster growth in the artistic world, and to bring these arts to the community.  We strive to work with artists who are already active in the community as well as those who have a desire to reach outside of their comfort zone and share their art with the larger world. We want to gift books to these dedicated people and help them in turn help others.”

Continue reading “Behind the Editor’s Desk: Nikia Chaney”

Posted on

Behind the Editor’s Desk: Nikia Chaney

by Lauren Eggert-Crowe

Early in 2017, Women Who Submit invited Nikia Chaney to one of our submission parties. It was the beginning of the year, so the room was packed with writers excited and motivated to accomplish their goals and renew their commitments to good work. We hung posterboard on the wall with goals like “Submit to Residencies,” “Get Paid For Work,” “Finish a Project,” and “Activist Writing.” We each scrawled our names in marker underneath the goals that spoke to us. Still buzzing from the spirit of the Women’s March and the inspiration of powerful intersectional feminist leaders, many of us were eager to connect our creative work to community building. Nikia Chaney, of Jamii Publishing, led new and seasoned WWS members in a great discussion about starting collaborative projects like a press or a journal, and how to best involve the community in the artistic process.

It’s safe to say Nikia knows a lot about goal setting. Jamii, an independent press based in San Bernardino, beautifully lays out its vision, mission, and goal: “Our mission at Jamii Publishing is to foster the communion of artists from all genres, foster growth in the artistic world, and to bring these arts to the community.  We strive to work with artists who are already active in the community as well as those who have a desire to reach outside of their comfort zone and share their art with the larger world. We want to gift books to these dedicated people and help them in turn help others.”

Continue reading “Behind the Editor’s Desk: Nikia Chaney”