 Photo by Kimberly Farmer/Unsplash I've submitted to more literary journals and magazines than ever before in 2019, with the support of an amazing online group of women and gender non-conforming writers. This has led to more than 100 rejections just this year, and a crop of published pieces I'm proud of. The New York Times published my essay "A Funeral for Two Birds" about mortality, hummingbirds, and the Vermont woods: "The summer I turned 11, we buried two wild birds and we did not bury my great-grandmother. We did not bury my great-grandmother because she had donated her body to science." The Offing published my poem "Seven Ways To Be Sick" about living in a chronically ill body:
"I am spinning on a carousel tied to the back of a wooden horse with its teeth maniacally bared. I am falling through the heart of a dying star." Catapult published my essay "A Heathen's Love Affair With Churches" about Unitarian churches, bisexual crushes, and the search for belonging: “The first time I sneaked into a bell tower, I was fourteen years old.” Fourteen Hills published my flash fiction "The Wonder Wheel" about Coney Island, amnesia, and how far compassion can go: “Since his surgery, Dad remembered numbers, historical facts, the name of my prom date, where he and Mom went on vacation in 1979, but he couldn't remember anything that had happened in the last year.” Hippocampus published my short essay "The Broken Bird" about city birds and falling in love in New York: “On the day you kissed me for the first time, a sparrow ate from my hand in the green respite of Central Park.” Cheap Pop published my flash fiction "Convenience Store Prayer," an ode to the self-destructive allure of convenience stores in the middle of the night: “And lo, my neon lamps will burn as bright as rubies. They will burn 24/7/365. I am the refuge of all exiles, welcoming you with doors that swing open at your touch.” Fiction Southeast published my fantasy-horror flash fiction "Carve This Flesh From Off My Bones": “Memory is all we have left—our crops withered, our goats long dead, the village surrounded by a desert like an open mouth.” And The Belladonna published my humor piece "20 Love Songs That Are Truly Terrifying Once You Know Their Original Title": "I Only Have Eyes For You (Sorry, I Was in a Rush and That's All I Could Get at the Morgue)" Lastly, I'm excited to have a flash fiction piece coming out in Jellyfish Review next month. I'm so grateful to the editors and readers--most of them volunteers--who make these magazines, journals, and other publications possible! Comments are closed.
|