February is full of phenomena, starting with Groundhog Day (no shadow, early Spring!), middling with (love it or hate it) Valentine’s Day, and ending (this year) with an extra day because it’s Leap Year. It’s also home to Super Bowl Sunday (Go Niners! Or… Go Taylor, I mean Taylor’s boyfriend, I mean Chiefs!), the Chinese New Year (this is the Year of the Wood Dragon), and Mardi Gras (eat up, folks!). It’s the shortest month, and, some say, the hardest to spell (that pesky extra “r”).
In some ways, February feels full of opportunity. Even though January has passed, there is still plenty of time to make or revisit a (writing) goal for 2024. And some of those who pounced on their goals with fervor on January 1 may have already let them slide. So there’s probably a little more room at the gym, or the library, or that coffee shop where you like to write (can you snag the coveted table at Fante’s?).
What will you do with the opportunity that February brings? Or, you might ask, what will you do with your “one wild and precious” extra day in February?
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LEADERSHIP CHANGES
February is also the month of official leadership changes at Women Who Write.
We are grateful to all the women who have stepped up to lead this writing community founded in 1992 by Carrider “Rita” Jones. Rita imagined a “go-to” place for women writers. A Place. A Space. A Voice.
Thank you to Kimberly Crum, our outgoing Director, for leading us with grace and vision through the pandemic into a time of growth and opportunity for our writing community! Thank you to Alisa Childress for serving wholeheartedly and always with a smile as our Secretary! Thank you to Janet Boyd for engaging with our members (old and new) in creative ways as our Membership Coordinator!
We are also grateful to the women who have chosen to collaborate and lead our organization moving forward. Here is the latest rendition of your leadership team:
Megan Thompson: Interim Director
Erin Wedemeyer: Assistant Director (programs)
Katie Odom: Secretary
Ashley Striegel: Treasurer
Irene Sulyevich: Public Relations Coordinator
Nancy Wynn: Membership Coordinator
Holly Hinson: At Large (programs)
Colleen Ryan: At Large (membership)
UPCOMING MEETINGS
We meet on the second Tuesday of each month from 6:30 to 8:30 in a Louisville public library.
Persons interested in membership are welcome to attend two meetings before paying the $50 annual membership fee.
Our Tuesday, February 13 member meeting will begin at 6:30 PM at the Highlands-Shelby Park library at Mid-City Mall, 1250 Bardstown Road, Suite 4.
If you are interested in receiving a peer critique on February 13, please bring 8 printed copies of the manuscript you want us to read. No more than 1300 words (4 to 4.5 pages double-spaced) for prose (excerpts of longer pieces welcome), or two pages of poetry. Let us know you’d like to share your writing by noon on Tuesday, February 13 by email:
On March 12, we will meet at the St. Matthews library at 3940 Grandview Avenue.
On April 9, we’ll meet and celebrate Poetry Month with poetry! Stay tuned for more details . . .
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THE WRITING PROMPT
What will you do with your “one wild and precious” extra day in February?
Is February 29 wild or precious? Is it just another Thursday? Well, there’s science behind the extra day in February, and maybe we can infuse something artistic into it too.
The science: While we all go along talking about how one year is 365 days, and we all know that is based on how long it takes the Earth to orbit the Sun, when Leap Year rolls around, we are reminded that 365 is actually a rounded number. In fact, it takes the Earth 365.242190 days to complete its orbit – or 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 56 seconds. So, every (approximately) four years, we add a day to the calendar year to keep our seasons from drifting. Without February 29, after about 700 years, the northern and southern hemispheres would trade summers for winters! So February 29, while an irregular seeming phenomena, is actually a stabilizer, a regulator. Hmm.
The art: Mary Oliver wasn’t writing about February 29 in The Summer Day when she asked, after observing the grasshopper in the fields, “what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” But you could.
Life is so big, and so fleeting. Start with February 29, and consider what you’ll do with the extra day on your calendar. Something wild? Something precious? Something ordinary—or extraordinary? Can you pay attention? Do you know how to be “idle and blessed,” like Oliver’s poem says? Can you walk the fields—or your neighborhood? Even for just 5 minutes? What does this question call to your mind? Tell us.
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WE WANT TO SUPPORT YOUR WRITING LIFE
Louisville Magazine has a series of questions for local writers, and they’re interested in your answers! Questions include where do you go in town for creative inspiration? To add your voice, go here. They’d like to complete the “interviews” by the end of February.
The Bluegrass Writers Coalition is hosting its annual Conference of Writers on April 27 in Frankfurt. For more information, click here.
The Carnegie Center in Lexington has writing class and workshops (some are virtual), plus the Books in Progress Conference will take place May 30-June 2, with keynote speaker, George Ella Lyon. For more information, about the conference, click here. For classes, workshops, and more, go here.
Sarabande Books presents a ‘Zine Lunch most Fridays at noon—it’s a free online workshop on micro-writing and art. The top for the workshop on February 23 is “A Meaningful Item,” hosted by Chia-Lun Chang. More information about future ‘Zine Lunches here.
Members, write a poem, story, or essay for the Women Who Write website blog. No more than 2,000 words, please. Publishing on our blog will expand your writing platform. And you’ll help WWW show off the variety of talents within our writing community! Browse our web blog now! For more information, email and pitch your story or poem—the one you’ve written or the one you want to write! We may provide suggested edits, for flow and clarity.
Submit a story to Landslide Lit(erary) on Medium.com, a publication edited by two WWW members—Kimberly Crum and Bonnie Omer Johnson—who will provide editorial suggestions. Here are the submission guidelines.
Duotrope is a fabulous resource for writers who want to publish in literary journals and anthologies and enter contests. You will receive a listing of submission opportunities in your inbox, specifically for your genre. Learn more here. Cost is $5 per month or $50 per year.
ECOTONE is an award-winning literary magazine “dedicated to reimagining place” and welcoming “work from a wide range of voices.” Submissions information is here.
Folly is an international journal of poetry, prose, and art (published in New Zealand). Submissions are year-round. “We are drawn to dark humor, satirical takes on the social scene, and starkly honest accounts of ordinary life. Diversity is celebrated, adversity is welcomed, and, above all, personal expression is championed. Submissions information is here.
Green Housewants poetry, short stories, creative essays, and flash fiction for bi-monthly digital issues. The website is worth a visit! Clever, unique, and informative! Submission information is here.
HerStry literary essay/memoir blog seeks to empower women through their writing. Find submission information here. In addition to accepting personal essay submissions four times per year, HerStry accepts submissions on “monthly themes” that are intended as prompts for writers to tell their stories. Upcoming themes include Second Chances (due 2/1) and Keep Moving (3/1).
Poets and Writers has an extensive list of literary magazines to which you can submit. Learn more here.
Gionsko Literary Journal. Gionsko means, “to perceive, understand, realize, come to know; knowledge that has an inception, a progress, an attainment. The recognition of truth from experience.” Accepting short fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, social justice, and literary insights. Learn more here.
Sky Island Journal is an online journal that publishes emerging and established writers. Prefers flash fiction and creative nonfiction (less than 1,000 words) and poetry. Submissions information is here.
Halfway Down the Stairs publishes quarterly themed issues of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and book reviews. Learn more here.
Consider writing for Chicken Soup for the Soul. Some upcoming themes include The Power of Positive Thinking, Angels, Dogs, Cats, and Funny Stories. Learn more here.
Consider submitting to Dorothy Parker’s Ashes, an online magazine of personal essays with the tagline, “Brazen words by witty dames. Everything true. More or less.” Learn more here.
Thimble Literary is “based on the belief that poetry is like armor. Like a thimble, it may be small and seemingly insignificant, but it will protect us when we are most vulnerable.” The online journal publishes quarterly. Find out more here.
The Fictional Café is a unique literary venue inviting fiction and poetry. This international platform does require membership (looks like it’s free) to submit. They describe themselves as a Coffee Club, and their editors and staff as baristas. Here is their invitation— “Want to submit a short story or poetry? A chapter from a novel-in-progress?” Learn more here.
The Blue Mountain Review publishes poetry, nonfiction, and fiction, on a rolling basis, for publication in this quarterly print journal. Blue Mountain Review is a Southern publication, but, they say, “we do not define the boundaries of that interpretation. That is up to you, the artist . . .” Find out more here.
The Keeping Room is an online magazine for women writers, poets, and artists, interested in “Women’s Wisdom, Lessons Learned, Self-care, Bodies, Relationships, and Community.” Submissions information is here.
SUPPORT OUR WRITING COMMUNITY!
Become a member or renew your membership—As a community, WWW strives to nurture your writing life. We hope you choose to join or renew as a member and participate in our monthly meetings, author talks, retreats, and workshops. Our membership coordinator will notify anyone due to renew. Regular annual membership is $50. Student annual membership is $25. Scholarships are available. Membership entitles you to discounts on workshops and retreats.
Attend our monthly member meetings on the second Tuesday of each month for a brief program, peer critiques, and conversations about the writing life. Not currently a member? You can attend two meetings before deciding to join.
Photo by Dmitry Zvokskiy on Unsplash
Photo by Fiona Murray on Unsplash