There was a time, when I lived in Chicago and flew by the seat of my Ann Taylor Loft suitpants from one thing to another (often from late nights at the law firm to early mornings at a neighborhood bar), when I always felt like I missed out on fall. One day the trees lining my neighborhood streets were a full green canopy, and the next thing I knew they were a tangled knot of barren sticks clutching at gray skies.
I blamed it on the city. Surely, something about the city itself caused the leaves to turn one day and fall the next. The big city’s dying leaves could never compare to the “fall foliage” drawing crowds of peepers to New England.
Even if such a thing were true, it was also true that I walked several blocks from my apartment to the L every day. That walk took me on one after another proverbial tree-lined street, and every one of those trees lost its entire leafy wardrobe each fall. Did I not look up? Or out in front of me? Or even down at the leaves crunching under my feet?
I can’t answer these questions today. It’s been 20 years, and in that time, I feel like I’ve been to the moon and back. I spent 13 of those years on the other side of the country where there’s no such thing as seasons–something is always blooming. I took a husband and birthed two daughters, I gave up the law firm and the neighborhood bar, and I now live in a house with a yard full of wild creatures, in an entirely different city and state, where each season announces its coming with a hungry roar.
What I can do today is pay attention. Now that it’s fall, when I go out for my daily walk, I can look up and see the sugar maple on Rockingham very nearly burst into fiery flames of red. I can watch the golden pennies falling like snowflakes off the tree at the end of Foxcroft when the soft breeze blows. I can notice the blanket of yellow amber diamonds over the grass along Tallwood. I can even push the toe of my shoe through them, make the sound of wire brushes on a snare drum. I can breathe deep, and look up and around me, and just pay attention to the many unique changes in light and color and temperature and scent and sound that come with the lovely season of fall.
Let’s pay attention this fall, my friends. And, while we’re at it, let’s write about it.
~Megan Thompson
THANK YOU FOR A LOVELY AND INSPIRING OPEN MIC NIGHT
Thank you to everyone who came out for our Open Mic Literary Reading at Fante’s in September. What a wonderful turnout for our creative and entertaining readings! Thank you to the following members who were inspired to share their writing with us: Liz Roach-Smith, Leah Tenney, Elizabeth Holtzclaw, Pat Smith, Teresa Willis, Jessica Hildebrand, Nancy Wynn, and Holly Hinson. We hope to make this an annual event.
UPCOMING MEETINGS
Our October 8th member meeting will be from 6:30 PM to 8:30 at the St. Matthewslibrary branch at 3940 Grandview Avenue.
If you are interested in receiving a peer critique, let us know before [meeting date] at noon through email () and tell us what you are bringing. 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.
Our November meeting will also be at the St. Matthews branch. It will be Tuesday, November 12th from 6:30 to 8:30.
Photo of the Open Mic by Megan Thompson
WRITING PROMPT
Fall, the season when the environment slows down, sheds weight, prepares for winter. The animals begin to reserve their energy, sleeping in longer and quieting their songs, and warm themselves with thicker coats. The trees know that the sun will not be as frequent of a visitor, so they put up their green coats, drop their leaves, and they too seem to sleep, though unafraid they are bare. Not only should we pay attention this fall, but we should also take note. Let ourselves slow down…
Fiction: Write a story where the central conflict is character vs nature, where the character is trying to rush but nature is forcing them to slow down.
Poetry: Write an ode to an aspect of fall that has taught or is teaching you a life lesson.
Nonfiction: Write a letter to Fall or an essay about what you wish to shed this fall.
~ Erin Wedemeyer
WE WANT TO SUPPORT YOUR WRITING LIFE
Members, if you have a website or social media platform dedicated to your writing, share it with us so we can share it with our Women Who Write community. Send your details to and we will share in a future newsletter.
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.
Photo by Megan Thompson
OTHER PLACES TO SUBMIT & LOCAL EVENTS
Our member Leah Tenney is hosting a Poetry Workshop at the Waterfront Botanical Gardens on October 19, 2024. For more information and to register, go here.
Women Who Write will have a table at the upcoming Louisville Book Festival! It is a two day festival at the Kentucky International Convention Center on October 18 & 19th.
The Writers Digest Annual Conference is almost local this year. It’s in Cincinnati October 17-20, 2024. More information here.
The submissions period for the 2025 Memorial Marvin Bell Poetry Prize, judged by Maggie Smith and sponsored by december magazine, is open until November 1, 2024. More information here.
The deadline for Zoetrope: All Story’s Short Fiction Competition, judged by C Pam Zhang, has been extended to October 15, 2024. More information here.
Sarabande Books presents a ‘Zine Lunch most Fridays at noon—it’s a free online workshop on micro-writing and art.
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.
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. Cost is $5 per month or $50 per year.
Submittable is another terrific resource for publication and other opportunities for writers. Many publications require submissions to be submitted through this service. Also, it’s free!
HerStry literary essay/memoir blog seeks to empower women through their writing. 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. June’s theme is Coming of Age
Poets and Writers has an extensive list of literary magazines to which you can submit.
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.”
NewPages lists writing contests by the month and day that their submissions close. There are many closing 6/15 and 6/30, check them out!
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 Megan Thompson