Photo by Cristian Escobar on Unsplash
“I wake expectant, hoping to see a new thing.”
January 2024
Happy New Year, Women Who Write!
Should auld acquaintance be forgot/and never brought to mind/Should auld acquaintance be forgot.” A poet made this Scottish drinking song famous. In 1788, Robert “Robbie” Burns wrote the words to Auld Lang Syne. Poetry is immortal!
The month we call January was named in 690 BC for the Roman God Janus. Janus had two faces—one to look ahead to and one to look behind. He was also considered the God of doors. An apt metaphor. The beginning of a new year gives us a chance to walk through a door to the future while keeping the door ajar so we can reenter those past times now and then.And for many writers, the past provides ample material for storytelling and poetry.
The Auld Lang Syne song invites us to remember the people and places of auld lang syne (trans. old long since). The song says nothing about becoming a better person. Yet, some of us fill our new year’s backpack with resolutions. Here are some of mine—I will write every day. I will be a better person—thinner, stronger, a better listener, a better friend. I will write thank you notes, visit my brother, be kind. Already, impossible.
Maybe it’s better to choose an epigraph to represent the new year. Ben Franklin’s famous quote from Poor Richard’s Almanac might be a choice— “Write something worth reading or do something worth writing (about).” But the quote that will guide my writing life in 2024 comes from Eleanor Roosevelt— “Do the things that interest you and do them with all your heart.”
WE CELEBRATED THE HOLIDAYS!
Photo by member, Kimberly Crum
We women who write met for dinner in a private room at the Bristol Bar and Grille on Bardstown Road on December 12. Some of us drank“a cup of kindness for Auld Lang Syne.” Here we are at the close of the evening, after a lively book exchange. Each partygoer chose a wrapped mystery book, and each giver told us why she had chosen the book. Not your usual holiday party activity, but perfect for us.
UPCOMING MEETINGS
Photo by member, Kimberly Crum
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. If you are ready to join or renew your membership, click here. If you have questions email .
Our first member meeting in 2024 is Tuesday, January 9th beginning at 6:30 PM, at the Highland Shelby LFPL branch at 1250 Bardstown Road in Mid-City Mall. We’ll announce the new leadership team and talk about the writing process. We will share resources and enjoy peer commentary about writings in progress.
Persons interested in receiving peer comments on January 9, 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 or two pages of poems. If the prose piece you’d like for a critique is longer than 1300 words, please bring an excerpt. Advise of your plan to share your writing by noon on Tuesday, January 9. Email
Our Tuesday, February 13 member meeting will begin at 6:30 PM at the Highland-Shelby library at Mid-City Mall. We will follow our usual format for this group—conversations about the writing life and peer commentary.
Our March meeting will be on Tuesday, March 12 at the St. Matthews Library beginning at 6:30 PM.
Photo by Josh Mills on Unsplash
THE WRITING PROMPT
Second Chances
The writing prompt—
This month’s writing prompt is borrowed from the HerStry literary blog theme for March— “Second Chances.” This theme seems relevant to the New Year! As we contemplate past missteps. HerStry theme asks writers to “Tell us about reconnecting with a lost love, making amends with your dead mother, walking down the path you didn’t choose the first time.’”
Though HerSTry is a creative nonfiction venue, fiction and poetry writers can easily respond to this prompt. Does a character take action to remedy a situation? Does a character or speaker wish for and/or imagine a do-over? Giving your protagonist a few regrets will deepen their character. Having her take action to remedy the situation deepens both character and plot.
No need to tackle huge episodes. Ordinary regret comes in all shapes and sizes. If you don’t like the word “regret,” try what my mother used to call, “wishful thinking.”
To get ready—Begin with a meditative activity— take a walk, listen to music, take a nap, garden, walk the dog, relax in a steamy bath, or meditate. Let the ideas and images come. Swat that inner editor from your shoulder.
Process—Before you begin your prose or poetry, make a list of nouns and verbs associated with that person or event. Then write a scene. Then keep going!
Begin with something small. Maybe your character made a small decision that turned out to have negative consequences. Maybe it’s too late to remedy the situation. Maybe she was able to correct the situation. Maybe she’s found a unique way to change the past.
Submit if you wish—
If you write memoir or personal essay, consider submitting it to the HerStry blog by Feb.1. Here are submission guidelines. I highly recommend reading a variety of essays on the website.
WE WANT TO SUPPORT YOUR WRITING LIFE
The Kentucky Foundation for women accepts proposals for a solo residency at the Loretto Motherhouse farm near Bardstown. Complete the application here! Janet and Kim are pleased to share their experiences with you!
Members, prepare 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 will 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. We will provide editorial suggestions. Here are the submission guidelines.
- Here is a list of journals that accept short stories—
https://writers.com/short-story-submission
- Here is a list of places to submit your poetry—
https://writers.com/best-places-submit-poetry-online - Here are places to submit your creative nonfiction—
https://writers.com/best-places-submit-creative-nonfiction-online - Here is an article and listing of magazines looking for science fiction and fantasy stories—https://www.marinacrousewrites.com/blog/fantasy-and-science-fiction-magazines
Salon.org is an online magazine about politics, food, and culture. It also publishes life stories. Here is a list of the essays named “best” of 2023. You can email a short pitch or attach a full personal essay. The emails are listed here.
ECOTONE is an award-winning literary magazine “dedicated to reimagining place, “welcoming work from a wide range of voices.” Open Submissions
Green House wants poetry, short stories, creative essays, and flash fiction for bi-monthly digital issues. The website is worth a visit! Clever, unique, and informative!
Green House: Open Submissions
Sad Girls Club: Open Submissions —”We want to see writing that explores what it means to be human. Make us laugh until our stomachs hurt, ugly cry, and everything in between. We accept poetry, flash fiction, short stories, and creative nonfiction.”
HerStry literary essay/memoir blog seeks to empower women through their writing. Submissions for general admissions are ongoing. Submissions for monthly themed issues are by the end of each month. Find out more here! and Second Chances (due 02/02).
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. Rolling submissions. Inquire here.
Halfway Down the Stairs publishes quarterly themed issues of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and book reviews. Learn more here
Consider submitting to Dorothy Parker’s Ashes has as its tagline, “Brazen words by witty dames. Everything true. More or less.” https://www.dorothyparkersashes.com/the-writing-life
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?”
https://www.fictionalcafe.com/coffee-club/
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 it draws no boundaries or borders on that interpretation. It seeks pieces that boldly create something new.”
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.” Find out how to submit here.
SUPPORT OUR WRITING COMMUNITY!
Become a member (or re-member)—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 chair will notify persons when they are due to renew. Regular annual membership is $50. Student annual membership is $25. Scholarships are available upon request.
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.
Visit our web page WomenWhoWrite.com. Also, visit our Facebook Page and stay awhile—@womenwhowriteky. Don’t forget to like us and follow us.
Thank you, WWW members, for joining our nonprofit group, for sharing your unique voices, and for supporting each other with open hearts and minds.
Blessings from your leadership team—
Kim, Alisa, Megan, Janet, Irene, Ashley, and Katie
