This week I’ve been immersed in editorial work at both Right Hand Pointing and Praxis Magazine Online. As I mentioned last week, Right Hand Pointing has been inundated with submissions of very short poems (poems under thirty words), so much so that we’ve decided to do two issues during April rather than one. These are amazing selections of poems…I’ll post the links on or about the 1st and 15th of April when the issues are released.
At Praxis, I’ve been curating the Women’s Day Series, a celebration of International Women’s Day (March 08). Beginning March 8th, we’ve been posting a poem and photograph in the series each day, and expect the series to continue through the end of March and perhaps a bit beyond. There have already been some amazing pieces featured, and there are more to come. You can follow along by subscribing to the Praxis Magazine Online email feed if you don’t already receive it; it sends out one email a day with links to what’s been published, and you can always unsubscribe at any time.
I’m deeply honoured to be curating this series, and feeling incredibly grateful to the poets and photographers who have sent in the work that makes this series possible. We don’t receive many photography submissions at Praxis, although we have done several photography chapbooks. Working with the photographers on this series has been a real treat; several have already responded to emergency requests for additional photographs, as I’ve been trying to find just the right photo to go with each poem in the series.
The poems in this series are special…celebrations of women, powerful self-affirmations…and also the more difficult poems: poems speaking out about abuse, poems detailing the kind of advice women get that keeps them in difficult relationships, poems about how difficult it can be to break the cycle of domestic violence. Poems about not fulfilling expectations of what it means to be a woman, whether the expectations of others, or one’s own expectations and longing. Many poems speaking out against traditional cultural confinement of women to the kitchen, each poem with a unique voice, perspective, and protest. Poems of gratitude to and for mothers. And more.
We’ve had submissions from all around the world, and not just from women. I was delighted to have the opportunity to include the title poem from Daniel García Ordaz’s forthcoming collection, Cenzontle/Mockingbird: Songs of Empowerment. I’ve discovered some incredible poets I’ve never read before…and I’ll be seeking out more of their work for my personal reading list.
I’d like to take the opportunity here to offer a personal salute to everyone who submitted, whether or not I accepted your work for the series. Keep writing. Keep speaking up. Keep taking incredible pictures. Keep doing what you’re doing. I appreciate you. I believe you are making a difference in the world. Keep on. Stay bold. Stay brave. Stay blessed.
For a taste of the series, here are links to a few of the Women’s Day Series posts:
http://www.praxismagonline.com/womens-day-series-living/
http://www.praxismagonline.com/womens-day-series-cenzontlemockingbird/
http://www.praxismagonline.com/womens-day-series-phoenix-sighting/
http://www.praxismagonline.com/womens-day-series-days-coming/
You can find others on the Praxis Magazine Online site at:
http://www.praxismagonline.com/category/blog/poetry/
Thank you for sharing the journey!
Stay blessed.
The Ark of Identity 