New Publication: CALYX Vol. 30:3
Since I attended graduate school at San Francisco State University, I wanted to be published in CALYX. I never had the courage to submit, but a year ago, I finished a few poems that I thought were worth sending there. The wonderful editors gave me insightful, collaborative suggestions for possible revision and allowed for a warm exchange and process that made me see my poem with new eyes. I especially want to thank Senior Editor Brenna Crotty. It was a wonderful experience to work with her beginning to end.
Now Volume 30:30 has come out, featuring my poem “The Rise & Fall of Breath’s Slim Body” both in the hard-copy magazine and online. You can read the poem and find out more here. Click on the cover image on the CALYX site.
Below, I include the mission statement of CALYX and a quote by Barbara Kingsolver about the journal. Then you’ll see why I always wanted to be published there! This issue is particularly riveting. It features curated work by Cordella Magazine and select pieces from the Bring Her Home: Stolen Daughters of Turtle Island art exhibition. The cover image is “She Is with the Moon” by Tamara Aupaumut.
CALYX’s Mission
CALYX exists to nurture women’s creativity by publishing fine literature and art by women. CALYX is committed to:
introducing a wide audience to high quality literature and art by women
providing a forum for diversity and underrepresented writers and viewpoints
discovering and publishing emerging and developing writers
preserving publications for future audiences
CALYX Journal is known for discovering important writers, such as Julia Alvarez, Paula Gunn Allen, Olga Broumas, Natalie Goldberg, Barbara Kingsolver, and Sharon Olds, among the more than 4,000 writers published during our first 42 years. CALYX was the first to publish the artwork of Frida Kahlo in color in the U.S. In 1980 CALYX also featured work by the Nobel Laureate poet Wislawa Szymborska–the first English translations of her work published in the U.S.
CALYX is the recipient of the Oregon Governor’s Arts Award, the Stanley H. Holbrook Award from Oregon Literary Arts, Pushcart Prizes, and American Literary Magazine Awards, among others.
“CALYX holds a very special place in my heart. Some of my very first published words–two poems–were published in CALYX years ago. Feminist literature amplifies our voices and extends our capabilities. At a time when mass trade publishing in the US is narrowing itself down to a race for the buck, I am increasingly comforted by the presence of feminist presses. Without them we would lose much more than feminist thought–we would lose color, and diversity, poetry, the outside chance, the underdog’s story, the heretical questions, the answers we need. As long as we crave honest reading, we’ll need our feminist presses.”