To be a writer, poet, or artist is to be an outsider.

Of all the stories we tell ourselves and others, the most significant follow the words ‘I am . . .

“To be a writer, poet, or artist is to be an outsider. We give form to our experiences, creating channels and access points for others to connect into in the process. And once a thing has form, we can choose to carry it, put it down, or step beyond it. Belonging is not something we negotiate with the external world, it’s inside us.

To be a writer, poet, or artist is to be brave enough to press the submit button that sends your work into the hands of strangers, risking it being received with resonance or not, and being willing to do that over and over again.

As guest editor of Yellow Arrow Journal ANFRACTUOUS, I had the unique opportunity to be on the other side of that button for the first time. I remembered the sting of the rejections I have received as a writer and so I was apprehensive about the task of choosing between submissions…….”

Behind the Issue: ANFRACTUOUS (Yellow Arrow Journal, Vol. VI, No. 2)