As those subscribed to my newsletter have already been hip to....I've been accepted as a 2018 Jack Straw Writer! I am now one of twelve writers who was selected from 121 applications by curator, Daemond Arrindell! I applied last year and had been impatiently waiting to hear back about my acceptance (in my head, I KNEW this opportunity was FOR ME). When I finally got that email....I was smiling all night! After attending the first meeting with the entire cohort, I am legit EXCITED! It's about to be lit! I will be working on some new projects during this program, so stay tuned!
I was checking my inbox when I saw an email from a magazine that I'd submitted my work to. My heart dropped deep down into my stomach as I clicked on the message. I scanned quickly through the words to find the pivotal ones that tell me whether I've been accepted or not. I spot "unfortunately" and feel my hopes drop along with my heart. Lately, I've been getting a lot of rejections for my poetry submissions. I took a tally and the ratio is about 13 rejections to 2 acceptances. I share this because I want to show that the rejections are a normal part of this process. They don't mean that I should stop and give up. If anything they help me to make sure I submit a stronger sample with each new
