Happy almost-Spring! We at YARN could not be more thrilled about all the goodies we have coming your way in the upcoming 2017 season. We’ve been very busy off in our dens reading all winter, and are now putting the finishing touches on a schedule that includes some of our favorite authors, as well as oodles of new talent.
“She Read” © Sergej Xarkonnen (https://www.flickr.com/photos/xarkonnen/32066924283/)
As Poetry Editor, I’m of course most excited about National Poetry Month. We’ve already announced our annual Poetry Contest, which will be judged this year by Solstice MFA founding director and verse novelist, Meg Kearney. Our NPM lineup includes outtakes both from Meg’s latest novel-in-verse, “When You Never Said Goodbye,” and from Pam Laskin’s lyrical Romeo and Juliet retelling, “Ronit & Jamil.” But that’s not all there is to the season. We’re really looking forward to sharing interviews and writing by some of our all-time favorites, including Cindy Pon, Zeff Zentner, Kim Zarins, and Mackenzie Lee.
–Kip Wilson Rechea
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As Editor at Large, I am beyond elated to announce that in honor of all things spooky, bewitching, and frightening, we will be holding our first ever Fiction Contest, with a special, mystery guest judge. So dust off that skull you have buried in your closet, set it on your wooden desk, and have your quill and ink bottle at the ready, you have six months to get inspired. (Apparently, you are getting this inspiration from the 18th century.)
And remember, YARN is open for submissions until July. So, send in your best poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction (We especially love these!) before the lackadaisical breeze of summer leaves you adrift in The Procrastination Sea.
–Lourdes Keochgerien
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As the new Fiction Editor, I’m so thrilled to be reading submissions as we put the finishing touches on the 2017 season. I’m honored to spend time with tales by such hardworking, insightful, and passionate writers.
We have a wide variety of offerings for 2017. This season’s authors have continued to surprise and delight me, with stories of a beauty queen contestant who strives to win on her own terms, of an aspiring reality TV star who risks her life to ‘win,’ of a couple seeking solace in a shattered South American city, of a girl on a mountain climbing adventure that goes mysteriously awry — and much more.
“Yukimi shoji” © halfrain (https://www.flickr.com/photos/halfrain/14247536929/in/photostream/)
I’m excited to continue reading stories by teens and by adults who vividly depict the experiences of teens, so if you’re one of these writers, I encourage you to sit at that desk. Or in that closet or attic, or wherever you have the space to write. We humans are creatures that make sense of the world through story. We need, in the words of Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop, our windows, our mirrors, and our sliding glass doors. I hope those we offer at YARN will you inspire you to construct your own.
–Laura Williams McCaffrey