Kate Ver Ploeg’s “Fall From the Sky” was incorrectly published in CALYX Vol. 28:1 as fiction. Her piece is, in fact, a true experience told from a vulnerable place in her heart. We are deeply apologetic to Ms. Ver Ploeg for the misprint, and wish to give her the space to reclaim the label and
Not sure what to do to make National Poetry Month special this April? Poets.org compiled a list of 30 ways to celebrate. Here are ten of our favorite! 1) Attend a poetry reading. 2) Pick you favorite poem and memorize it. 3) Buy a book of poetry from your local bookstore. 4) Try your hand
Did you know that April is National Poetry Month? Whether you are a devout poetry lover or think it’s impossible to understand, there is something for you to enjoy this month! Here’s an infographic with some facts about poetry to get you started: Infographic by Kelsey Sutton
Genealogies of Resistance by the Kinship Collective The Genealogies of Resistance created by the Kinship Collective is a zine formed by students in Oregon States Queer of Color Critiques course, lead by Dr. Qwo-li Driskill. The zine is a creative and collective project that demonstrates artistic activism, art that critiques, analyzes and reflects particular cultural,
Staceyann Chin is a Jamaican born lesbian, spoken word poet, artist and activist. She has written a number of poems addressing issues of race and sexuality as well as a memoir titled, The Other Side of Paradise, an unforgettable story that documents her experiences growing up in an unfamiliar and dysfunctional home in Paradise Jamaica.
When Cherríe Moraga spoke at Oregon State University on February 10, she captivated the packed room of audience members and reminded all of us why we strive for social justice and change. She spoke about gender and sexuality, growing up in a mixed-race family, and her own struggle with identity. She addressed the important influence
Inside Starhawk’s visionary novel, The Fifth Sacred Thing (Bantam, 1993), lies a lush, thriving community of people in post-revolutionary California who have adopted an earth-based, ecofeminist set of values and ideas. While the rest of the country, and presumably the world, suffers through extreme corruption and poverty, the people of San Francisco seem to have
“If we are to dismantle a system that is oppressive because it pushes certain people to the periphery, we must bring those same people to the center.” – Leonicka Valcius, blogger, author, editor and traveler A demand for an “equitable literary landscape” within the publishing community reflects the larger socioeconomic and political disparities among racially
On Monday, I posted onto our Facebook page a link to an article by The Guardian which listed the 50 most influential books written by women. While I can agree that list is full of novels I have enjoyed reading in the past, not all have been influential in my life. Thus, here are the top 5
Now that you have, hopefully, had a chance to read the full version of Family Fest, Lynn Casteel Harper’s compelling, insightful essay from the Summer 2012 edition of the CALYX Journal, please enjoy this equally thoughtful interview she did about the piece. “Family Fest” is set during a weekend-long Christian music gathering, which your narrator does
A detail photo of Jody Joldersma’s sculpture, “The Birth of the Homonucli,” is the cover of the Summer 2012 edition of the CALYX Journal. An expanded view of the sculpture is included in the full-color art section inside the issue, alongside more images of her work and the work of other women artists. She was
Sara Kirschenbaum’s photograph, “Pears,” can be found in the Winter 2012 edition of CALYX Journal. Here’s what she had to say about everything from photography to feminism to food. How has your personal visual style evolved throughout the years? I had a very strong visual inheritance. Both my parents are artists and Bauhaus educated. My
Rosa del Duca’s, “The Script,” can be found in the Winter 2012 edition of the CALYX Journal. I wanted to find out more about this engaging author and how her story took its shape. Some people think that the military is not an ideal environment for fostering creativity. What was your experience in the military
With the start of the 2012 Lois Cranston Memorial Poetry Prize reading period, I’ve been thinking a lot about why people submit (or should submit) to literary contests. I recently had a conversation with a friend that went something like this: Me: Hey friend who is also a poet. You should submit to the 2012
If you couldn’t tell from our snarky twitter tags (#nooneputsbabyinthecorner), the CALYX table this year at AWP was on the polar icecap of planet book fair. Despite our distance from the hustle and bustle of the central corridors (or perhaps because of it) we still had a great turn-out at the table: authors stopping by
I read a novel recently that once again prompted me to reflect on a common and highly disheartening downfall of far too many awesome female protagonists/focal characters in literature, television, movies, etc. The composition I delved into began as many other fabulous works do, portraying the shift in social, sexual, ideological, economic, and gendered thinking
Greetings, friends of CALYX! Intern Marissa writing. With summer soon coming to an end, I am once again reflecting on how fortunate I am to contribute to CALYX, along with gaining invaluable publishing experience and meeting some especially first-rate folks while here. From mini-assembly lines of letter sorting to perusing manuscripts over coffee, we interns
Dear CALYX followers, After browsing around CALYX Journals, I decided to take a look at CALYX Books. I grabbed a few titles to bring home with me. I don’t know if I will read them all, but they sure look promising. I was really attracted to what the summaries on the back covers revealed because
A while ago, while browsing around CALYX Journals and CALYX Books, I spotted a Special International Anthology. As a French woman, this tickled my curiosity and I decided to check it out. Then I realized I had been right not to entitle my introductory entry on this blog “CALYX goes International.” Because obviously, CALYX did
Hi there CALYX followers! As an intern at CALYX, I have the opportunity to be around all the journal issues published over the years, and I decided that it would be nice for me to tell you about some of the great poems and stories I came across. I must say that it was tough to
