November 2022
“Delight seems insubstantial; happiness feels more grounded; ecstasy is what I shoot for; satisfaction is hardest to attain.”
― Louise Erdrich, The Sentence
Happy Halloween Weekend! This newsletter comes to you a bit early so you have plenty of time to carve pumpkins, don a costume, and get spooky.
Our news: For the last two months, Birch Bark has advocated for two movements with compelling causes. The first is M.C. Armstrong's Institute for Regenerative Design and Innovation and the other is Breast Cancer Awareness Month (pick your own organization to support). As we move into the colder months, we’d like to focus on food insecurity. We encourage you to reach out to pantries and shelters in your town as winter bears down on us. Feeding America is an excellent organization, but we know you all have organizations in your areas that could use your support. Enough said – but do use the power of your words to focus on food insecurity. Our December focus will be on our Benefit for Ukraine.
M.C. Armstrong’s novel American Delphi from Family of Light Books published October 1st.
Erica Plouffe Lazure’s collection of short stories, Proof of Me, received a shoutout in the Washington Post.
Anatoly Molotkov received the Glenna Luschei Prairie Schooner Award ($250) for his poem “The Melting Star” published in Prairie Schooner Fall 2020.
Elizabeth Reed’s nonfiction essay, “A Map of Marriage on Monhegan Island,” appeared in Persimmon Tree.
Rina Terry is off to the Hawthornden Literary Retreat this month!
Several Birch Bark friends have essays in Beyond Their Limits of Longing published October 18th from MilSpeak Books: Donald Anderson, M.C. Armstrong, Ruth Edgett, Teresa Fazio, Brian Turner, and Andria Williams.
Mix & Meet kicked up fall leaves in early October with some fabulous, focused writing.
We hosted novelists Ray Nayler with Wendy N. Wagner for our October InConversation event—they read from their speculative and gothic novels while discussing process and craft. If you missed it, you can watch the event here.
Join us Tuesday, November 1 at 7 p.m. Eastern (4 p.m. Pacific) for a reading with Jennifer Barber and A. Molotkov. Jennifer will be reading from her most recent poetry collection The Sliding Boat Our Bodies Made and A. Molotkov will be reading from his poetry collection Future Symptoms.
Wednesday, November 9th, join us for our Post-Election Crash Party which is a Mix & Meet for everyone relieved to have pushed past election day. Write out election angst with focused flash prompts!
Join us on December 6th for our Best of the Net nominees reading as a fundraiser to benefit Ukraine. More information will be coming soon on our Events page.
October’s issue contained work by Tomlin Martinson, Elizabeth Reed, and Tami Haaland. Submissions open again March 1, 2023!
A Gift that Supports Our Community
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Bundle up-
Cat & Max
Save the Date!
Best of the Net reading and benefit for Ukraine, December 6th.
Watch for new events coming in January 2023!