Recommit to Action (Amber Intro) (06/06/2020)

Recommit to Action | The Weekly Atticus

A recap of the week's writing at Atticus Review. Submit to our Flash CNF Contest. Introduction by Amber Shockley. Black Lives Matter.

I haven’t written in weeks. Not since my last letter to you. I’ve been in a state of paralysis. Thousands upon thousands of lives have been lost to pandemic. As the count approached 100,000 in the US, I tried to imagine each single death individually, to hold that deep, personal pain for at least one moment in the face of an inconceivable magnitude of loss. 

Then, the horror of George Floyd’s murder. 

How do a people, already weary from the war of racism waged against them, worn down by the disproportionate illness and death from a pandemic affecting their community, respond to an atrocity so acute, so profound, that it demands revolt?

The call is so strong, the truth so plain, that people of every ethnicity, age and creed across the nation, even across the world, are risking their lives to gather in the streets and protest.  

Because of chronic illness, I am not able to actively join my body to the protest. Typically, my way to protest has been to write. 

But wordlessness has allowed me to remember and recommit to other actions I, a white writer, can take to counteract racism, starting with my own racism, so that I may thereby better contribute to tearing down systemic racism specific to the writing community. These actions include reading contemporary Black writers, refusing to attend writers’ events or readings that do not present a diverse panel or invite a diverse audience, questioning, confronting and boycotting publishers, journals and organizations that do not routinely publish and/or award Black writers, and asking bookstores to carry, display and highlight texts by Black writers. 

Writing communities must include Black voices. Today I recommit to write, read and participate toward that end.  

Thanks for reading. We’re glad you’re here.

Amber Shockley

Assistant Poetry Editor

ATTICUS NEWS

Below are resources for supporting protesters and Black-owned businesses, and to find legal help as well as mental health support. We support the many brave people making their voices heard this week.RESOURCES FOR JUSTICE ACTION.

We want your CNF!Deadline July 26th. Only $10 to enter.First Prize: $350; 2nd: $100; 3rd: $50.All pieces considered for publication.Judge: Nick FlynnSUBMITCheck out Nick's latest memoir HERE.

Congratulations to the following Atticus Review authors,selected for Wigleaf’s Top 50 Very Short Fictions longlist:Elise BlackwellChristopher JamesCate McGowanCurt SaltzmanJulia StrayerRead about them HERE.

THIS WEEK AT ATTICUS REVIEW

BOOK REVIEWSOLITARY MANA Review of HISTORY OF AN EXECUTIONER by Clancy McGilligan from Miami University PressReview by Jeff Gilliland"renders a sensitive, touching portrait of life in limbo that resonates powerfully with those of us sheltering in place from a fraught and threatening world."GET THE BOOKREAD THE REVIEW

FICTIONA WORLD BEYOND CARDBOARD by Jonathan Cardew "Dad slowed down.Each of his sips was a journey.We hung off each one, hoping he would say something of substance.Just say some thing."READ ON

POETRYHAVING A BEER IN THE CANOE CLUBby Rose Mary Boehm"The tables and benches are wet.Barges on the Rhine low their mourning.Water stands high after the rains.On the opposite bank, the sharp..."READ ON

CREATIVE NONFICTIONWRECK OF THE DAYby Aliceanna Stopher "...I’m feeling something I recognize as heartbreak, asking myself why I keep coming back, keep hurting this way."READ ON

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