Monday, Monday

This morning, I went to an eye-opening talk at the Beverly Public Library on African Americans in Beverly between 1750-1850. The timing was perfect because I have been yearning to have a better understanding of where I live. Sometime this week I will visit the Beverly Historical Society to delve a little deeper into the lives of the slaves who lived here.

There were not that many slaves in this area, but we have a fair amount of information about the ones who were here: documents, logs, writings, firsthand accounts, etc.

Historian Terri McFadden read a poem discovered in a hymnal. It was written by a woman slave who lived to be 95. The poem broke my heart, but also inspired me to continue to research.

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Have I mentioned how much I love my local library?

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I went on a submissions tear this weekend and sent work to six different publications. This is my favorite time, just after the emails and letters are sent. Anything is possible at this point.

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We're almost a month away from AWP! I'm over-the-moon excited that AWP is in Boston this time around. Yes, the panels are great. Yes, the book fair is ginormous. But I'm looking forward to all those moments that happen in between the panels and book fair: the hallway conversations, the impromptu gatherings at the hotel lounge, the dinners, the off-sites. I'm all over it.


Comments

Susan Rich said…
Hi Jan,

Glad my rant on rejections coincided with you sending your work into the world. A nice balance. And to answer your question: I think the nicer rejection may lead to eventual acceptance. I'd say it's been 50-50 like that for me. However, there are two magazines that have sent nice rejections for over a decade.

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