Submission form: Our journal is committed to publishing under-represented voices. Are you a member of a marginalized community?
Submitter’s reply: Consider me intersectional. First, I am old. Submission judges skew young. Elders like me are shunted aside. Second, I am blind in one eye, ergo a virtual cyclops. Our kind have hovered on the edge of extinction since the ancient Greeks persecuted us. Third, I am short. Not “Little People” short (as in dwarfism) but, like Dr. Ruth, I stand several inches below five feet. Much of the world, most notably supermarket shelves, lies beyond my reach. Fourth, I am a certified end-of-life doula. The number of people comfortable talking about death is distressingly small and so-called “polite society” shoulders us to the margins. Fifth, having come in contact with a noxious plant or insect while weeding the garden, I have a 3″ x 2″ itchy rash on my right shin. I trust this affliction is temporary, but it renders me a member of a limited demographic at the time of this submission. (Proof-of-rash photo furnished upon request). Sixth, I love Brussels sprouts. Even broccoli fans do not acknowledge me at vegan potlucks. Seventh, I hate cilantro. Unlike a certain genetic subgroup, I do not claim it tastes like soap. (CONTENT WARNING) It tastes the way underarm sweat smells. This condition, likely genetic too, goes unremarked in print. Eighth, my guilty pleasure is Coffeemate. I am part of the mainstream who imbibes this artificial creamer. However, among a small cohort who, like me, otherwise consumes only “real” food, my choice renders me an outcast, to wit, a “marginalized marginal.” Ninth, I swear by WordPerfect (although I convert files to MS Word to share them, e.g., with the editors of this journal). While the legal profession recognizes the superiority of WordPerfect, Ann Patchett and I are its sole standard bearers among the literati. Considering that “I’m with her,” I respectfully request that you accord my manuscript more than a cursory reading confined to the first paragraph. The tenth strand in my intersectional braid comprises 1 ⅔ missing toenails,. My right pinky toenail was surgically excised; two-thirds of my left big toenail spontaneously fell off a year ago and has not grown back. This combination of deformities is not even relegated to the margins of Podiatry Today. In conclusion, I hasten to add that my reply is not intended to make light of initiatives to provide a platform to traditionally ignored writers. I applaud those efforts. However, despite surviving other significant challenges, I am not BIPOC or LGBTQ+, a refugee or an immigrant, an unhoused or incarcerated parent, or the owner of a physical or emotional support animal. I am a writer trying to make sense of the human condition with openness and empathy. I willingly remain silent so I can listen to those with different life experiences, but at some point, I want to join the conversation. As an advocate of creative writing, I thereby propose that you create a broader definition of “marginalized” as a criterion of manuscript review.
How do you determine your margin(alization)?
Why writers write: “Only in the relationship between what is unique, even eccentric, and what is universal, is there a true subject, worthy of hours of work.” – Joyce Carol Oates
