If you haven't heard of literary journals, you have been missing an opportunity to discover amazing emerging and established artists, and to support amazing talents.
What is a literary journal?
Literary journals are supported by reader subscriptions and showcase writing and artwork that may not find an audience in mainstream or commercial publishing.
I love literary journals, especially those that do offer emerging writers a great platform. Over the years there have been some wonderful lit mags that have given women of color a platform that has allowed them to speak through their writing and art.
Her Mind Rocks has taken their powerful mission to the next level, by offering young, black girls a platform of their own with the launch of the Her Mind Rocks magazine.
Young, black women are able to submit their work in one of five categories: fiction, nonfiction, poetry and art/photography. The goal is to give a platform to these young women as they strive to walk a positive path in their community.
Why?
Our theme this year has been #sisterhood, and we have launched our first writing passion workshop. As a young girl, writing helped to empower me by helping to boost my confidence. I remember the first poem I ever wrote, it was very short, and it was an expression of the confusion I felt about what love was to me at the time.
The Her Mind Rock Mission has always been to empower young black women to create their own definition of what it means to be young, black and female. What better way to do this than to allow them to express it through their art?
How?
By creating a platform that celebrates them, their work, talent and abilities.
The first issue of the quarterly journal will be released in January of 2016, giving us enough time to ensure that the best of the best will have the opportunity to submit their work for consideration.
We invite the community to celebrate the talent as we recognize the artists chosen for our first issue at our Sister's Speak Celebration in December of 2015.
We need to create more opportunities for young black women to express themselves in a positive way, and to find community encouragement and support for choosing to make better choices. From organizations like Black Girls Code that allow young black girls to discover and explore a passion for programming and At The Well that encourages academic confidence, it's truly exciting to see more mentors in our community choosing to give black girls a voice!
Nancy Laws on The Blog