The September 2018 Reading List was curated by Denise Nichole, Editor in Chief of The Hellebore. Read below for the latest essay, interview, article, blog, and poetry recommendations.
BiVisibility and Representation
The resilience of the LGBTQ+ community was celebrated through #BiVisibilityDay and continues through #BiVisibility Week:
Thoughts, Prayers, Tears by J. Harper West via OUT/CAST Issue 1
She greeted me, smiling in the church
pews
laughed til we were breathless, keeping
watch of
the girls, glancing past me to the
windows.
I sighed, already wanting her, to love.
Witch-Wife by Edna St. Vincent Millay from Renascence and Other Poems
She loves me all that she can
And her ways to my ways resign
But she was not made for any man,
And she never will be all mine
Brown, Queer, Sad, Strange and a Skilled Practitioner of Each by Sagaree Jain via Autostraddle
Somewhere along the line, on the rocky and winding path of becoming as a young person consumed by silent violence, I learned that identities are things that are practiced. They are pins you affix your lapel as a reminder that you are skilled and versatile, that your pain is always becoming power: a reminder that you have remade yourself.
Hispanic Heritage Month
#HispanicHeritageMonth champions the narratives of Latinx and Hispanic identities through an exploration of the histories and legacies within Europe, North America, Central America, and South America:
A Conversation with Alexandra Lytton Regalado by Maria Esquinca via Sinking City Lit Mag
Regalado’s version of motherhood is corporal and visceral. The sacrifice that motherhood demands bleed across the pages of Matria. It’s a continuous thread that runs throughout her book. The speaker constantly motions to the women in her life: they, in turn, become central to the survival and existence of the self.
Literatura, Musica, y (Huracan) Maria: Reflections from the Diaspora by Li Yun Alavardo via VIDA: Women in Literary Arts
My relatives regained power on days 47, 50, 89, and-on another part of the island-day 212.
I have not stopped posting the number of days without power because there are still people in Puerto Rico without power.
Believe Survivors
#WhyIDidntReport and #BelieveSurvivors empower victims of sexual violence, abuse, and harassment to reclaim their stories while dismantling rape culture and sexism:
ENOUGH, a column by Various Authors via The Rumpus
ENOUGH is a Rumpus original series devoted to creating a dedicated space for essays, poetry, fiction, comics, and artwork by women and non-binary people that engage with rape culture, sexual assault, and domestic violence. We believe that while this subject matter is especially timely now, it is also timeless. We want to make sure that this conversation doesn’t stop—not until our laws and societal norms reflect real change.
A Master Class in Women’s Rage (a syllabus) by Kate Harding via Electric Literature
Right now, every woman I know is a live wire, snapped and flailing, in a storm that doesn’t look like it’ll let up any time soon.
