Owning It

I recently told someone that I haven’t published a personal essay that I don’t regret. This is still true. They make me feel vulnerable and to be honest, a little humiliated. You don’t have to tell me not to feel that way or tell me the obvious: don’t write them, but I did for many reasons and it's done and my reasons for continuing must have outweighed the risk. BUT I don’t regret writing them the way I did because I think essays require honesty that risks comfort. My essay in “YOU: An Anthology of Second Person Essays,” is no different. Well, yes different, because it was my first. Before I knew that there were things I didn’t have to say. “Untainted” a friend told me today after reading it. And no matter what I feel about it, I need to own it; own those experiences and that choice.

And I owe it to the hardworking publishers and editors whose blood, sweat and tears made this Anthology possible. For this reason, I hope you’ll pick it up either at the link below or if you’re at AWP in Boston in a few days, this anthology will be available at Welcome Table Press’s booth with NineBark Press. I won’t be there, but Michelle Auerbach, Brian Hoover, Dustin Beall Smith, and Rachel Yoder will be reading from it on Friday, March 8, from 10:30-11:45 at the Hynes Convention Center. Thanks.

http://www.itascabooks.com/you-an-anthology-of-essays-devoted-to-the-second-person.html