Ashley Elizabeth

Hey everybody!

It’s somehow August already. This year is moving slow and fast at the same time. Since being quaranined, I have been able to do some things I wouldn’t normally do. For example:

• I was one of Sundress’ readers in June, which (if you missed it) you can find here with a bit at the end talking about craft and the relationship to body. Some poems are straight from my book, and some are not.
• I was a reader with Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review in June as well. I wish there was a link, but it was such a great, full night, and I was first!
• I have been featured at Kahini Quarterly here, and you get three poems in one! All three poems are near and dear to me and speak volumes about the Black existence in the United States. (No, I will not stop talking about it until the problem is actually solved.)
• In June alone, I sold 30 books! That number seems so small but it’s the start of a new life for me. In July, I sold all 20 of the copies I ordered, and even more people wanted signed copies of the books, so I had to order another set, which are almost all spoken for already! (and this is without me seeing July’s sale log from Amazon or etsy). I am floored at the support coming in. If you haven’t bought the book yet, but would like to, you can do so here. The one website has the links for the PDF, Kindle, and paperback versions. If you liked the book, please suggest it to your friends and leave a review on goodreads and/or Amazon.
• In addition to all of the above, I’ve been able to exercise my Twitter fingers and meet some more amazing poets and form a collective, The Estuary Collective, with three other beautiful writers, and we plan on doing a lot in the writing world, including craft talks, readings, workshops, and more, so keep on a look out for that!
• I also got a chance to do a lot of ancestry work, which has been fun, but I definitely want to do more and really dive deep ebcause the things I’ve seen have been both depressing and eye-opening. Let’s just say my writing hasn’t been saved from it.

I have also been able to think about what I really want in the writing world as well as from it. I’ve been compiling and revising other manuscripts, but I definitely want to be in the writing world for good. I want to do workshops and readings and craft talks on my own and actually get paid for it. I want to be a professor of poetry, but on my terms. If you all have any advice for that, please let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for coming along on this ride with me.

See y’all soon (hopefully)!

-A. Elizabeth