Let's Keep Talking About It!

Let's Keep Talking About it!

We applaud women who are speaking up about the sexual abuse they have experienced and share their urgency as we get this anthology produced. Many, many women (Mostly) are silent about the sexual violence they have experienced. But, some poets have spoken up and are joining voices in this anthology to help continue the discussion, to share their feelings and their journey of healing. 

We have received many amazing poems from very courageous poets. The manuscript is going to the publisher in a couple weeks and we are so excited for this project to be moving forward. 

Our goal is to give away many/most of the books. But, we still need more funding in order to put this book in the hands of folks who may not be able to pay for it and to provide a free anthology. Our planned release is Spring of 2019.

Can you help by giving us a big or small donation? Really, anything moves us closer to our goal. We have had a number of friends and relatives donate. Now it's your turn. Please help us make this dream a reality.

Follow this movement on this website at https://poetryaboutabuse.blogspot.com/
Donate:
If you want to donate to this cause and help us put the anthology in the hands of folks for free, please click on this link:

Here's how to submit to a New Poetry Anthology

Don’t Talk About It

We are all part of the “don’t talk
about it” conspiracy.
We don’t speak.
We pretend it didn’t happen.
Those events could not
have occurred.
Polite society does NOT speak
of dysfunction
nor the UNDERNEATH
happenings of certain
members in our midst.
DO we care past our own safety? Past
yesterday? Past the past?
DO we believe in the value
of truth?
The truth past our own small existence?
The Lion lays with the lamb
and the lamb,
the lamb   . . . . . . .  trembles.
                  by A. Gagliardi

A Poetry Anthology.  A contest. A Chance to speak of your abuse, your pain, your recovery, your healing, and your moving on.

 Let’s Talk About it!
This poetry contest and anthology project is for poets who have experienced sexual violence in some way. What have you got to say? Do you choose to remember? Can you ever forget?
We are creating a compilation of voices from those who were there – those who were the victims of sexual atrocities from mild to unimaginable. This project seeks to give you a place to air your grievance, your pain, your healing.
Our Fiscal Sponsor is the League of Minnesota Poets (LOMP)
Laura Lanik and Annette Gagliardi - Are project managers.
Accepted poems will be included in the anthology titled: Let’s Talk About It! Voices from Victims of Sexual Violence


Guidelines:
We prefer poems that will fit on one to two pages
Send up to three poems.
There is a $15 fee for submitting.
A copy of the anthology will be sent to every poet entering. (That's our plan, anyway.)

Please submit poems at submittable: mnpoets.submittable.com/submit/111285/lets-talk-about-it-voices-from-victim-survivors-of-sexual-violence

Follow this movement on the website at https://poetryaboutabuse.blogspot.com/
Donate:
If you want to donate to this cause and help us put the anthology in the hands of folks for free, please click on this link:

 

Our Vision and Goal for Let's Talk About it!

The Let’s Talk About It! project is two-fold. 

First, we want to host a contest through the League of Minnesota Poets (LOMP) that seeks poems from victims of sexual abuse. The submission time period is between May 1st, 2018 and ending July 31, 2018.  More information to follow. We would offer contributors an opportunity to submit their work for an anthology, as well. The winners of the contest would be put into the anthology and offered a free copy.

Many victim/survivors of abuse feel they don’t have a voice.  They may want to speak about their experience, but don’t want to go on television, are not celebrities, and may even choose to be anonymous.  But, they want their voice heard. The anthology will be an avenue for victims to speak, to read what others have to say and not feel alone and to perhaps heal in the reading of the anthology.

Second: Let’s Talk About it! is the name of a poetry anthology that we would like to put together. The collected poems will be submitted by victims of sexual abuse and gathered from around the nation through this contest and through submittable. More information to follow.

This anthology seeks to encourage readers to better understand the impact that sexual abuse has on victims. We will include statistics about sexual abuse and possibly poet’s stories/biographies within the work.

We seek sponsors to join our project and to widen our audience. Our goal is to give away many/most of the books, first to the poets submitting for the anthology.  We will hold events in the Twin Cities area where people who attend will have the chance to purchase a copy.