"The North, The South, and our Modern Society" (Talk for Wy'East)... (and further plans... )1/19/2024 In the past year, I had the pleasure of doing a talk for my friends at the Wy'East Congregation. I'm happy to share that video below... I am also happy to announce that I plan, as I'm able while working full time, to edit my remaining 'Book Show' that videos that weren't able to air because my dear friend Carol Azams went from her indie network of Diversity TV (UK and Ireland) to the Sky network (UK and Ireland). As I'm able, I plan to add those videos to the playlist that this video is now the first of, 'Ruminate', as with my book of the same title, with the larger mission and purpose of inspiring and educating people to think (and read) critically and form their own opinions. Enjoy! And... I hope you find what you're looking for.
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It feels great to be back in the submissions/publishing game!
After scouring the markets and reading up a storm, I finally had time to put together a short list of great publications to send my work to. Whether I get accepted or not, it is a real luxury to have the time to do this again (I started this process last summer but got sidetracked with going back to teaching full time and trying to adopt my grandniece just to find her father, have him recovered, and be giving her back!) Here is the list. I'm focused on submitting poetry only at the moment, due to time constraints (e.g. looking for a teaching job closer to home). These are some great reads, I highly recommend. After moving back to the U.S. I became so busy with work and family I had to tell my podcast producer Carol Azams that I sadly didn't have time to make another season of The Book Show for her network/app Diversity TV...
But all that has changed! I had a temporary dip in hours as I was changing stores (to move to one with better and more in-depth retail management training) so I began working on new material for our podcast, so... expect new episodes, coming your way in 2021! These will feature new books and a chord of inspiration that runs throughout the season to uplift spirits and inspire people with dreams and goals. It will also feature local backgrounds as all will be filmed outside here in the wilds of rural Arkansas, U.S. Since moving back to my original home country of the United States I've had quite the experience... I'd never lived in Arkansas before. I have been embracing the local outdoors culture while working in retail management as an Essential Worker through these times (at stores providing vital food, medicines, and other essentials for people and pets) and helping out my family (who moved here from the West Coast 11 to 21 years ago, depending on the family member.) When I've had time between work and family I've written some poems about my life and experiences here in the Ozarks; fishing, hunting, and helping my family raise our 11 and 13-year-old kids whose parents aren't around. Meanwhile, back in Ireland... my friend and writing colleague Carol Azams came up with a timely and brilliant new book idea; essays about peoples' individual, personal experiences of 2020. Between the news media, hype, and somewhat news-induced panics and misinformation about the situation, what have we, the individuals who have lived the experienced of 2020, been through? She has decided to capture that experience for future generations in her new book project. I have contributed an essay and will post an update when the book is published and available to all. I hope we all have new, positive experiences and adventures coming for us in 2021, and a safe and effective vaccine to help us prevent further deaths. But as I say to my customers, "2021 can't be any [than 2020] worse, and if it's not better, at least we'll be used to it by now." Last week I accidentally got four days off work. By this I mean I didn't request four days in a row off work but my boss, being the amazing and heartful woman she is, puts our days back-to-back when she can.
So I had me a mini-vacation [Brit English: holidays]! I wrote or finished a few new poems and the new ones were just right, right off the bat! I love it when that happens! (Though admittedly I've always learned more about my craft from the days when I had to struggle to finish pieces.) I submitted them straight away to some places I've been published in before. 'Poetry Pacific' already said thanks but passed, and I'm still waiting to hear from 'CC&D' and 'Down in the Dirt'. But it felt very good to be back in the writing game for a day! Fingers crossed that thew other pieces get published, later this year. :) This year I decided to branch into a new area: writing nonfiction essays about personal experiences from my life. So far my focus has been primarily on trying to capture some of the wonderful experiences I've had as a Teacher of English as a Foreign Language to students from all over the world.
I've written nonfiction before, for my book The Irish--American Experience, but those pieces were about historical or social issues and not anything personally about my own life. This is an interesting new area for me as most of my writing experience thus far has been that of writing fiction and poetry, which, like the impersonal essays, always offer a buffer for the writer. About two years ago I almost thought I was done with writing but now I see I just needed to try something new. (I have been writing, or coming up with characters and stories anyway, since I was four years old after all--I had to do something to keep it interesting!) It's very hard to find the time to write between a full time teaching job and earning my master's degree but I make the time--editing essays on my phone during my commute to work! So far I've completely finished two of my new essays; one of which will appear shortly in a compilation of writing by migrant women (I'm an immigrant to Ireland), and one which I've just submitted to an online literary publication I particularly like. Fingers crossed! I'll post more as things develop on this new adventure. (And I hope to see you along with me for the ride.) |
The Writer
Author BioAva Collopy is a teacher, writer, and world traveler. She has been to 10 countries and counting. She has lived in the U.S. and Ireland. She has published several books, hosted The Book Show podcast on Diversity TV (UK and Ireland, which she has now created Ruminate from (encompassing the book, here, and a planned series of videos, here). And she has nonfiction and fiction published in...
Nonfiction: 2020: Year of Covid-19 (Stories of Lockdown), Inspired Migrant Women in Ireland, Edible Red, Down in the Dirt, and The Relic the Effort the Yelp. Fiction: White Liquor Steemit, Beautiful Losers, White Liquor, Down in the Dirt, Brilliant Flash Fiction (contest shortlist, as A.C.), Sunlight in the Sanctuary, Treading Water, and Adrift. Poetry: Blue Collar Review, Down in the Dirt, CC&D, Poetry Pacific, Re/ Verse, Verse Virtual, Ascent Aspirations, and others. She has teaching materials and pacing guides on: Teacherpayteachers.com and Classful.com. Her books are listed, with cover and description on this website's other pages: Nonfiction Fiction Poetry Besides her one year as an adoptive mother she is a happily lifelong non-mom, a fact she proudly promotes to remind everyone that these are choices each individual must make for themselves. Ava Collopy Books
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