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If you're a writer looking to share your short stories and poetry with a wider audience, there are plenty of options available for getting your work published. Here are some of the best places to submit your work:

1. Literary magazines and journals: Literary magazines and journals are a great way to get your work in front of readers who are interested in literature. Many of these publications accept short stories and poetry, and they often have specific themes or genres that they focus on. Some popular literary magazines and journals include The New Yorker, The Paris Review, and Ploughshares.

2. Online writing communities: There are many online writing communities that allow you to share your work with other writers and readers. These communities can be a great way to get feedback on your writing, as well as to connect with other writers who share your interests. Some popular online writing communities include Wattpad, Figment, and Writing.com.

3. Contests and competitions: There are many writing contests and competitions that accept short stories and poetry. These can be a great way to get your work in front of a large audience, as well as to potentially win prizes or other recognition. Some popular writing contests and competitions include the Pushcart Prize, the Glimmer Train Short Story Award, and the Poetry Society of America's Annual Awards.

4. Self-publishing: If you want to take control of the publication process, you might consider self-publishing your work. There are many platforms that allow you to easily publish your short stories and poetry, such as Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing or Smashwords.

No matter which route you choose, it's important to do your research and make sure you're submitting your work to the right places. Look for publications that align with your writing style and genre, and be sure to follow their submission guidelines carefully. With a little bit of effort, you can find the perfect home for your short stories and poetry.

Some thoughts on Teaching and Value

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One of the common things that people say when I first meet them, and we start discussing our respective jobs and I tell them I'm a teacher is "I could never do that. I don't know how you do it!" Of course, they are intending to respect my profession and its challenges, which, since the pandemic started, have intensified. I regularly hear my colleagues say they are near the end of their ropes, and I feel like that myself almost once a week. Nonetheless, this intended kindness irks me, not for the intent, but for the structural violence it obfuscates. 

Of late, in the grist mill of my mind, I have found a response, that old saw: "Put your money where your mouth is!" Why would an intended kindness irk me so? Well, everyone in Canada assumes it's a well-paying job because they look up the average or median salary, and that number is quite substantial. In Ontario, the average teacher salary is $75, 000/yr. This datum is misleading though, because there are several different systems of education existing simultaneously. The most obvious division is public schools vs. private schools, but there are Catholic school boards as well, despite how this obviously contradicts Canada's Charter of rights and freedoms by favouring one religion over others. I have been working in private schools for five years. I have made over $30, 000/yr only once. This wouldn't be so bad if I were living somewhere in the same realm as affordable. To add insult to injury, I am held to the same standards as public school teachers by the ministry of education, who seem to delight in creating requirements that create an abundance of extra work, public school teachers who make almost twice the amount I do. 

Before Rob Ford was elected premier of Ontario, there was a bill on the table in Ontario's Legislative Assembly that ensured equal pay for equal work. The framing of this bill in public discourse was as a feminist measure to ensure that women earned as much as their male counterparts. However, I would have benefitted from it as much as any woman. But, as often happens in the country when something good is about to happen, Ford got elected and nixed the bill. Your words of kindness mean very little when I'm forced by my meager salary to buy food not on the basis of choice or desire, but by whatever products are on sale. 

It's getting harder and harder for me to justify living in a place where I have financially struggled my entire adult life doing a job I feel is more of a calling (the knowledge of which everyone exploits to their own benefit). A place where it is considered a breach of etiquette to discuss your salary openly. A place where etiquette gets uncritically elevated to the status of morals. A place where the etiquette permits the elevation of greed to an admirable virtue and allows people to act on it with impunity. I wonder how many of those that dole out this "kindness" voted for Ford. Therefore, the next time you go to tell a teacher "Such a noble profession! I don't know how you do it! I could never!" without supporting equal pay for equal work through your votes, consider biting your tongue. Words are cheap. Speak with your votes and your wallets. 

Great News!

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Life is good; love lives. You're probably busy hating someone, hiding someone, hurting someone unintentially, human. And guess what, so am I! We should meet and have coffee. 

Why can't we do what we're interested in? The market doesn't support it, sorry to say. You're out of luck. But good news! Over there is much worse than here, so you should be happy and grateful. 

Increasing your Instagram followers

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There are a number of ways to get more followers on Instagram, one of which I discovered by accident. One way is to pay someone for more followers. These people approach you either soon after you join, or soon after you pay to boost one of your posts. If you do pay to boost one of your posts, another option to increase your follower count is to simply stop posting and stop visiting Instagram. 

In February, I considered trying to become an influencer/social media maven. I looked into advertising via social media, and I paid to boost two or three of my Instagram posts. I kept having people contact me about paying them to boost my posts further immediately afterward. Then, a friend told me my Instagram gave off a narcissistic vibe because all my posts were either myself or my work. I have to admit, it hurt my feelings, especially as at that time I was trying to help a friend in Yemen with money and social media support. She had a point, but all the other accounts I looked at were much the same. 

These comments affected me greatly, and I stopped posting on Instagram. For one, I was stumped. My "social skills" aren't ideal, and I was flummoxed as to what I should post. I had just meant it to promote my work as a writer and artist. Then, I got a new teaching gig, and I had much less time to spend on social media. The more I stayed off Instagram, the more people trickled into my follower count. This is one way they keep you engaged with the app. My follower count went from ~300 to over 1000 in the matter of a month. I don't know if this works without paying to boost posts, so if you try it, let me know!

Trillium

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Memories of Havana Cuba

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I found these photos in an old phone's camera roll. They are of buildings in Havana, Cuba, taken in 2016. The bottom photo is the National Ballet building. 

A Dispatch from Yemen: Guest Writer Aiman Altawili

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Living in Yemen is to worry about everything; there’s no stability. We struggle to get even the basic living essentials such as electricity, water and gas. Everyday we are living on the brink of famine, not knowing how and when we will next eat. We are also constantly in danger of cholera and diphtheria and poor mental health, as everyday living requires so much strength and energy. We have to keep it together because there’s people we need to serve, who can’t help themselves, but it is very difficult to remain positive. It hurts to wonder why the richest nations of the Middle East are ganging up on us, destroying the poorest people who have nothing. Is it all to flatten the land? Is that the worth of a human life? I put my dreams on hold as every day life is harsh and getting through each day is a challenge in itself. But nothing stays the same forever and I wait for better days to come. I live in hope.

I want to raise money to buy a minibus to work in the field of passenger transport, like as a taxi driver, to cover the costs of food for me, my family, and the children of my neighbors. To work non-stop is difficult. My work equipment for cleaning cars was confiscated, and I am now unemployed because of this. To donate to my efforts, you can find me on twitter 

@Aiman_Altawil

From Yemen, 

Aiman Altawili

RIP to James Lovelock, and Best Wishes to the Indigenous people of Canada during this difficult time

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James Lovelock was among the pioneers of an idea that actually has ancient and living precedents everywhere. His Gaia hypothesis -- the idea that the earth itself is a giant organism, albeit non-sentient -- has been enormously influential in the way that ecologists deal with problems. It's no secret, however, that many animistic cultures have long harboured similar ideas with regards to the interconnectedness of things such as wind, ocean currents, soil, and plant and animal life. I would be remiss to write an RIP message without acknowledging the deep pool of Indigenous knowledge that implies the Gaia hypothesis. 

That said, the world has lost one of the only people brave enough to acknowledge the scientific validity of Indigenous knowledge in the sense that his own theory is ideologically compatible and continuous with this knowledge. It is perhaps a sign of things to come that he dies, aged 103, as the Pope visits Canada in order to apologize for the Catholic Church's role in the country's ongoing genocide of its Indigenous population? An integral part of this genocide is negating and discounting Indigenous knowledge. A sign of what, though? Healing? The death of big ideas? Who knows. 

RIP to all the children who died in Canada's Residential School system. RIP James Lovelock. May the earth do what it needs to now to preserve its living system against what endangers it. 

Entropy and Gravity: Painting by Trevor Cunnington

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A MEME by Trevor Cunnington

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