Welcome to Writers Resist the Fall 2025 Issue
With autumn upon us, many have been on the streets peacefully rioting against the man who would be king and keeping the intersections clear, while many others have been waxing wonderful, proclaiming our right to say mean stuff about others and hold board seats in our regional Antifa chapters, treading in the anti-fascist footprints of such heroes as Raoul Wallenberg, Maj. Charity Adams Early, Col. Jose Arturo Castellanos Contreras, Lt. Susan Ahn Cuddy, PFC. Thomas Begay, Col. Oveta Culp Hobby, and many, many more.
Apologies for the long sentence—wanted to get in as many digs and kudos as possible.
More immediate kudos to the writers and artists who’ve contributed their resistance to this issue. We are honored to share their creations with our readers.
But first, a special welcome to our new poetry editor, Candice Louisa Daquin. She brings extraordinary experience, passion and heart to Writers Resist, and we are equally honored to have her join our little tribe.
I am very grateful to Kit-Bacon Gressitt, my co-poetry editor Debbie Hall and all at Writers Resist, for the opportunity to join their team. I have long known Writers Resist as a necessary site of literary activism and resistance, with many of the writers I have worked with over the years being published through Writers Resist, which continues to be a platform for dissension, outrage and truth. My goals in the literary world align closely with those at Writers Resist and my respect for these activists runs deep. I’m honored to contribute anything I can bring to the table, to help support and continue the original mission the organization began with.
My background working in activism, both personally and professionally, is one of the ways I can be a useful editor to a diverse activist publication. Aside from working as a trauma-therapist in the trenches, including many crisis centers and with immigrants like myself, I have also worked in activism in publishing. When I went back to publishing, I deliberately avoided the experiences I had before, working for blue-chip companies that were often the problem, not the solution. I started at Indie Blu(e) Publishing, a feminist micro-press, whose goal from the outset was activism, spreading awareness and representation of underrepresented minority and erased voices. We published many anthologies and stand-alone-authors on subjects like: #BlackLivesMatter and institutionalized racism and prejudice; #me too, rape culture and the lack of equity for survivors; the disadvantages of uneven wealth distribution and growing up in poverty or experiencing poverty due to racism, sexism or migration; an outcry against the imperialism of politics and the lack of justice for those outside the elite minority who rule; invisible illness; anti-LGBTQIA+ histories, and mental health disparity.
I work to support and promote others in gaining equality and equity. That’s why I love editing. I can promote work people need to experience, to help highlight previously erased or ignored voices, having direct personal experience of how damaging this can be. Writers Resist shines a literary light passionately, and I’m really honored to be part of such a dedicated team. Personally, I can say, I have already learned so much and hope to be a useful addition to an incredible group of people who seek to be part of the ongoing resistance against tyranny.
Thank you,
Candice Louisa Daquin
Now, enjoy our Fall 2025 Issue!
And, join us for the issue’s virtual reading, Saturday 18 October at 5 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time. Email WritersResist@gmail.com for the login.
Two Poems by Margaret Bleichman
Refugees by Leah Mueller
Ancient Alien Tour by Wendy Vidlak
Photography by M.R. Mandell
Divertissement by Candice M. Kelsey
Week One by Christine Junge
The Ministry of Truth by Tara Campbell
The Revolution Will Wear Sneakers by Sabyasachi Roy
Two Poems by Maryam, Illustrated by Narwan
I’m Afraid There’s Something Wrong with Mr. Prescott by Ron Burch
They Tell Us by Dawn Tasaka Steffler
Nope by Alina Zollfrank
Now Your True Life Begins by Claudia Wair
The Moment by Zoey Knowlton
Mad Libs Drinking Game by Anna Kiggins
Mask Gleaners by Donald Patten
The Heron by Sam Rafferty
Equality: In Memoriam by Joani Reese
Worry by Malavika Rajesh
What True Crime Podcasts Have Taught Me by Esha Khimji
Gathering by Maureen Kane
A note from Writers Resist
Thank you for reading! If you appreciate creative resistance and would like to support it, you can make a small, medium or large donation to Writers Resist on our Give a Sawbuck page.