Tag: Chelsie Zuccollo

Welcome to Writers Resist Fall 2026

This issue was hard to build. Hard, because the works herein are such powerful representations of the brutal conflicts through which we are slogging, seemingly ever increasing. Still, such vivid reminders are sometimes gifts.

These works reflect 27 saviors distributing words as lifesavers.

From our own Debbie Hall’s conflicted photograph, “Found Art,” to the many pieces demanding trans justice to the exultation of calls to action, they lend hope. Hope, rage, love, humor. We need them all to sustain the resistance. And, perhaps, we might receive some resolution when U.S. voters cast their values on 03 November.

In the meantime, as the image above demands, borrowed from Chelsie Zuccollo’s excellent call to action in “Smash, Build, Rise,” we must—and we will continue to—RISE UP.

On Saturday 14 November at 5:00 pm PACIFIC, we will host this issue’s virtual reading, Writers Resist Reads, at which we envision a bit of celebrating. Please email us at writersresist@gmail.com for the Zoom link.

And so, we welcome you to our hard and powerful Writers Resist Fall 2026. Please read and share your thoughts with these brilliant resisters.

Found Art by Debbie Hall

Two Poems by Marcy Rae Henry

Cost of Living by Nana T. Baffour-Awuah

Testifying with My Daughter Against Missouri SB597 by David Tager

After Roe Was Repealed by Jennifer Karp

Cherry Blossoms by Beck O’Leary

EXPO Marker by Jennifer Elise Wang

Girl (an erasure) by Elizabeth Mercurio

My Rape Wasn’t a Choice by Alberto Lau-Chang

Lemonading by Victoria Melekian

Letter to Self by Joycelyn Zhang

Monarch by Deanna Altomara

transcription by olive bly

On Viewing the Porn Trading Cards Catalogue (1925–2025) by Rachel Lincoln Sarnoff

If Only There Were No Trans Kids by Mitch Roshannon

Silence by Isla Laust

Three Poems by Tushar Sen

Coincidence by Minnie Bartlett

Two Poems by Mia Leonin

The Shirt by Elizabeth B. Morse

Smash, Build, Rise by Chelsie Zuccollo

Aunt Annie’s Recipe for the Resistance by Jane Frances Gilles

“There Will Be Casualties” by Ashley Mace Havird

Static Between the Folding Tables by Fendy S. Tulodo

To my father, whose mother tongue is a village dialect by Anonymous

The Most Radical Protest Right Now Is Handmade by Amanda Jackson

Two Poems by Susanna Lang

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.

Smash, Build, Rise

By Chelsie Zuccollo


I’m no architect, but I can lift a bag of cement.
Smash the patriarchy, then build something better.

I’m no contractor, but I can see the possibilities.
Don’t break the glass ceiling—redesign the roof.

I’m no lawyer, but I use my voice for others.
Pay me the same as a man; it’s overdue justice.

I’m no tour guide, but I know how to manage an itinerary.
Feminism is fragile. Don’t leave anyone behind.

I’m no soldier, but I know when to raise my rifle.
This body is mine, not your front line or a combat zone.

I’m no astronomer, but I can use a telescope.
Use your voice as a constellation to light up the dark.

I’m no politician, but I know how to debate.
My consent is not a negotiation.

I’m no firefighter, but I extinguish forest fires every day.
Freedom tastes like fire on my lips.

I’m no seamstress, but I can thread a needle.
We stitch power into every wound we wear.

I’m no poet, but my words rise and reclaim.
The body is a poem; the mind is a riot.

Chelsie Zuccollo serves as an Assistant Professor of English, Interdisciplinary Studies Program Director, and Writing Center Director at the University of Saint Francis in Fort Wayne, Indiana. With an interest in performative gender studies, she hosts an annual event for her community: Voices of Feminism. This event showcases the work of local feminists, poetry, and art.

Photo credit: Rise Up by Patrick Emerson via a Creative Commons license.

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.