Tag: Em Arata-Berkel

Welcome to Writers Resist the Summer 2026 Issue

This is Writers Resist‘s tenth summer, and this issue is one of our most challenging—not solely due to its size. Perhaps it’s the prolonged exposure to putrid politicians (a putrescence of politicians, if you’ve an affinity for terms of venery) that has inspired the constellation of passions reflected in the issue. From the analogies in nature’s invasives, in Danita Dodson’s poem, to raging against ICE, in Karen Crawford’s spoken word poem, these creations ring the truth, the despair, the joy, the hope. And we hope you find all this as you make your way through the summer of 2026.

The virtual reading for this issue is on Saturday 11 July at 5:00 pm PACIFIC. Please email us at writersresist@gmail.com for the Zoom link.

Now, a little note from our publisher: I admit defeat; YouTube and I are not friends. While I seek absolution from the literary gods and our contributors who’ve been asking to see their recorded readings, I’m praying for someone who will teach me how to post our readings on YouTube. I have the basics (sort of), but they need those opening and closing title slide thingies, and more patience than I’ve been able to muster. If someone will take pity and walk me through the process, I will be exceedingly grateful. If you’re out there, please send me an email at kbgressitt@gmail.com.

Finally, and most important, Writers Resist the Summer of 2026:

Invasives by Danita Dodson

Goodbye and Good Riddance by Carolyn Gevinski

Deliverance by Phyllis Wax

13 Ways of Looking at Wicked by Suzanne Edison

Insurance Approved by Samantha Lucia

CASE FILE #1776″ The Murder of Lady Liberty by Daniel P. Douglas

astomatous by Victoria Reyes

Flying Free by Marc Audet

The In-Between by Krista Lee Hanson

The Law by Anne Reiner

The Boy by Raima Larter

Fog of War by Laura Buxbaum

How to Ignite Polite Fires by Em Arata-Berkel

In the Unlikely Event by Rebecca Watkins

While Europe Was Burning by Tytti Heikkinen

Someone Will Be Right With You by Laura Grace Weldon

Fruit Flies by Deborrah Corr

No Quarter by Julie Gard

Two Poems by Erin Vaughn

Dear Colleague: by Shannon Frost Greenstein

To the League of Extraordinary Ladies by Sarah Gane Burton

They Forget by Mandy Prell

Something So Small by Phebe Jewell

The Janus of Freedom by D. Edgar Cook

To those out there with hope by Catherine Zickgraf

Winter in Certain American Cities by Alina Zollfrank

Unbroken by Karen Crawford

Photo credit: K-B Gressitt.

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.

How to Ignite Polite Fires

By Em Arata-Berkel

WARNING!
Only burn on a level, fire-resistant surface.
Burn with an extinguisher in sight.
Keep away from flammable objects.
Keep away from children, open windows, or heavily trafficked areas.

BURNING INSTRUCTIONS
Acknowledge the aspirations of a long wick, then
trim to a quarter inch before lighting.
Savor the experience.
Enjoy notes of smoke, wet concrete, pepper spray,
and what you—the rugged individual
must do to fix this.

REMEMBER!
Keep wax free of any foreign materials, which
may generate more fuel than your bell jar can handle.
Do not burn more than four hours at a time.
Cool at least two hours before lighting again.
Stop use when only a finger’s width of wax remains, then

tell yourself you know what it means to ignite trashcan bonfires, raise a barricade, hold a line, pour water into a stranger’s burning eyes, and fourteen hours later, pass along your new friend’s red vine moonshine while feeding stale corn puffs to a blaze fused with a screaming watercolor dawn.

Em Arata-Berkel is an emerging poet who’s taken root in the Pacific Northwest. They earn coin by untangling taxonomies and are seldom without a cuppa something. Their poetry can be found in the award-winning anthology I Sing the Salmon Home: Poems from Washington State and the digital Washington State Queer Poetry Anthology. Find them online at erratawrites.bsky.social.

Photo credit: Filipp Romanovski 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.