Tag: Erin Vaughn

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.

Two Poems by Erin Vaughn

Birthday

Yesterday at school,
a boy touched himself in front of you
his eyes unfocused
as if he was there and not there.
He looked right through you
and then your body was not your own.

Today you turned eleven
and shrieked through a throng of friends
who threw their arms around you
as you opened all your presents.
I wanted to cry because
I don’t know how to tell you
that this will happen again: men
will see you and not see you
over and over
and it takes a lot of light
to blow out all the candles
and still burn.

Things to Bring to the Protest

Bring your phone, locked.
Granola bar. ID.
A vial of your mother’s tears
and the sharp grey stone of your rage.
Bring all the joy you can find. Ball it up
in your hands like a fist.
Gather the shreds of your compassion
from where they’ve scattered about the house–
between the pages of books,
pots on the stove–and stuff your pockets.
Bring bandages and balm,
the small sleeping sounds of your brother’s
new baby, the wounded
song in your heart and the world it has lost.
These, together, are heavy.
Do not worry, beloved;
many hands lift here.

Erin Vaughn (she/her) is a poet and educator who writes in order to understand what it means to live freely—whether in a body, a family, or a country. She lives in Maryland with her husband, young daughter, and two dogs. Her poetry has been previously published in The Basilisk Tree.

Photo credit: Jenni Konrad 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.