Due to COVID we currently are unable to have a release event in-person. But that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate (PWA-TEM) members and our amazing contributors!!! Below you will find a bit more information about our staff members and few contributors from our 2020 anthology.
Contributors:
Marianna Smith
Marianna Smith Submitted the art piece, Alley off Floyd Avenue
“Marianna Smith is an Illustrator based in Fredericksburg, Virginia. She specializes in narrative-driven, watercolor and inkwash paintings of fantasy and science fiction environments. Smith’s illustrations explore quiet moments, asking viewers to pause and reflect on the conceptual subtleties lying below the surface.”
you can find more from them at:
Website: https://mariannasmith.com/
Instagram: @mariannartwork
Rey Carlson
Rey Submitted the piece 1000 to read more check out our online anthology
Rey Carlson is a Chinese American designer, researcher, and writer based in Richmond, VA. Their work explores the subjects of queer culture, tradition, and research and writing in relation to cultural identity.
You can find more from them at:
Sid Estelle
Sid Submitted the piece Deloris to read more check out our online anthology
Hi there! The name’s Sid. My friends call me Sloth. Not because I’m a slow runner or have a grape sized head or anything crazy like that. I like to think this honorable nickname has been bestowed upon me because of how irresistibly cuddlesome (95% sure that’s a word) and chillaxed I can be. Also, I may have lied a little…I do have a grape sized head. Anyways, nice to meet ya! I am an illustrator, graphic designer, and writer finishing up my third year studying Communication Arts here at VCU. In my little amount of free time, I enjoy reading (sometimes saucy) historical fiction novels, sucking on lemon wedges, roleplaying as a French clown, watching stand-up comedy specials and writing trash indie songs for my black cat, Lallo. Hopefully one day you’ll see my work on the cover of The New Yorker, but for now you can find it on my website and Instagram:
@pastelle_works
Thanks for reading!
Andrew Caress
Andrew submitted three pieces that were accepted, Watch Over Thy Child, Reclamation, Autonomy. To see all works check out our online anthology.
Reclamation won best art!
I had a lot of motives for creating this piece. I’m an adopted Asian American (born in Vietnam) and before college, I had completely dismissed my Asian identity. It was never something that I took seriously until college and when I arrived at VCU I had every intention to ingrain myself within the Asian community. I made a lot of Asian friends and met amazing people, but I heard the term, “banana” thrown around and specifically directed at me. I took the term as a joke, but it distanced me from those that grew up in an Asian household and me that grew up in a white household….In college, I tried my hardest to understand the culture. I used my art projects to educate myself, to research the traditions, the mythology, the geography.
Find his full interview here: https://pwatem.com/best-art-2020/
Moira Snyder
Moira Submitted the piece Beastly to read more check out our online anthology
I’m a rising Junior majoring in English with a minor in Social Welfare. “Beastly” is a combination of thoughts and feelings over a period of time about self-consciousness and insecurity. It highlights the struggles of mental health and eating disorders.
Instagram: @_mo_snyder
Taya Boyles
Taya Boyles submitted the piece, I Broke Bread with my Demons, to read more check out our online anthology.
“I am a 19-year old up-coming Junior Virginia Commonwealth of University. I’ve been sure of this path since age eight when I achieved my first publication in our local New Kent chronicle. Admittedly, not my best work, I misspelled glue. I am a self-proclaimed workaholic and write every day in order to improve.”
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/tayaboylespoetry/
Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/tayatheauthor/
M Kamara
M. Kamara has two poems featured in our 2020 anthology, From an Immigrant Mother and In an Alternate Universe My Name is, to read them check out our online anthology!
From an Immigrant Mother won best literature!
M Kamara is a junior majoring in English and double minoring in Creative Writing and Cinema Studies. She was a member of the 2018 DC Youth Slam Team, the 2019 VCU CUPSI Team, and the 2020 VCU CUPSI Team. She’s the third place winner of the Sonia Sanchez-Langston Hughes Poetry Prize, was published in the online magazine, The Quarry, was the first place winner of the VCU Undergraduate Poetry Prize Spring 2020, and will be a Future Corps member at Brave New Voices 2020 and 2021 festivals. She’s also a documentary filmmaker who’s building her skill set everyday. For all things writing and filmmaking, you can follow her on Twitter @m_kamwrites and Instagram @m.kamwrites.
Find their full interview here: https://pwatem.com/best-literature-2020/
Alexis DeJesus
Alexis DeJesus submimted the art piece, Neat Trick, which was chosen to be our cover piece! To find more check out our online anthology.
Alexis submitted the artwork “Neat Trick” and our staff instantly loved it and knew that it needed to be our cover. “Neat Trick” is eye-catching and beautifully mysterious, the more you look at it the more you find.
Alexis say’s “I try to make vibes”
insta: @wizardkicks_
twitter: @wizardkicks_
website: wizardkicks.com