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CNF: Histories I do not Belong to X

by Gwendolyn Edward


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Microsoft Word - Gwendolyn_Edward-Histories_I_do_not_Belong_to_X


Gwendolyn Edward writes nonfiction, poetry, and fiction. Her work has been accepted by Crab Orchard Review, Bourbon Penn, Crack the Spine, and others. She retains a MA in Creative Writing from the University of North Texas where she worked with American Literary Review, and she is currently pursuing a MFA at Bennington. She works with Fifth Wednesday Journal as an assistant non-fiction editor and also teaches Creative Writing.

What surprising, fascinating stuff can you tell us about the origin, drafting, and/or final version of “Histories I do not Belong to X”?

    The “Histories I do not Belong to” series came about after I stopped defining nonfiction by what it is, and rather started defining nonfiction by what it could be. This lead to a lot of questioning regarding how we convey truth and what truth really is; namely, that words are faulty in their ability to fully communicate meaning because there seems to be paradox inherently embedding in the English language: we use words to communicate but are often lacking understanding of the words themselves. In writing “Histories I do not Belong to X,” I obsessed over word meaning and how for most of my life I’ve been rather lax in understanding exactly what’s been communicated to me and how I communicate to others. In addition to the narrative about wishful thinking and heartbreak, there’s the understanding that when I begin to truly begin to question what language is used to analyze events and emotion, I can begin to scratch the surface of truth; the realizations evolve from preciseness, or an effort to achieve it.
News

Check out the write-up of the journal in The Writer.

Matter Press recently released titles from Meg Boscov, Abby Frucht, Robert McBrearty, Tori Bond, Kathy Fish, and Christopher Allen. Click here.

Matter Press is now offering private flash fiction workshops and critiques of flash fiction collections here.

Submissions

Poetry, creative nonfiction, and fiction/prose poetry submissions are now closed. The reading period for standard submissions opens again March 15, 2023. Submit here.

Upcoming

09/09 • Rae Gourmand
09/16 • Chiwenite Onyekwelu
09/23 • TBD
09/30 • TBD