One of my 2021 goals is to keep a list of my writing activity for each month. I do so partly as a form of encouragement for myself–to show that I am still able to do some writing despite the energy-sucking terrors of the pandemic–and partly as an archive that I can look back on in the future. As such, I will include negative happenings (e.g., receiving rejections), not just positive ones.
I think that it is important for me to share my list publicly as a queer disabled writer of color because mainstream discourse tries to either pretend voices such as mine do not exist or actively tries to suppress them. Whether one is part of a marginalized group or not, writing is an essential act of resistance in these terrible times, so I hope that my list offers encouragement to others.
Here is the list for April (here’s March’s), which is basically in chronological order:
1. Wrote at least one senryu or haiku in my journal most days, although I really slacked off on this during the last week of the month.
2. Finished revising (for now) a book manuscript on Mennonite literature and submitted a proposal about it to a publisher.
3. Updated the Mennonite/s Writing Bibliographies website.
4. Found out which of the five poems I had submitted to the 2021 Haiku Society of America Members’ Anthology last month got accepted (everyone who submits has one chosen).
5. Attended a meeting with my haiku mentor and workshopped my first ever haibun.
6. Attended a workshop run by Carley Moore about how to write about current political events.
Daniel Shank Cruz 
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