What is #OwnYourOwn?
The #OwnYourOwn hashtag has taken off this week. It’s a space on Twitter to encourage and inspire marginalized writers. It’s a call to #OwnYourOwn voice, #OwnYourOwn dreams, #OwnYourOwn […]
Author: Marlena Chertock
Marlena is a digital storyteller and poetry editor at District Lit. Her first poetry book, On that one-way trip to Mars, is available from Bottlecap Press.
When your book is out in the world
When your book is out in the world you start seeing people actually reading it. One of your old professors rates your […]
‘Forecast: 4015’ in Nebula Rift
What happens to Washington, D.C. in the future? I envision the city’s hovering Metro as nuclear-powered in the year 4015, which gets the […]
‘Aging with the solar system’ in Black Heart Magazine
Another one of my space poems was published this spring! This year has been amazing for my poems — they’re sprouting up […]
The bones that inspired ‘Skeleton Sheriff’
When I first heard StoryCorp’s “A Grave Responsibility” episode, I was immediately heartbroken and inspired. In the episode, forensic scientist Dr. Lori Baker […]
On that one-way trip to Mars is now on Goodreads
On that one-way trip to Mars is now on Goodreads! Goodreads is an online community where you can organize and track your reading […]
Reviews for On that one-way trip to Mars
On that one-way trip to Mars is out in the big wide world! Rachel Adams, the editor of Lines+Stars, just received her copies […]
My poetry collection ‘On that one-way trip to Mars’ is being published!
My first book of poetry, “On that one-way trip to Mars,” is being published by Bottlecap Press! The collection will be launched on May […]
Poetry of the body
The Split This Rock 2016 poetry festival is coming up soon! I’m so excited to be speaking on a panel about the […]
Sharing the love of science 🔬
At Society for Science & the Public, I’ve been telling stories every day. With an alumni base of about 50,000 people, there’s […]
The dreaded reading — and how not to suck at it
D.C. science fiction writer Tara Campbell recently wrote an article in the Washington Independent Review of Books encouraging silent writers to go […]
Writing for niche lit mags
So I wrote a not-safe-for-work story. And I found out that certain markets/lit mags are looking specifically for erotic work. It’s always […]
Climate change as muse
For the past few months, I’ve been working on a series of stories titled ‘Forecast’. Today, the first one I wrote, “Forecast: […]
Dear Robot launch reading 🚀
Six contributors (me included!) to Dear Robot will read at the anthology’s launch on January 13 at Upshur Street Books at 7 […]
I was an awkward teen poet
You never know what will come of your awkward teen poetry. A few weeks ago I called Mortified podcast’s hotline to read some […]
District Lit: Space Issue
District Lit, the literary magazine where I’m the Poetry Editor, is having a Space Issue! We’ve been impressed with some of the […]
Gotta’ have that grit. Gotta’ have that hustle
If you’re trying to get your art or writing published in literary magazines, you should really read Lincoln Michel’s Ultimate Guide to […]
‘Cemetario General’ in Cacti Fur
My poem “Cemetario General” was published in Cacti Fur. I wrote this poem in Chile, while traveling through that beautiful land of […]
‘Wind chimes’ in Cacti Fur
My poem “Wind chimes” was published in Cacti Fur’s second issue. I wrote the first version of this poem in college at […]
What inspired ‘Duo-13-trip’
Dear Robot’s editor Kelly Jacobson asked the anthology contributors to share our inspiration for writing. She is running a blog hop from November 30-December 4, […]