MARISSA QUENQUA
YEARS AS MENTOR: 4
OCCUPATION: Writer, Enamored Ink
BORN: North Babylon, NY
LIVES: Brooklyn, NY
PUBLICATIONS AND RECOGNITIONS: Written four romance novels for Enamored Ink under a pseudonym.
MENTOR’S ANECDOTE: I remember my first meeting with Ayanna. We clicked right away after deciding to do a freewrite based on the seven deadly sins, and we both chose the same sin without talking about it. She makes me laugh until I am crying, and never fails to touch me with her honesty and insight. This year we were able to make some real strides, with Ayanna deciding to tackle genres like memoir and poetry. Ayanna continues to gain confidence in her artistic abilities, and I know we will remain friends for years to come.
This poem not only shows my growth as a person but also as a writer. As a young adult I have gotten to understand how precious time is and why I should progress as time goes on.
Time is the entity that waits for no one
Fleeting and changing constantly
Creating beautiful allusions,
And trapping you easily
The moments you wished would never end
Like your first kiss under the lonely silver disc
Are now so memories deep within
That remembering it is too much of a risk
But time, no matter how painful
Has taught you how to rise
That no task is too hard to handle
And determination leads to your long awaited sunrise
Be proud of your accomplishments because it was earned
And thank time for all of the things that you have learned
Shoe
MARISSA QUENQUA
This is an excerpt from a longer piece about my relationship to shoes as a disabled femme. Only by rising and speaking can those of us with invisible disabilities incite awareness and change.
I’m a femme who hates shoe shopping. I have mild cerebral palsy that’s mostly invisible. My balance is shaky, my leg muscles are spastic and my arches are weak. I don’t know whether or not a pair of shoes would “work” for me until I try them on and walk around the store. Even then, what works on a store carpet might not work on a sidewalk. As a teen, I knew my mother’s meager income might be wasted on shoes I thought worked when we bought them, but didn’t when I tried to wear them in the world. You can’t return worn shoes. I had to get shoes at department stores like Macy’s or places like Easy Spirit, I couldn’t wear much cheaper shoes from Payless or Bakers, I’d fall down in them.
“How do those fit?” a clueless, exasperated salesgirl would ask us, looking at the stacks of shoe boxes surrounding me.
“Mmm,” I’d say.
“They look great,” she’d offer.
“Mmm,” I’d repeat, standing up and wiggling my toes. Mom looked at how they fit around the back. I looked down in the mirror affixed to the outside of the footstool. The shoes looked so good. I turned to the side and my young calf muscles popped. The cherry colored leather wrapped expertly around my feet, a buckle shone at the pinky toe, small heel stacked underneath me. They did look great. None of this mattered. All that matters is what happens when I walk.
I handed my mom my purse and started a lap around the store.
“You’re not coming out of the back of them,” Mom said as she watched me walk.
As I walked, I’d try to forget about what the shoes looked like. Nice leather, a great style and some extra height won’t comfort me when my arches are screaming in pain and all I can think about are my scrunched toes. I got into the rhythm of a stride and closed my eyes.
My pinky toe was being pushed to the side and the balance was off. I couldn’t last in these for more than ten minutes.
“Nope.” I said when I returned to my mother.
“No?” she sounded disappointed.
“Nope. They hurt.”
“Okay, take them off.”
The salesgirl came back.
“We’re taking those?”
“No, sorry.”
I tried on a pair of flat leather boots. They felt as good as sneakers. We took those.
JANEIN BROOKES
YEARS AS MENTEE: 1
GRADE: Freshman
HIGH SCHOOL: Success Academy of Liberal Arts
BORN: New York, NY
LIVES: Bronx, NY
PUBLICATIONS AND RECOGNITIONS: Scholastic Art & Writing Award: Honorable Mention
MENTEE’S ANECDOTE: The Found Poetry workshop was the crossing of a boundary that I could not be more grateful to Cynthia for. If it had not been for her, I definitely would not have found the confidence necessary to share something as personal as my anxiety in front of a group of open women and young girls that I had never spoken to before. Even though I am very reserved and do not enjoy verbally sharing my work with others, I see now that the sharing of a story is what makes the story a story.
CYNTHIA-MARIE O’BRIEN
YEARS AS MENTOR: 1
OCCUPATION: Freelance editor and writer
BORN: New Haven, CT
LIVES: Queens, NY
PUBLICATIONS AND RECOGNITIONS: This year my work has appeared in America Magazine, Kirkus, and The Literary Review.
MENTOR’S ANECDOTE: One of my favorite experiences has been using museums as writing spots. Our first trip to the Met Breuer inspired Janein’s Scholastic Award–winning poem; she began writing it there as a result of a prompt, “If you were to paint today, what would you paint?” On our second adventure, we visited the Met’s Asian wing to fulfill her goal of exploring Japanese culture. Seeing Janein so inspired to visit the museums was awesome. Whether in the library, coffee shop, or a city landmark, we always push ourselves to new ideas through free writes. I cannot wait for her CHAPTERS reading.