A River Rising: Anthology of Women's Voices

05/15/2024

Last dance, last chance to register as an author for our upcoming book festival!!! Link in bio. Join 30 regional women authors telling our stories, sharing our words. And don’t forget to come out on June 1!

04/11/2024

Please join us for the 50th annual Riverside Avondale Preservation Society's Annual Home Tour this Saturday and Sunday, April 13-14. Buy tickets here: https://904tix.com/events/50th-annual-home-tour-4-11-2024/tickets

10/15/2023

Come be joyful with us! 10 Artists. 10 Years. 100s of Writers. Let's Celebrate! Join us for Opening Weekend, and get anthologies, journals, art, and T-shirts, too. Link in bio.

09/12/2023

X**a Jazmin Juarez • LOSS OF HABITAT • watercolor ink

My work aims to create art from the urban and natural environment. In this painting, I’m addressing the fact that in 2021, more than one thousand manatees died across the state of Florida due to the loss of seagrass, their main source of food. Eutrophication, caused by the accumulation of phosphorus and nitrogen in discharged waters from fertilized fields, lawns, golf courses, and industrial wastewaters, causes excessive algal blooms. It reduces the pe*******on of sunlight and depletes the amount of dissolved oxygen for marine life. This inhibits the growth of seagrass, the manatees’ main food source. I am hoping for a brighter future for manatees with the help of scientists, volunteers, and the community. (OCEANS Exhibition, Spring 2022)

Artist:

These words and images are featured in (a) river rising: Anthology of Women's Voices, Vol. 4, Rivers and Oceans, available for purchase through our link in bio as well as locally at , , and . Purchase Vol 4, Rivers and Oceans today through link in bio!

07/14/2023

Get it girl! Submit by Saturday midnight!

05/30/2023

“Water will only be there for us if we give it the respect it deserves.” —Dalia Ibrahim, A Drop of Gratitude

Copies of the anthology will be available at the June 4th Book Festival: Celebrating the Freedom to Read

These words are featured in (a) river rising: Anthology of Women's Voices, Vol. 4, Rivers and Oceans, available for purchase through our link in bio as well as locally at , , and . Purchase Vol 4, Rivers and Oceans today through link in bio!

05/16/2023

Jessica Sharpe • LIFE IN THE SILENT REALM • mixed media on wood panel

This work is part of a series I created of mixed media landscapes to illustrate my personal journey through the unconscious. I was specifically compelled to portray the experiences of childbearing and motherhood. As a mother, I feel dropped within a vast ocean of uncertainty on a daily basis. My seascapes create an invented realm to help me understand primal archetypal dilemmas, where the sea and the creatures within it serve as an outer world projection of inner experiences. As connectivity increases, social relationships evolve, and ever-more complex epigenetic changes become known, I find myself looking deeper into the center of my own being. It is essential to remember that nature is an organism, and we are one with that organism. (OCEANS Exhibition, Spring 2022)

Artist: Jessica Sharpe

These words are featured in (a) river rising: Anthology of Women's Voices, Vol. 4, Rivers and Oceans, available for purchase through our link in bio as well as locally at , , and . Purchase Vol 4, Rivers and Oceans today through link in bio!

05/09/2023

Dima Kroma • JACKSONVILLE, THE RIVER CITY • acrylic on canvas

The sun was close to the horizon when I saw the St. Johns River for the first time. It was my first day in Jacksonville as a Syrian immigrant, not knowing how my journey would unfold in the new city. Millions of questions swirled in my head, and everything seemed ambiguous and vague. Captivated by the beauty of the sunlight dancing on the river’s surface as a lazy boat slowly made its way, shaking the water’s surface, I saw hundreds of colors and shapes on the water. I realized every drop of water was on its way somewhere, following its own unique path. A river can go around any blockage or move through rock to forge its new way. Yes, it takes hard work to start a new life. So I listened to the river’s wisdom and learned to put aside my doubts. I felt sure that in the end, I would get where I wanted to go, in just the way the river flows to its ultimate destination, the ocean.

Artist:

These words and images are featured in (a) river rising: Anthology of Women's Voices, Vol. 4, Rivers and Oceans, available for purchase through our link in bio as well as locally at , , and . Purchase Vol 4, Rivers and Oceans today through link in bio!

05/02/2023

“Follow your heart,” the River City whispers,
“Let your soul burn brightly in the darkness.
Let it burn!
Let it shine!” —Karen Allen, Dima’s River

Author: Karen Allen

These words are featured in (a) river rising: Anthology of Women's Voices, Vol. 4, Rivers and Oceans, available for purchase through our link in bio as well as locally at , , and . Purchase Vol 4, Rivers and Oceans today through link in bio!

04/19/2023

“Come sit by this slow-rolling river.
Hear the murmur of water
and ancestral voices.” —Carol Grimes, Dusk by the St. John’s

Author: Carol Grimes

These words are featured in (a) river rising: Anthology of Women's Voices, Vol. 4, Rivers and Oceans, available for purchase through our link in bio as well as locally at , , and . Purchase Vol 4, Rivers and Oceans today through link in bio!

04/18/2023

Barbara Gibbs • JUST THROW IT IN THE RIVER • photo collage

I am one of the founding members of Current Problems, a grassroots nonprofit that leads volunteer cleanups to remove trash in North Central Florida's rivers, lakes, springs, and creeks. After almost thirty years of work, I am sad to report that people still do not seem to be aware of how fragile our water system is. I've witnessed a tremendous increase in the volume of trash in and around our waterways, degraing our springs and rivers and leading to the pollution of the aquifer and our drinking water. This photo collage illustrates this devastating treatment of our rivers and streams. It shows the amazinng beauty of our waterways contrasted with actual trash collected from a local river by Current Problems volunteers.

Artist: Barbara Gibbs

These words and images are featured in (a) river rising: Anthology of Women's Voices, Vol. 4, Rivers and Oceans, available for purchase through our link in bio as well as locally at , , and . Purchase Vol 4, Rivers and Oceans today through link in bio!

04/13/2023

“But memories of her river still remain, and I wonder if someday, I might visit her and see the river the way she did back then, during her childhood days.”—Chiqui Jabson Chua, Childhood River

Writer:

These words are featured in (a) river rising: Anthology of Women's Voices, Vol. 4, Rivers and Oceans, available for purchase through our link in bio as well as locally at , , and . Purchase Vol 4, Rivers and Oceans today through link in bio!

04/12/2023

Love books? Us, too! Save the date for the Book Festival! Authors, register now. - https://mailchi.mp/6cb115ca87fa/register-now-for-the-author-showcase-and-book-festival-5434672

04/11/2023

Margaret Ross Tolbert • SIRENA DISCOVERS TIME • lenticular photography

I have long focused on Florida's springs and the travels of "Sirena" in my art. Sirena is rarely seen but may be encountered occasionally in her favorite spots in the pristine springs of the Floridian aquifer. Sirena's existence is indisputable, no more improbable or fantastic than other creatures of the freshwater springs. Consider the manatee, a kind of aqueous elephant; the gar, bowfin, and sturgeon fish with an auxiliary lung who have existed since before the Chicxulub prehistoric comet mass extinction event. Consider the troglodytic cave shrimp that live to be two hundred years old, or plants whose pollen is delivered by water currents. Sirena performs everyday events with unexpected outcomes, and we are forced to evaluate which activity and outcome transpired as intended-the "real world" we are used to on land-or the one in the springs, where we join ourselves into the water in which we are immersed.

Artist:

These words and images are featured in (a) river rising: Anthology of Women's Voices, Vol. 4, Rivers and Oceans, available for purchase through our link in bio as well as locally at , , and . Purchase Vol 4, Rivers and Oceans today through link in bio!

03/30/2023

“What can we do to resist those who want to take away a century of progress? I offer two powerful weapons: words and art.” —Mallory M. O’Connor, Rivers: A Journey Beneath the Surface

Author: Mallory M. O’Connor

These words are featured in (a) river rising: Anthology of Women's Voices, Vol. 4, Rivers and Oceans, available for purchase through our link in bio as well as locally at , , and . Purchase Vol 4, Rivers and Oceans today through link in bio!

03/28/2023

Dimelza Broche • THE UPSIDE DOWN • oil on canvas

This oil painting, like many of my works, is very personal. I was nursing myself back to mental well-being after feeling heartbroken and deceived by those I trusted. I'm showing both despair and growth. The main figure is coming out of the darkness of the water to breathe and live again. She desires to leave behind those things that hurt her; the branch coming from deep within her throat represents new life ahead.

Artist:

These words and image are featured in (a) river rising: Anthology of Women's Voices, Vol. 4, Rivers and Oceans, available for purchase through our link in bio as well as locally at , , and . Purchase Vol 4, Rivers and Oceans today through link in bio! and oceans

03/22/2023

“Oh, how the River Woman walked on water!
Rising from the debris
Brandishing sigils in rows of three” -Kayla Huggins, River Woman

Author: Kayla Huggins

These words are featured in (a) river rising: Anthology of Women's Voices, Vol. 4, Rivers and Oceans, available for purchase through our link in bio as well as locally at , , and . Purchase Vol 4, Rivers and Oceans today through link in bio! and oceans

03/21/2023

BRIDGE IN THE MIST • Cheryl McCain • photography

The Main Street Bridge is an iconic vertical lift bridge and Jacksonville's most recognizable landmark in the downtown skyline. This image was captured on a January morning while I was walking in downton Jacksonville. It was so foggy that day I couldn't see the end of the bridge or the Southbank. The bridge seemed to disappear in the abyss of the mist, as if it were hovering over the St. Johns River, with cars entering and exiting from another dimension.

Artist: Cheryl McCain

These words and images are featured in (a) river rising: Anthology of Women's Voices, Vol. 4, Rivers and Oceans, available for purchase through our link in bio as well as locally at , , and . Purchase Vol 4, Rivers and Oceans today through link in bio!

03/20/2023

“We break down the dams that attempt to hold us back and name the evils that pollute our waters and suppress our words.” -Jennifer Wolfe, Preface

Author:

These words are featured in (a) river rising: Anthology of Women's Voices, Vol. 4, Rivers and Oceans, available for purchase through our link in bio as well as locally at , , and . Purchase Vol 4, Rivers and Oceans today through link in bio!

03/17/2023

Events Announcement! 🌊✍️

Join us for these community-engaging events!

1️⃣ Reception and Community ReadAround, Thursday, March 23, 5-7 p.m., at the FSCJ Deerwood campus. See the art of the Anthology live on the walls of the gallery, and hear the voices of our writers and artists sharing from the Anthology. Tix in bio.

2️⃣ First Coast Poetry Showcase on Saturday, March 25, from 2:00-4:30 p.m., at the Southeast Regional Library. Listen to four of our writers share their words in honor of the upcoming National Poetry Month. Tix in bio.

3️⃣ Independent Bookstore Day, Saturday, April 29, Independent Bookstore Day, with readings at San Marco Bookstore and more! Tix in bio.

4️⃣ Author Showcase and Book Festival, Sunday, May 7, 11-3 p.m. Save the date!

03/15/2023

HEALING WATERS • Tatiana Kitchen • acrylic on canvas

Healing Waters is an immersive daydream meant to stir the imagination. I create pieces that allow viewers to ask questions, especially about how they relate to the work. Healing Waters personifies the river, brushstrokes flowing continuously downward to symbolize a downstream flow. The woman of the river can be seen clearly, her brown eyes piercing through the steady movement of the water. She is watching her life play out in front of her, flowing through life, accepting hardships and acheivements however they come. Healing comes from a steadfast gaze and acceptance of life's journey.~Tatiana

Artist: Tatiana Kitchen

This image is featured in (a) river rising: Anthology of Women's Voices, Vol. 4, Rivers and Oceans, available for purchase through our link in bio as well as locally at , , and . Purchase Vol 4, Rivers and Oceans today through link in bio!

03/14/2023

Introducing…Volume 4 • Rivers and Oceans 🌊 • An anthology of literary and artistic works celebrating women

These words are featured in (a) river rising: Anthology of Women's Voices, Vol. 4, Rivers and Oceans, available for purchase through our link in bio as well as locally at , , and . Purchase Vol 4, Rivers and Oceans today through link in bio!

03/08/2023

Celebrating the writers and artists and editors of A River Rising: Anthology of Women's Voices, on this International Women's Day!

On this International Women’s Day, we celebrate the writers and artists of our own anthology, . Today we are seeing the voices and rights of women under attack, most especially in Afghanistan, and we realize how fortunate we are to be able to write, read, educate ourselves, and publish our own words and art. And yet our rights to do so are constantly under attack in this country, most especially in Florida, where women and other marginalized folks, our schools and universities, our books, and our truths are currently under attack…death by a thousand cuts. Don’t let your apathy silence your voice. Get out there and educate yourself on our political candidates, study the issues, and vote conscientiously. **Gentle pressure, relentlessly applied.** That is how we rise, together. Art by

03/08/2023

Celebrating International Women's Day, and all our artists and writers.

On this International Women’s Day, we celebrate the writers and artists of our own anthology, . Today we are seeing the voices and rights of women under attack, most especially in Afghanistan, and we realize how fortunate we are to be able to write, read, educate ourselves, and publish our own words and art. And yet our rights to do so are constantly under attack in this country, most especially in Florida, where women and other marginalized folks, our schools and universities, our books, and our truths are currently under attack…death by a thousand cuts. Don’t let your apathy silence your voice. Get out there and educate yourself on our political candidates, study the issues, and vote conscientiously. **Gentle pressure, relentlessly applied.** That is how we rise, together. Art by

01/18/2023

Reclaim Your Writing. Reclaim Your Story. Read our lasts newsletter for all the deets. - https://mailchi.mp/c83afbc45fff/join-us-for-spring-classes-and-reclaim-your-story-5384060