So, a long long time ago, I was invited by Hannah Faith Notess to submit an essay for a potential anthology that was then called Growing Up Churched, and I wrote this really too long piece in which I tried to tell my whole life story. Which is a mistake I’ve made in first drafts every time I’ve tried my hand at essay. Hannah helped me shape it and focus it and shorten it, and then a lot of time went by, and then Hannah found a publisher for the collection, which is now called Jesus Girls: True Tales of Growing Up Female & Evangelical, and will be out from Cascade Books later this year.
The editors at IMAGE Journal saw the manuscript and asked if they could publish my essay. Can I just say that ever since first subscribing to IMAGE around 1998-ish, I fantasized about one day being in this beautiful, award-winning quarterly? So of course I said yes. Then there was another wee rewrite, and it came in the mail on Saturday, looking like this:
I bet dignified people who are published in nice journals like this all the time don’t write entire blog posts announcing the publication of a 3500-word essay. But I do!
Ask your local periodical dealer (is that what you call them?) to carry IMAGE. And/or subscribe online. And if you want to read more essays like mine, watch this blog for more info about the pending publication of Jesus Girls. Oh, and if you want to read my essay online, you can do that, too.
Now, back to my regularly scheduled packing…see you in Texas!
9 comments for this post
Woo-hoo! So proud of you, and can’t wait to read JESUS GIRLS.
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Oh wow, that is so cool! Love the banner, love the magazine cover!! Keep us posted…
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Eek, wouldn’t you know that I come read blogs to procrastinate the packing of clothing and food for TLA and find a reminder here that I should be packing!
Congrats on the article!
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I found Image via your site and I’m obsessed. I like it even more than The Paris Review. I’m so excited to read your essay and I’m really, really looking forward to hearing more about Jesus Girls. Cool banner, btw
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Okay, this is just awesome. You are a class-act all the way! If you weren’t already my hero, you certainly would be now.
Remember: you may not be a rock-solid Christian, but you are as solid as a rock. Or however the saying goes…
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Sara, I loved your article and could relate to so much of it. Thank you for sharing.
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I hadn’t heard of Image, so I’m really glad you posted this. Your essay is the best piece I’ve read on genuine Christianity in a long time. You’ve beautifully captured that bittersweet tension between what is and what can be.
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I love Image and yours is a particularly fine article. I’m so glad to have discovered you.
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Sara – a huge congratulations. You never cease to amaze me. I will run to B and N soon and check out the issue.
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