I’m so excited to have another Promoting Creativity Post for this month! It’s been awhile since I’ve done one of these, so my apologies but today I have with me Elizabeth Ruth Deyro and I really hope you enjoy learning about her and her work.
1. Tell us a little bit about what you do.
I am a freelance writer. I regularly contribute to various online publications such as The Tempest, L’Éphémère Review, and Affinity Magazine. I also have work published in places like Moonchild Magazine, Jellyfish Review, Black Napkin Press, and Ellipsis Zine.
I am an editor as well. I recently founded an art and literary journal, The Brown Orient. I am also currently working at Rag Queen PeriodicalRag Queen Periodical and |tap| lit mag as their Fiction Editor, and at Affinity Magazine as the Newsletter Editor for the race and LGBTQ+ columns.
2) When and why did you start writing?
I started writing in high school, which led me to decide to pursue the writing track of my degree program in college. It was in third year of college, however, that I started submitting my work in literary magazines.
In creative writing class, the professor required us to write for and submit to specific calls for submissions. Whoever gets their work accepted would have incentives. My first publication was in 2015 with {m}aganda magazine, a Filipino-American magazine based in UC Berkeley, for a poem entitled “grasa” (Tagalog for “grease”).
Since then, I’ve had interest in writing publicly, although I did not get the ample time to act on it in the following years due to many personal reasons. I only began submitting to journals again late in 2017.
3) Tell us about a project that you are currently working on that has you really excited.
Definitely The Brown Orient, which has just released its inaugural issue. I see a lot of potential in the project, and I’m delighted to know that other people do too. Running your own journal is tough work, but truly fulfilling – I surely hope that I get to do this for a longer time.
As for personal projects, I am currently working on my first mixed-genre chapbook, which I will likely self-publish. Additionally, I will be launching another project later this year, where I’ll feature stories of people from different walks of life through creative nonfiction and photography.
4) What are some of your goals for the future?
Definitely to publish my first chapbook, hopefully this year, and to get a headstart on my CNF project. Since I just graduate this month, I also hope to get a job in the writing and editing industry in the near future.
I also have my own for The Brown Orient, perhaps most urgent among all would be to have enough funds to compensate our contributors and staff. I’d love to be able to produce print issues in the future as well.
5) How can we support you?
I have a Paypal.me and a Ko-fi, if anyone is interested to support me financially. Also, be on the lookout for my forthcoming publications – just reading them would be a truly wonderful way to show support.
Rambling Writer 