An Update From the Author: Early August 2021

Dear Friends, Family, Fellow Authors, and Cherished Readers,

So much has happened since my last update in Mid-May.

I am pleased to announce that I was accepted into CUNY Graduate Center’s Digital Humanities MA Program. I graduated from Baruch College and Macaulay Honors College summa cum laude, and was also the recipient of a number of awards, including a Susan A. Locke Award from Baruch and a Provost’s Award from Macaulay. It was a long, difficult journey, but I emerged stronger and more resilient. I am very grateful to Baruch, both for the education I received and all the brilliant and dedicated professors I met along the way who believed in me and supported and encouraged me in my academic and literary endeavors.

I am also proud to announce that I am the poetry genre winner of Fox Paw Literary’s first-ever contest!

“Savage Stars” was the poem selected as the genre winner, and another poem of mine, “Ode to Summer,” was short-listed as well, and will be published in an upcoming issue of the journal.

I’d like to extend my most heartfelt thanks to the editors and guest judges at Fox Paw Literary for believing in my work. As a relatively new voice on the literary scene, I am humbled and honored to have been chosen as the genre winner, and to be recognized in this manner.

And as an aside to anyone who needs it: “Savage Stars” was rejected not once, not twice, but TWELVE times by other literary journals and magazines. I like to think that at least 90 percent of the time, rejections aren’t an indicator of a poem’s or work’s worth, but a reflection of any number of other things: perhaps it simply didn’t resonate with the editor on that particular day; perchance the literary journal ran out of room or funds; or it just doesn’t fit in thematically, stylistically, etc. with the rest of the pieces that have been accepted.

I’ve learned not to take the vast majority of rejections personally, and I’ve also learned to have faith in my own work. If I believe a piece is objectively sound and genuine and reflects my values and showcases my literary prowess, I will keep submitting it to different journals until it finds its perfect home.

I hope this note finds you well and in good spirits.

May inspiration find you in unexpected places, today and always!

All the best,

Caitlin Cacciatore