Anyone who has been following 1455’s free programming during the last five years already knows about my friend Jeannine Ouellette, who is not only a gifted and celebrated writer, teacher, and editor, but creator of the beloved Substack newsletter Writing in the Dark. In addition, she’s author of the memoir The Part That Burns (2021), and is the quintessential creative advocate and enthusiast. She’s been featured not only as part of 1455’s Author Series and the 14:55 Interview, but been a guest on my podcast Some Things Considered (more on all that, with links, below).
Today, I’m both delighted and honored to share an excerpt from her beautiful introduction, which she was kind enough to write for our new anthology. If you know anything about Jeannine, you know why I asked her to contribute; if you’re just finding out, you have a lot of catching up to do—which I trust you will find enlightening and inspiring.
What a lucky break it was for me when Sean Murphy reached out in 2021, upon the publication of my debut memoir, The Part that Burns, to invite me for interview—or, as Sean would likely have said it, a conversation. By the time that memoir came out, I was a longtime writer but mostly of journalism along with some children’s books, arts and culture writing, and so forth. Therefore, as something of a newcomer on the literary scene, an invite to anything was a surprise and an honor. To be honest, it still feels that way. And that’s the real magic that Sean creates with 1455, the same magic created by all of those who devote themselves to building, sustaining, and strengthening literary community, and creating accessible and free spaces outside of the academy for intimate, complex conversations around the power of storytelling and artmaking. This is, indeed, how we change the world one word at a time.
And that’s basically the mission of 1455 as I understand it—a place where “storytellers are sacred” and where free programming connects art and audiences and promotes diverse voices. I’m thrilled to be a part of it, because—as a writing teacher in an array community spaces and Minnesota prisons, as a community builder and teacher and reveler in language via Writing in the Dark on Substack, and as the founder of the original, long-running Writing in the Dark | WORKSHOP on Zoom—my work has been singularly devoted to creative collectives. It brings my life joy and meaning to build and sustain passionate spaces in person and online where writing is part of a deeper, vaster conversation about how attention, curiosity, playfulness, and surprise provide a portal to the profound on the path to becoming, because talking about “how to write better” without that larger context is kind of boring.
To be introducing and celebrating this book now--1455’s first anthology of women writers writing to the theme of silence—feels as natural and necessary as breathing. Because, while the world has always been dangerous for women, we seem to be losing ground rather than gaining it. We’ve recently seen our reproductive rights rescinded, policed, and criminalized, our access to medical care contracted and denied, and previous legal protections around fair pay and other workplace rights rolled back—all while violent and misogynistic public rhetoric escalates at a sinister pace.
It’s sensible, obviously, in a hostile world, to protect ourselves however we’re able—and self-protection sometimes sounds a lot like silence. However, the truth is that much of the time, silence is not the answer. As Audre Lorde famously told us, “Your silence will not protect you.” Likewise, the stories in this anthology act as a chorus against the false belief that silence will ever truly keep us safe.
Copies available everywhere you buy books, including Bookshop.org and Amazon.
About the 1455 Women Writers Anthology
Silence speaks—if we’re willing to listen. 1455’s Women Writers Anthology brings together bold and compelling work from women across genres— poetry, fiction, and nonfiction—exploring the theme of silence in all its complexity. From what is withheld to what insists on being heard, these pieces examine silence as refuge, fortitude, erasure, and revelation. These stories and poems challenge us to reconsider what goes unspoken— and why—and how voice itself becomes an act of power. Through moments of quiet resistance, reflection, and transformation, this collection illuminates both what silence conceals and what it ultimately exposes. As part of the inaugural list from 1455 books, this anthology showcases a commitment to amplifying diverse voices, expanding access, and redefining whose stories frame our literary landscape.
More from the amazing Jeannine Ouellette!
