S. Salazar

Up next: and we're so excited to have Bainbridge Island poet Michele Bombardier as our June featured reader. 🎊 Michele will guide us through this theme and read from her new book, Don't Ask Me How I Know, published by Moonpath Press.

The Poetry Salon takes place at Gentle House in Port Angeles on June 30th starting at 6pm. Gentle House address: 1215 W 11th St, Port Angeles, WA 98363

Mark your calendars and get ready to celebrate poetry with us! 🎊

🌱This May, in the poem of simply living, there was a lot of white space. At least, it looks that way on the page. The speaker who penned this month had anything but pause in her mind.

Outside of the writerly world, I started a new job in a new industry, and every day after work left my mind too mushy to do much of anything writerly. While I wish I was writing more, I am glad I've made time to fuel my body properly and incorporate more walking into my daily routine. Also, the garden I started back in April is really thriving! May brought the first baby squash to the greenhouse 💕

In writing, I learned that my MFA thesis turned book ready for sub was listed as a finalist for a poetry prize. While I did not win the prize, I cherish the connections I got to make with the other finalists! And I appreciate knowing that a press felt so much love for a book of mine that brought me so much love--and heartbreak-- ❤️‍🔥My hope for June is to take my mushy brain and reframe it as clay to sculpt it into something that is more present in my why so I can create again 🙏

How was your May? What were y'all up to?

Last year around this time, I wanted a space to show up consistently as an author besides at the desk and chair. While I want to be consistent on social media channels too, I am one woman with a day job, a busy family life, and a chatty parrot.

I can’t show up consistently everywhere.

So, in line with my relaunch campaign of Raíces, Relics, and Other Ghosts, I decided that I would consistently show up on Substack once a week and really dedicate some time to building this platform into something my Wordpress newsletter was not able to achieve.

Here's what I've learned in a year of consistency:

https://open.substack.com/pub/writessalazar/p/a-year-of-consistency-as-an-author?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=2oljkn

Today's Substack is free for everyone, a grief-centered book review of newest poetry book release.

The death of a loved one is a highly charged intersection between grief and mental health, and there hasn’t been a book that thrust me to this point so quickly as Catherine Esposito Prescott’s Superbloom.

Read why here: https://open.substack.com/pub/writessalazar/p/the-healing-shelf-superbloom-by-catherine?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=2oljkn

Today's Substack is for paid subscribers only, an exclusive live reading and deep dive into my poem "Malagueta" from for Mental Health Awareness Month!

Your subscription to my Substack (paid or free) means the world to me as I learn how to be a better writer and literary citizen! So thank you for being here 💕

Specifically, a paid subscription helps financially support me as I continue this writing journey, plus you get some perks (exclusive pocket poems) and behind the scenes content that free subscribers don't get!

You can subscribe for free or pay a small monthly subscription at: writessalazar.substack.com

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Today's SubStack post is free for everyone and a not comprehensive list of some books to check out for Mental Health Awareness Month!

Read the full post here: https://open.substack.com/pub/writessalazar/p/books-to-read-for-mental-health-awareness?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=2oljkn

What books would you add to this list? If you've read a book on this list, tell me what you took away from it.

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My MFA thesis is a finalist for the Louise Bogan Award by the phenomenal Trio House Press 🥹❤️ what a way to kick off the week. So filled with gratitude for everywhere my journey has taken me to get here

Congratulations to the finalists for the 2026 Louise Bogan Award!