Hey there! My name is Ashley Jade Parker. I’m a poet and a young adult fiction writer. You can find me on Instagram, Threads, and Twitter, and of course, here on Substack. Thanks for reading :)
Hiya. Here for my first Substack post with some exciting news. First, I’d like to give a little insight into my writing journey.
I received my first literary journal acceptance the day of my first round of chemotherapy. It was for my poem “i wrote this sick on sleep medicine, sick of you” – an angsty ode from my teenage years.
I thought it was a fluke in all honesty. I’d been writing poetry since I was 15 (and I was submitting poems I wrote when I was 15). It’d been four years of pitching to journals with no luck. I couldn’t understand how this crazy good thing could happen to me on a crazy bad day.
Now, in March, I have my last round of chemotherapy AND my work will be published in five literary journals. I’m beyond honored. Sharing my writing lately has reminded me of the complexity of the human experience – and the joy we can find in living through it.
Thank you to all the literary journals featuring my work. Thank you to all the readers who come across it. You don’t know what it means to me to feel like I have a goal — a dream — again. If you want to support my work, a follow or a share would be lovely, but I have no expectations.
I’ve created for so long that I dread my creations being experienced, but here they are. No matter what you think about my work, just know that I am so, so grateful to be able to share it.
Where you’ll be able to find me:
Ink in Thirds - "duck" coming March 19, 2024
The Cry Lounge - “excerpts from ‘a fragmented account of all the people i’ve ever thought i loved’” coming March 23, 2024
Feminist Food Journal - ‘Engorged’ coming March 2024
The Eyre - "I Became the Scary King of Beautiful” and "thoughts about a boy i never knew in a lair i never saw" coming March 2024
Tones of Citrus - “This Is How You Raised Us” coming March 2024; honorary mention: “hit and run”
My latest on social media:
