The Herd
The Herd was a literary newsletter dedicated to people, art, and community.
From 2018-2022, this newsletter featured artists and writers with bold, community-centered dreams and various creative projects. Enjoy the archive! If you feel moved to do so, you can still support and connect with the highlighted artists in each issue.
Explore the archives (below)
“I look forward to The Herd because there is always something that makes me think and perceive along new lines.”
On Resting and Change-making
This issue of The Herd, our amazing artist feature is Aster K. Foley, a queer printmaker and community-builder who also has a new zine in the works. And this year, may art, words, clay, beads, and combinations of all the above mold themselves into new paradigms of thinking and being. May you give yourself permission to rest on those days or evenings when you need it most.
Seal Lions in Water
Our full feature stars the collaborative duo, Cindy Rinne and Bory Thach. I also want to highlight the zines of fellow Herder Aster K. Foley, who is is a queer printmaker with a B.A. in Art Studio from the University of California, Davis. Plus a generative writing prompt and many happenings!
Second Annual Fall Harvest
Thank you to everyone who submitted their work for our Second Annual Fall Harvest. In this issue, we offer a new podcast by Mason Fernandez, several poems by the wonderful Kaitlyn Spees, fiber art and poetry by Cindy Rinne, new fiction by Karla Brundage, and much much more.
Edie the Chicken Needs You to VOTE If You Can
I think this issue of The Herd speaks for itself. Huge thank you to artist Zeina Baltagi for the interview, below, and the way her art speaks to greater identities and public safety related to race, gender, able-ness, mobility, and more.
Truth Serum and Smoke
I’ve been reflecting on the idea of “truth” amidst the cacophony of mainstream media and daily distractions that can make truth hard to find—and hard to sit with when you find it. There are artists whose work helps bring truth to the surface, including this month’s feature Iris M. Crawford whose poetry influences and infuses her activism and journalism.
The Herd: One-Year Retrospective
Looking at the next year, I hope The Herd can grow as an online space for creative recharge, for thought exchange, and for interdisciplinary connection. I don’t have plans besides that, with this monthly literary newsletter. I believe in the power of words to inspire fruitful action and necessary change.
Writing for Change
Pride Month. Juneteenth. Black Lives Matter. Still mattering. Always mattering. It’s always a good time to amplify. This July Issue of The Herd, we express our gratitude to poets and artists who dream of a better world—and work hard for it. Our July feature highlights Dania Ayah Alkhouli, who is a writer, poet, and organizer who also read at Weekend of Words.
Performative Allyship, Amplifying, & Black Lives Matter
Single narratives—like those enforced by our schools, by racist policies, and by police departments—are dangerous. Award-winning novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie writes how “when we reject the single story, when we realize that there is never a single story about any place, we regain a kind of paradise.”
What Are These Feathered Times?
Oddity, in a sheltered, anxious month. I feel a bit feathered and untethered. =Herders, our biggest news is that we have six Herders reading their work and/or offering a workshop during the Weekend of Words, occurring May 8-May 10.
When a Butterfly Sneezes...
These are hard times. People we love are losing their jobs, people we love are stressed, and people we love are struggling. Not all of us have the privilege to “write it out.” But if you do have the time and ability… write this one out.