What Are You Overlooking?

I was submitting a couple pieces to literary websites and needed to write a short author bio. I looked at the bios of other writers for ideas. 

Author X has published this and this and that is forthcoming. 

I didn’t feel like I had any published work to add and though I have writing projects I’m working on, I don’t believe they should be considered as forthcoming since I don’t know for sure when I will finish them. 

I read the submission rules and learned that work posted on a website/blog does count as published work.

Well, I thought, looking through my portfolio, there’s “My 20-Minute Inheritance”, the personal essay I wrote for Stony Brook University.

I also remembered another personal essay, “Speak”, in 2018 that was a finalist for the Brooklyn Nonfiction Prize. 

I think they posted it on their blog…? 

The organizer of the prize, the Brooklyn Film & Arts Festival, had indeed posted it on their blog.

At first I cringed at the thought of reading my earlier work, but I read it anyway. When I did, It brought back my memories of writing it as well as going to the in-person ceremony for finalists with my mom. 

This unexpected nostalgic experience caused me to consider what other past experiences I may have overlooked. Perhaps you, too, have experiences that were more amazing than you give them credit for.

You can read “Speak” here.