Why the Hyphen?

Redbud Writers Guild launches new online magazine on Substack

Feb 06, 2024

As the emcee, I got to witness it all from the front. The room was brimming with women from all over the country, from diverse cultures, and different generations. The air was dripping with anticipation. We were like a bunch of kids on Christmas morning waiting for the signal to open our gifts.

One by one the women came forward, took the mic, and shared their art in all different genres. Some were waxing philosophical, while others were weaving words into poetry and poignant prose. There were children’s books, fiction pieces, excerpts from coming non-fiction books, essays, and even song lyrics to inspire us. This was the much-anticipated (and now annual) Prose & Poetry Slam hosted at the Redbud Writers Retreat.

The audience received each storyteller and her words as a spoonful of delight - a medicine we didn’t know we needed to heal something deep in our souls. We laughed, we cried, we resonated and cheered on our sisters.

Near the end of our time, I got a text message from my 14-year-old daughter who was there for the weekend taking photos for our group. “Can I share my spoken word?” I locked eyes with her at the back of the room. My girl - the youngest in this beautiful mosaic - felt compelled to share her vulnerable work with a room full of strangers.

Maybe that was the point. They didn’t feel like strangers. They were more like word mothers and aunties. After a few days with them, she felt safe. She felt courageous. She wanted to share the words God had put on her heart.

Tears streamed from my eyes as I listened to my daughter bravely read a piece she had written about her personal challenges that year. God had met her in the midst of them. And she was passing along encouragement to all those who were listening.

That night I couldn’t help thinking about the power of coming together around the themes of faith, culture, art and beauty. It was a sacred space so many of us rarely get to experience.

And that’s what Redbud Writers Guild is all about. We are a vibrant and diverse movement of Christian women writers who—in community—create and influence culture and faith.

Redbud nurtures a network and community of women who create rather than merely consume. We are a group of writers, communicators, and storytellers, who write, speak and collaborate to empower women to use their voices to be world-changers. We are committed to fostering community by meeting regularly, connecting through social media outlets, and networking through our various channels of influence. Redbud provides women with needed support and tools to be effective writers and communicators in today’s world.

We value collaboration over competition. We lift up creativity as an opportunity to co-create with God our creator. We champion diversity among our sisterhood because we see it as an expression of the Spirit-inspired mosaic that makes us all richer.

This year we are embarking on a new journey, moving into a new space with our words. For years we have published our monthly online magazine, The Redbud Post, through our web site at www.RedbudWritersGuild.com. We have now decided to shift into a more communal space and share our work on Substack. We love that many of our members are already writing and connecting regularly on Substack. This community seems like a place where we can cultivate a sense of belonging among writers and readers.

After much deliberation and prayer, we are also shifting to a new name. We wanted a fresher approach that would be more representative of our collective and where we want to move in the future. The Redbud Post will now be The Redbud Hyphen.

A hyphen is a symbol used in grammar to join two words and indicate their combined meaning or that they are linked together. For example, I am Filipino-American, which indicates that I have both Filipino and American heritage. The hyphen serves as a bridge between my cultures; they are inextricably linked in my identity. We hope our magazine will be a bridge as well.

A hyphen in a sentence also serves as an invitation for further articulation or elaboration. This is what we hope for our online magazine. The women who make up the Redbud Writers Guild will have a chance to use their diverse voices here to speak and write about matters of faith and culture.

The Redbud Writers Guild officially became a non-profit organization in 2013, although it was already a group several years before then. We celebrated our 10th birthday last fall at The Redbud Writers Retreat at Mount Hermon in Santa Cruz, California.

As the president of the board of directors and visionary leader for the guild, it’s my hope and prayer that this online magazine would represent our core values as a collective of Christian women who continue to grow in our faith and art.

Stephanie Reeves will continue to serve as the editor-in-chief for the Redbud Hyphen and Carolyn Miller will be serving as assistant editor. We will have quarterly themes that our writers will explore through poetry and prose. We hope you will engage with these posts and share your own insights.

Additionally, I will be hosting a monthly podcast conversation with guild members about all things writing and publishing featuring our own Redbud members - many of whom are experts in this field and publishing new books this year. We will also share “Conversations on Writing with Women of Color Writer” on a monthly basis. These were previously aired on Instagram live and now will be cross-posted in this space. We are expectant about what the future holds as we share The Redbud Hyphen with you!

Friends, we would love to hear from you. What kind of content are you hoping for in The Redbud Hyphen?

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