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Capsule Stories Autumn 2021 Edition: Dancing with Ghosts
Featuring poetry and prose, Capsule Stories Autumn 2021 Edition explores the theme Dancing with Ghosts. These stories, poems, and essays grapple with home, history, and identity. Read about digging up family secrets, listening to the whispers of a place's memories, grieving someone who's gone but not dead, and making space for the unknown and unknowable. Capsule Stories Autumn 2021 Edition is the perfect book to curl up with on a chilly autumn day.
Dancing with Ghosts There was a small cutout in the wall of a place you used to call home. You would sit in the hole, surrounded by walls and space, walls that were close together, space that felt limitless. Sometimes you would sit there and just think, let your mind wade through the distorted memories, seeing your life played back, rippling, as if you were underwater. Eating at the dinner table, engrossed by the sequel of a book you loved. Staring out into the small audience at your spelling bee, the absence of your parents weighing heavily. Sitting on the concrete with your back against the wall, silent, the noise of your classmates fading into the background, as the wind stirs a pile of dead leaves beside you.
You are a mosaic of the people who have let themselves into your life, of what they did to you, for you, around you. You let others make a home inside you to avoid feeling empty. You have always been more of a wallflower, waiting for things to happen to you, not feeling like you had the agency to make things happen for yourself. You might get the occasional rush of inspiration, the adrenaline propelling you to move forward. These are the moments that you want to be perceived by, but not the moments that you believe you are made of. These moments that pass through you, that happen to you-will you ever learn to grasp them before they dissolve?
Dancing with Ghosts There was a small cutout in the wall of a place you used to call home. You would sit in the hole, surrounded by walls and space, walls that were close together, space that felt limitless. Sometimes you would sit there and just think, let your mind wade through the distorted memories, seeing your life played back, rippling, as if you were underwater. Eating at the dinner table, engrossed by the sequel of a book you loved. Staring out into the small audience at your spelling bee, the absence of your parents weighing heavily. Sitting on the concrete with your back against the wall, silent, the noise of your classmates fading into the background, as the wind stirs a pile of dead leaves beside you.
You are a mosaic of the people who have let themselves into your life, of what they did to you, for you, around you. You let others make a home inside you to avoid feeling empty. You have always been more of a wallflower, waiting for things to happen to you, not feeling like you had the agency to make things happen for yourself. You might get the occasional rush of inspiration, the adrenaline propelling you to move forward. These are the moments that you want to be perceived by, but not the moments that you believe you are made of. These moments that pass through you, that happen to you-will you ever learn to grasp them before they dissolve?
202 pages, Paperback
Published September 1, 2021
About the author
Carolina VonKampen
17 books10 followersI’ve always had a love of reading and writing, and in high school and college, I realized that editing was a perfect combination of those interests. Since then, I’ve been editing anything I can get my hands on: books, blog posts, content marketing, lit mags, magazines, and more. But by far the most fulfilling editorial work has been with Capsule Stories. I love getting to read fresh, new, exciting pieces and help edit and polish them so readers will fall in love with them.
Now, as a freelance editor, I work with indie authors to polish their manuscripts—novels, memoirs, poetry collections, essays, short stories, or business nonfiction—for self-publication or submissions in the traditional publishing world.
I completed the University of Chicago’s editing certificate program and graduated with a BA in English and history. I am a member of ACES: The Society for Editing, Editorial Freelancers Association, and St. Louis Publishers Association. I’m the publisher and editor in chief of Capsule Stories, a print literary magazine published every season.
I write, sometimes. My writing has appeared in HerStry, FIVE:2:ONE’s #thesideshow, Moonchild Magazine, HerStry, and Déraciné Magazine. My short story was nominated by Dream Pop Journal for the 2018 Best of the Net. My experience as a writer informs the approach I take as an editor, and my goal is to be the type of editor I’d want to work with as a writer.
I am available for hire as a freelance editor and book designer and love working with independent authors to help them publish their book or polish their manuscript for querying. For more information about my freelance editing work, visit carolinavonkampen.com. I tweet about editing, among other things, at @carolinamarie_v and talk about books I’m reading at @carolinamariereads on Instagram.
Now, as a freelance editor, I work with indie authors to polish their manuscripts—novels, memoirs, poetry collections, essays, short stories, or business nonfiction—for self-publication or submissions in the traditional publishing world.
I completed the University of Chicago’s editing certificate program and graduated with a BA in English and history. I am a member of ACES: The Society for Editing, Editorial Freelancers Association, and St. Louis Publishers Association. I’m the publisher and editor in chief of Capsule Stories, a print literary magazine published every season.
I write, sometimes. My writing has appeared in HerStry, FIVE:2:ONE’s #thesideshow, Moonchild Magazine, HerStry, and Déraciné Magazine. My short story was nominated by Dream Pop Journal for the 2018 Best of the Net. My experience as a writer informs the approach I take as an editor, and my goal is to be the type of editor I’d want to work with as a writer.
I am available for hire as a freelance editor and book designer and love working with independent authors to help them publish their book or polish their manuscript for querying. For more information about my freelance editing work, visit carolinavonkampen.com. I tweet about editing, among other things, at @carolinamarie_v and talk about books I’m reading at @carolinamariereads on Instagram.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 29, 2021
I'm definitely biased (I have three poems in this volume), but man, I enjoyed reading this.
The theme was "Dancing with Ghosts," and this contained a beautiful collection of narratives about memory and home and grief, all tinged with the atmosphere of fall.
I was particularly taken with Emily Uduwana's magical (literally and metaphorically) short story "Old Goliath."
The theme was "Dancing with Ghosts," and this contained a beautiful collection of narratives about memory and home and grief, all tinged with the atmosphere of fall.
I was particularly taken with Emily Uduwana's magical (literally and metaphorically) short story "Old Goliath."
September 1, 2021
TBH, Dancing with Ghosts is one of my favorite themes we've ever done for Capsule Stories! I wanted to capture that feeling of walking through Rome and thinking about the layers underneath your feet, or driving past your old childhood home and seeing layers of memories unfolding. The poetry and prose in this edition capture that feeling so perfectly.
November 14, 2021
Once again such an amazing collection of beautiful work <3
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews