Hi. Welcome to the Spring 2001 of "In Our Own Words," the Ezine from BBBooks.

We are a grass roots organization, not a corporate entity, so we don't dance to the dollar sign. You can expect to find thought- provoking, creative, alternative writing, information and politics right here. We offer the "People Before Profits Poetry Prize" each year and offer all kinds of other stuff for writers, poets, students, educators, spiritual types, feminists, humanists, tradespeople and activists. We're people who follow their conscience, but like to have fun too!

The writers in this edition of "In Our Own Words" range in age from their 20s to their 80s. Much of the writing came from creative writing classes held in Oakland, California, composition classes in San Francisco, CA and from writers across the country who sumbitted writing to "In Our Own Words" or our poetry contests.

Our editorial philosophy is simple: Writers respond to life; they chronicle our times and remind us what it is like to be human.
Extraordinary writing strikes a truth and reflects how life affects us. While vulgarity is often a part of our daily lives, vulgarity for the sake of shock value doesn't benefit anyone. We accept all styles and forms of poetry and prose. While the writing we've chosen reminds us that life isn't always pretty, we will always dream of it being extraordinary!

Table of Contents

Messaoudi Abdou: Selling Fish and Reporting the News

Bill Brauer: EL | On My Fourth Birthday & Limericks

Nancy Conover: Reading into the Picture | Swimming Back and Forth, |
First Date, From the Inside Out | Two Faces of Mardi Gras

Karen Finlay: I Am Beautiful | Let it Be: an excerpt

Marion Farwell: Walking sideways

Jane Freeman: It's There, Thoughts On Yom Kippur | More Thoughts On Yom Kippur, Coffee Table

Dorothy Golubin: Bill's Headache | Portrait...to be continued | Downtown Oakland

Joy Luster: Going Downhill, | Stauffer Place | Outlook

Gertrude Martin: A Lament: Apologies to Shakespeare, | When I Was a Child | Adventures in Zaire

Liv Nevin: Harvest Season | The Householder and the Nun |

Kevin Smith: AMERICA (FOR ALLEN GINSBERG)

E. A. Uddin-Khan: Modern Dialogue

Da'Tanya Washington: Confusing Love

Marilyn Zuckerman: Sunset Watch

 How You Can Be Published:

There are several ways. You can also send in poetry or short prose of your own to be considered for IN OUR OWN WORDS, THE EZINE FROM BBBOOKS. We also recommend looking at the Classifieds in Poets and Writers Magazine, visiting our Calls for Submission Page, or entering one of the contests like our "People Before Profits Poetry Prize". Only entires that include a SASE (self addressed stamped envelope) will be returned, so be sure to include this with your work. See our editorial philosphy above.