Muse Of The Month June 2014: Inspiration From Maya Angelou

Posted: June 17, 2014

For the June writing theme, we have inspiration from writer and memoirist Maya Angelou, the ‘phenomenal woman’ who was a shining light to so many. Get started with the writing cue: The 5 best entries get published here.

Each month, we ask our readers to get inspired by an iconic woman writer and get their own thinking caps on. We hope that this inspires you to read more of these writers, and also write more yourself!

What you need to do

Step 1. Read the writing cue (scroll down below) and get inspired.

Step 2. Write your own story/narrative/piece based on the cue. You could use it as the opening line, the closing sentence, or somewhere in between! You could even choose not to use it anywhere in your story – just write a story using the cue as a prompt. (And ‘story’ can be fictional – or not – as you wish).

Step 3. Send your work to us. Please email it to feedback@womensweb.in with ‘Muse of the month – June’ in the subject line, and your story as a word/txt attachment. Please avoid typing the story as inline text. Do include the name we should use if we publish it, and a brief introduction to yourself (2-3 lines) in the mail.

Given the number of entries received, we won’t be able to respond to each, but every single entry is being read through very carefully and is much appreciated.

Deadlines

Please send in your stories by June 23rd 2014, Monday, 5 p.m IST. The 5 best stories will be published on Women’s Web the next day, i.e. one each from June 24th to the 28th.

Rules

The material should be previously unpublished elsewhere. (Copyright stays with you and you’re free to subsequently publish it elsewhere).
Keep it between 250 and 800 words. (Please keep this in mind; in past editions, we have had to disqualify some good entries purely due to word count issues).

Prizes

The 5 best entries will each win a Flipkart voucher worth Rs. 250.

Muse of the month (June 2014)

Maya Angelou, the American poet, civil rights activist and memoirist who passed away recently, inspired millions of women (and men) around the world with her stories of rebellion, courage and endurance. This month’s writing cue is from her first memoir, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, a powerful account of growing up black in the then segregated American South.

Since that first best-selling memoir, Maya Angelou went on to write many more highly readable works, including collections of poetry and essays. All her life, she continued to be an outspoken critic of American society’s treatment of marginalized groups, including women and African American people.

Cue for June 2014

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” – this is writing cue for June, from Maya Angelou’s I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. Make sure to get your entry in on or before June 23rd, 5 p.m.

Pic of Maya Angelou credited to mayaangelou.com