About the Kernel
The Kernel is a weekly writing newsletter run by four writers: Shelby Newsome, Sarah Ligon, Natalia Yépez-Frias, and Neidy McHugh. Here you will find craft talk, takes on literary trends, words of encouragement, and recommendations. As emerging writers, we know how enigmatic the literary world can be. We were lucky to find each other and form a supportive and encouraging cohort to navigate all things writerly. Recognizing the value in what we’ve created, we are collecting our kernels of inspiration, information, and insight and sharing them with the writing community.
Our History
The Kernel’s inaugural issue was published in June 2023, but we were in conversation long before then. In February of 2021, a group of writers met on the MFA Draft Facebook group and formed a self-run, bi-weekly writing workshop. It was in that ongoing workshop that the kernelists (the hosts of this newsletter) first came together, and it is one of the many ways we continue to engage with each other and with the larger literary world. In the last few years, we have continued the workshop, formed a craft book club, talked and texted about all things writing-related, and sprinted our way through drafts upon draft upon draft. The Kernel is the latest in our ongoing effort to become the best literary citizens we can be.
Why “The Kernel”
At the end of the day, we aim to boil down our thoughts–on craft and within it–into their purest forms. What’s left is the most central piece, something’s quiddity, a kernel, a bit of digestible information. We hope you take that seed and grow something altogether your own.
Meet the Kernelists
Neidy Hammer (she/her) is a queer, latinx writer living in upstate New York with her spouse and children. Her words have appeared in The Dodge. She is a 2023 alum of the Kenyon Review Winter Fiction Workshop.
Natalia Yépez Frias is a writer living in NYC. Her nonfiction work has appeared in Notre Dame Magazine (online) and The New York Sun.
Shelby Newsome (she/her) is a writer and bookseller living in Maryland. Her flash fiction has appeared in Rejection Letters and Tart magazine’s newsletter. She was a finalist in NYC Midnight’s 250-word Microfiction Challenge 2022. Follow her on Instagram and/or Twitter, and check out her website for additional information.
Sarah Ligon (she/her) is a writer and mother of four living in Mississippi. She is a regular contributor to Wellesley magazine and will be a fiction student in the MFA program at the University of Mississippi this fall.
