"Stories Matter" is a women's writing workshop founded by ENTITY Mentor Leslie Zemeckis. The pieces in this collection were all written by her mentees.
A challenging session with an assignment to interview someone seventy years or older and write their story. Our mentors this session included best-selling authors Lisa Barr, Marie Benedict, and Rachael Eckles, journalist Allison Weiner Hope, and Ninette Paloma, poet Aija Mayrock, Marci Darling, and Andrea Estrada.
For our mentoring session over these past several months I wanted to focus on being bold. What is bold? Bold is different for everyone. Everyone wrote about being bold and what it meant for them. The below poem by Madi Oty, I thought was particularly beautiful and wanted to share it.
“With These Wings” by Madi Oty
Bold is the release of the tightness in my chest Even respiration as vocals erupt from a cord of vowels When the consonants unravel to sing As a woman I will- Take flight Mockingbird in the sky Nudged from its nest to fly High-Hardly catching- The shuffling wind beneath its wings As she steadies to flaunt her beauty Unconcerned of shots directed in her path I too will sing my song, The music of justice
Going against the status quo, Battling forces almost out of my control My heart picks up a beat Palms perspire glazed in anticipation My face blushes fiery red Fueled with passion Marked by embarrassment I keep soaring. Proclaiming my own truth
Declaring war against myself My true nature, To hide Recluse into myself . Silence . I will no longer accept it For myself I will venture Inwards, I crawl beneath my own skin Turn it inside and out again To peel the layers of self devastation And lay claim on what it means to have a “self” My-self, Selfishly, I am born again Broken free, I will shoot down my opposition A woman, fighting And you cannot silence me.
Leslie Zemeckis is a best-selling author, actress, and award-winning documentarian. Leslie’s critically acclaimed films include Behind the Burly Q, the true story of old-time burlesque in America which ran on Showtime. The film, championed by such publications as USA Today and The New Yorker, reveals the never-before told stories of the men and women who worked in burlesque during its Golden Age; Bound by Flesh about Siamese twin superstars Daisy and Violet Hilton which debuted at number 5 on Netflix, and the award-winning Mabel, Mabel, Tiger Trainer chronicling the extraordinary world of the first female tiger trainer, Mabel Stark, in the early part of the 20th century.
Zemeckis is the author of three best-sellers, Behind the Burly Q, the definitive oral history of burlesque, Goddess of Love Incarnate; the Life of Stripteuse Lili St. Cyr and Feuding Fan Dancers, about Sally Rand, Faith Bacon and the golden age of the showgirl (a SCIBA finalist for biography). She is currently working on her fourth book.
As an actress she has worked in films alongside Tom Hanks, Steve Carell, Jim Carrey and Richard Lawson.
Zemeckis is the founder of the program “Stories Matter,” female storytellers mentoring underserved future female storytellers, which she plans on turning into a national program supporting untold stories and mentoring new voices. She founded and is curating the ENTITY Magazine book club which commenced February 2021 with author Christina Hammonds Reeds (other guests will include Randa Jarrar, Laura Bates, Nicole Chung).
Honored for her work inspiring women, in 2021 Zemeckis will be awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in part for “sharing and preserving stories of women who were once marginalized and stigmatized . . .” but due to her work “these women are now celebrated for their independence and personal agency.” The Medal is officially recognized by both Houses of Congress and is one of our nation’s most prestigious awards. Past recipients include Presidents Clinton and Reagan, Elie Wiesel, Sen. John McCain and HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco.
Leslie has a book column in the Montecito Journal, and is a frequent contributor to Huffington Post, Medium, Talkhouse and has written for W Magazine and Stork Magazine and a monthly book column in the Montecito Journal. She has presented her work and spoken at panels and Universities including Santa Barbara City College, Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, The Chicago Club, Chicago History Museum, MoMa, Burlesque Hall of Fame, Burly Con, Women’s History Month panels
Photo by Hannah Busing on
