Vocal
A North-Woman Journeys the American South — Haunted, Historic, Romantic; Delicious, Wild, Civilized
Your country can satisfy a foreigner's wanderlust. Why not yours? Every time you leave your country, you learn more about the nation from which you came. But every time you travel within your country, you learn more about what you don't know.
Savanna Rain UlandPublished about 17 hours ago in Wander
The proud lineage of Johan Cruyff's radical ideology that redefined football
The theories that Cruyff espoused with such stunning effect in Barcelona had their roots in the first international played by Scotland and England in Partick in 1872, a century ago. Undoubtedly, he was a radical, but he was a radical who understood that he was a part of a great lineage.
Booster Brat
The year was 1999, and three dollars was all it cost to buy a kid a ticket to another world. That ticket came in the form of shiny plastic foil wrapped around 11 pieces of cardboard: a Pokemon Trading Card Game Booster Pack. When my parents handed me that first pack, purchased from the game store in the local mall, I don’t think they knew it was a one way ticket. I never left that world of trading cards again, at least not wholly. I was changed by what I found there. Their old son never came back.
Daniel GarvinPublished about 18 hours ago in GeeksThe sun rose and I flew to the birds
When I was first craving words to describe my queer identity, I was obsessed with birds. The birds didn't need words and I didn't want them either. I was working in the engine room onboard a research ship, and we wouldn't return to land for thirty to fifty days at a time. As I struggled to break from the ideas of myself as man that I had adopted over the course of my young life I fell down Google holes trying to find a way to present my body to the world. I longed to dissolve into salt-entrained air with the albatrosses.
The Light of History
Memories and flashbacks are scattered on the floor As images of the present barricade the door. I stare at the ceiling into stars of the future kind
Patrick O'ConnorPublished about 19 hours ago in Poets
The Strawberry moon has nothing to do with color
Get your telescopes ready because the heavens are about to provide yet another spectacular feat. A strawberry moon is coming but you might be surprised at how this name originated. Many times we pass names, phrases, and slogans down through the generations without ever knowing the origin. The night sky has been revealing many wonders to those of us on the earth. From a lunar eclipse to a partial solar eclipse to supermoons, 2021 been an unusual year for lunar events.The month of June marks the year's final supermoon, with a full "strawberry" moon that will illuminate next week’s night sky.
Cheryl E PrestonPublished 2 days ago in Earth
Heights of embarrassment
Between the ages of 16 and 17, I grew by about six inches until I was the tallest student in my high school, not just the tallest girl, the tallest STUDENT period.
Shirley TwistPublished 3 days ago in Confessions
10 Texts from my Dad That Should Be Immortalized in a Dad Museum
This is my Dad. That little sliver of face in the corner? That would be me. My Dad and I have been co-conspirators pretty much since the moment I was born. Our relationship largely consists of humor and fake-jabs at each other on the surface, but just underneath, there's a lot of care and concern for one another; that kill-for-you-die-for-you sentiment that many parents and children share.
Aiden Graham ColePublished 3 days ago in Families
My Transgender Son Has No ‘Dead Name’
A dead name is a term that some within the transgender community use when referring to their birth name. As a parent of a transgender young adult, I’ve never been a fan of this term. It feels laced with morbidity, despair, and foreboding.
Celebrating Juneteenth: 13 Stories from Black Vocal Creators
In a world often starved for good news, one headline on Thursday offered cause for celebration. After passing through the U.S. Congress earlier in the week, a bill was signed into law by President Biden making June 19th, colloquially referred to as "Juneteenth," a federal holiday.
Vocal Curation TeamPublished 4 days ago in Resources
Social Shock
Write a story telling us about a time you just didn't quite fit in.
$1,000 Grand Prize16 hours leftMembers-Only
Supported By: MemberfulTell us about what fulfills you and why people should support your passion.
$22,500 Grand Prize40 hours leftDoomsday Diary
Supported by: UnboundWrite a short piece of dystopian fiction involving a heart-shaped locket.
$20,000 Grand Prize7 days left
Creators We’re Loving
Meet the people in your communities creating extraordinary things.
Celebrating Juneteenth: 13 Stories from Black Vocal Creators
In a world often starved for good news, one headline on Thursday offered cause for celebration. After passing through the U.S. Congress earlier in the week, a bill was signed into law by President Biden making June 19th, colloquially referred to as "Juneteenth," a federal holiday.
Vocal Curation TeamPublished 4 days ago in Resources
Creator Spotlight: Suri Chan
Suri Chan is an artist and poet who decorates the internet with beautifully-illustrated, primarily free-verse poetry. Her illustrations add a modest and genuine feel to her work, creating an open space for poetry-lovers and non-lovers alike to enjoy, reflect, and follow along to the narrative behind the stanzas. They create a dream-like layer to her work and inspire a deeper level of connection. A proud member of the LGBTQIA+ community, Suri inspires her followers to challenge and break free from stale assumptions while offering an honest perspective on what it's like to be newly queer.
Vocal SpotlightPublished 12 days ago in Resources
Creator Spotlight: Lindsay Rae Brown
Lindsay Rae Brown is a comedic writer with the innate ability to make her readers feel more at home in their existence—and we absolutely adore her. There is no learning curve to understanding the appeal to Lindsay and her work. She's charismatic, approachable, and downright hilarious at first impression; and, as long-time fans, we can say with full confidence that she only gets funnier with time.
Vocal SpotlightPublished 26 days ago in Resources
Vocal and Moleskine's True Colors Challenge Winners
This month, we teamed up once again with our partners at Moleskine for a special Challenge. We asked you all to share poetry about something that makes you unique, inspired by color. In just two weeks, you all submitted over 8,600 poems—over doubling the previous record of Challenge submissions per day.
Vocal TeamPublished 26 days ago in Resources
An Update on Updates: Vocal’s Upcoming Features
Two years ago, in May of 2019, we introduced Founding Memberships to Vocal+, which asked our creators to be some of the first to test out Vocal+ membership. We’ve always relied on creator feedback to help us build new features and services to improve the Vocal community. And now, a year and a half since we launched recurring Vocal+ subscriptions, Vocal has grown significantly—we’re now home to over 1 million creators and their stories, and over 25,000 Vocal+ members.
Justin MauryPublished 27 days ago in ResourcesHow to Use Facebook to Build an Audience and Community
I was a writer on other blogging platforms until I discovered Vocal. I made the switch for good once I realized the extent that Vocal will adapt to support and enable creators of all skillsets to write about virtually any topic in any format their user-friendly editor allows for. On top of the apparent visual and structural advantages to the site, Vocal doesn't limit creators with a paywall like other self-publishing sites—allowing writers, photographers, and even brands to make unlimited amounts of money from the content they create. More reads and engagement for creators means more exposure for the company, creating a win-win-win scenario for readers, writers, and Vocal itself. I find one of the most helpful and rewarding aspects of Vocal to be how effectively their platform inspires a sense of community. This feeling of unity and togetherness is what inspired me to take it one step further and create the Vocal Media Creators Hub page on Facebook.
Aamir KamalPublished about a month ago in Resources
