Author's rejection births bigger success

The best thing that happened to Krista Benjamin's writing career was getting rejected: twice.

The rejections allowed her to revise her work and get it noticed, landing her poem a spot in the "Best American Poetry 2006" anthology. The book went on sale Sept. 12.

Benjamin originally submitted her poem "Letter from My Ancestors" to a literary magazine called "Bathtub Gin." Although it was well-received, it wasn't published.

She then used the poem as part of an entry for a poetry book contest. She was one of 1,000 entries and didn't finish in the top 25.

However, because of that rejection the poem was seen by the editors of "Margie," a literary magazine based in Missouri, and they published it.

"I'm so glad now that ('Bathtub Gin') didn't take it because I revised it and got it published in 'Margie' and that ended up getting it into the anthology," Benjamin said. "Rejection actually ended up being a good thing."

Most literary magazines don't accept work that has been previously published elsewhere.

"(The poem) is about how one generation works to make a better life for the next," Benjamin said.

The idea came out of an afternoon Benjamin spent helping her grandparents organize old photos.

"They had all these black and white photos with people in them that only they knew so we sat down and labeled all of them. They told me stories about their parents and grandparents," Benjamin said. "I thought about how I was the beneficiary of all of their hard work."

"Letter" was one of 75 poems chosen from 1,784 literary magazines for inclusion in the anthology.

Benjamin, who is a 2006 Nevada Arts Council Fellow, will give a performance of her poem at Comma Coffee during a Jazz and Poetry event Dec. 12.

NAC fellows receive a $5,000 cash prize. In addition to using the grant award to produce works during the fellowship year, each fellow provides a free public event relevant to their discipline.

• Contact reporter Jarid Shipley at jshipley@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1217.