Ravynn K. Stringfield, Ph.D. is a writer based in Virginia. Ravynn’s creative nonfiction has appeared in Catapult, Shondaland, Greatist, ZORA and midnight & indigo. She penned the column “Superhero Girlfriends Anonymous” for Catapult magazine from 2021-2022. Her debut novel, Love Requires Chocolate (Joy Revolution, August 2024), is a young adult romance following young Black American theatre nerd, Whitney Curry, as she conducts research on her idol, Josephine Baker, during a study abroad program in Paris but gets sidetracked by her French tutor. Her sophomore novel, Love in 280 Characters or Less (Feiwel & Friends), will be out April 15, 2025. You can read more at ravynnkstringfield.com
What I’m Looking for in a midnight & indigo Essay
I want to read essays that use the particular, the specific, the quotidian to understand larger patterns in our cultures and societies. Be curious, vulnerable and teachable in your written explorations. Essays that linger and haunt excite me; I want essays that wrap fingers around your heart and squeeze—and don’t let go. I want to still think about your words a week later.
Are you a researcher and have a research case study about Black women that’s captivating but somehow too narrative to fit in an academic journal? I want to read that, too. And these are specific, but I’m always going to want to read essays that center water, flight and ancestry. In terms of prose, I enjoy a lyrical approach, delicious sentences that are as artful as the story you’re telling.
Send me your essays written with intention and direction; even if we meander, ensure the reader is going somewhere. This is perhaps the key that separates a strong essay from a very beautiful journal entry: what does what you know or what you have experienced help you understand about the world and why does it matter?
Essayists I love: Hanif Abdurraqib, Tressie McMillan Cottom, Vanessa Angélica Villarreal, Morgan Jerkins
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Are you a Black woman writer? We’re looking for short stories and personal essays to feature on our digital and print platforms. Check out upcoming submissions periods at midnightandindigo.com/write-for-us or visit our Submittable page.
