Contributor Interview: Angela Townsend

Angela Townsend is the winner of the 2025 Broad Ripple Review Prize in Nonfiction. Her story, "Write Until You Pray" appears in the Fall 2025 issue of Broad Ripple Review.

What's your favorite punctuation and a literary hot take you have?

I will never outgrow the innocence of the exclamation point! It is life bubbling over, all earnest and unguarded. It keeps company with daisies and comets. It is the first kid in the cafeteria to admit to loving something uncool. It is a strand of fairy lights in the doctor’s office. It turns a text message from stern to tender. You can dot it with a heart. 

I’m not sure I have any literary hot takes, other than that I’m convinced some of the great artists of our time are walking around with their pen caps on because they are too afraid to write. I coax friends who say they are “not creative” to unloose the light I see in their eyes. The world needs them.

What inspired you to write “Write Until You Pray”?

I am always yammering in a Godward direction, but I struggle with sustained prayer. I have tried taming my attention by giving my hands a task, like crocheting. Meanwhile, I am ferociously disciplined about writing. I don’t miss that appointment for anything. I glumped around in guilt over this dichotomy until I realized that writing may be my highest form of prayer. St. Irenaeus said that “the glory of God is the human person fully alive.” If that’s the case, writing is where I pray and praise. I suspect that many of us meet with the divine “off campus” in similar ways. 

What topics do you think are most notable in writing right now? 

The entire brokenhearted world is a lump in most of our throats. There is a wave of lament for how fast and how far the world powers have strayed from mercy and compassion. But I also see a great stirring of the waters, urging ordinary people to engage in acts of healing. I am astonished by the feisty empathy of writers. There are unlimited ways to light candles.

I saw that your work has been published in over 300 literary magazines. That’s an incredible accomplishment! What do you look for in a lit mag when deciding where to submit?

My heart leaps when I see folks putting something life-giving into the world. I don’t mean happy-clappy or “inspirational” literature, per se, although there is a real place for that. I mean wielding words in service to the rumpled, majestic human family. If there is love, that comes through, even if you are writing from the bleakest canyon.  

I also admit that I am incurably infatuated with writers and editors. I read mastheads and mission statements and feel my hand land on my heart. There is so much bravery and tenderness in our creative community. 

I also noted that you work at a cat sanctuary. Do you think the cats have given you any creative wisdom?

Continually! They are gratitude on four legs, and they do not believe there are any throwaway moments. If they are awake, they are astonished. They are seldom afraid to be the one who loves more. Everything is on the table. I think of them when I feel myself shrivel into strategy or shrewdness. If there is something beautiful inside, this is the day to give it. They are also wise when it comes to handling rejection. Their self-worth is invincible. 

Now that “Write Until You Pray” has wrapped up, what’s next on the writing docket?

The honest answer is, “everything.” My delight is creative nonfiction, though I am often surprised by stories or bossy poems. I’m mostly following fireflies and feral cats wherever they want to take me. I go into each writing session with notes and intentions, but I am invariably taken by the wind. I pray that it’s the Breath. 

Do you have any advice for upcoming writers looking to get their work published?

Write and write and write. You will not run dry. By some graced arithmetic, the more you write, the more you will have yet to write. When it is hard, and you are churning out bayous of dreck, write your way back into love with it. 

Then, submit with the same fervor. Find mastheads that sound like kindred spirits. Find mastheads that sound “scary” and remember they are just soft animals like you. They drop all their Cheerios on the floor, too. Submit and submit and submit. 

If you are smitten with a publication, resolve not to give up. It took me 27 tries to get into SmokeLong Quarterly. The day I did, I went to the grocery store and bought birthday candles shaped like a 2 and a 7. I keep them on my desk to remind me to persevere. 

Keep notebooks in peculiar places, because that is where your best ideas will waggle their fingers. Write what you need to remember. Never curate your soul for anyone. 

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About the Author

Angela Townsend works for a cat sanctuary. She is a five-time Pushcart Prize nominee and the 2024 winner of West Trade Review's 704 Prize for Flash Fiction. Her work appears or is forthcoming in Arts & Letters, Blackbird, The Iowa Review, SmokeLong Quarterly, and Trampset, among others. She graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary and Vassar College. Her poet mother is her best friend.

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About the Interviewer

Ollie Sikes (they/them) is an evolving queer writer, editor, and creator based in Dallas, TX. They completed a double BA in Creative Writing and Theatre at Butler University. Besides volunteering with Broad Ripple Review, they also serve as Content Creator for the little things literary magazine. Their poetry has been published with Synchronized Chaos. You can follow them on Instagram @ollie.sikes.