Washington Writers' Publishing House
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WWPH WRITES 129... spotlights a provocative take on AI with David Ebenbach's title poem from his new collection, The AI Suspects It Might Be A Hungry Ghost, and on rule-breaking in Linda Kotis' essay, "Thief, Border-Jumper, Fraudster, Spy."
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- Worlds Beyond. Literary speculative fiction, science fiction, fantasy, or horror -- our inaugural poetry and fiction contest specifically seeking genre work that bends into the literary. Cash prizes and publication in WWPH WRITES in October. Special guest judge: Myna Chang. Deadline is Tuesday, September 15th at 11:59 pm.
- Grace & Gravity, volume 12, series editor: Caroline Bock, special guest editor: Melanie Hatter. The theme for the first-ever Grace & Gravity edited by the Washington Writers' Publishing House: GRACE IN JUSTICE. We will be seeking fiction or literary nonfiction (up to 2,000 words) from women writers. Deadline is November 15th. Publication in late 2027. Read on for more details.
Find a peek here at all four of our fabulous upcoming award-winning books, all now available for pre-order. Official publication date: January 26, 2027.
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Lastly, find us on Saturday, September 19th at the first-ever Carroll Book Festival in Westminster, Maryland. More details here.
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Caroline Bock & Jona Colson
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David Ebenbach is the author of eleven books of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction, including the WWPH fiction-prize-winning short story collection Into the Wilderness. His other books have won such awards as the Juniper Prize and the Drue Heinz Literature Prize, among others. He lives with his family in Washington, DC, where he teaches creative writing at Georgetown University. You can find out more at davidebenbach.com. Photo credit: Reuben Gartenbach,
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THIEF, BORDER-JUMPER, FRAUDSTER, SPY
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“You’re a rule-follower,” my date remarks as we wait for the light before crossing the street. It is August 2025, and we’re walking back to my apartment from the ballpark after the Phillies pummeled the Nats 6-2.
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“Safety first!” I explain. “A holdover from my daughter’s childhood.”
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His observation makes me think about how my upbringing formed me. I grew up as the people-pleasing daughter of southern parents, strict enforcers of morality. Today, I’m a member of the DC Bar and three others, sworn to uphold the law. I’m a driver who observes the speed limit. A diner who points out to the server an item mistakenly left off the bill.
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I am a rule-follower. Except, over the course of my life, I’ve broken a lot of them.
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Like shoplifting from my employer.
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In high school, I took advantage of my position as a cashier at a local meat-and-three to occasionally pilfer a Libs Turtle. A caramel made with butter and whipping cream smothered in chocolate over a bed of fresh pecans, the individually wrapped candies were sold at the register as an after-dinner treat. My father facilitated this job at his client’s Indiana restaurant. A CPA known for his mantra, “you don’t mess with the IRS,” my father’s uprightness of character was citywide knowledge. Dad would have been mortified had he known.
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I imagine the confrontation. We’re sitting across from each other at the kitchen table. My father waves his black square-framed eyeglasses like a teacher ready to rap the knuckles of an unruly pupil. His mouth sets into a scowl as he reprimands me: “That’s theft, young lady. You stole from your employer. It’s a crime, no matter how little those candies cost.”
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Like flouting international law.
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In 1994, I illegally traveled to Kaş from Kastellorizo, the birthplace of my grandfather. At the time, formal relations between Greece and Türkiye were strained. The island’s location a scant mile from Türkiye’s south coast kept local relations friendly. The captain of a fishing boat met tourists on the east side of the island, away from the main harbor. He told us to lie down in the boat in order to evade discovery by the military in the hilltop watchtower. The trip took twenty minutes. Once we landed, we turned over our passports to the Türkish police, who retained them as we toured the town.
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In the Athens airport on my way back to America, the customs control officer greeted me with a smile. Seeing an entry into Türkiye on my passport and no exit from Greece, her mouth turned down, and she narrowed her eyes.
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“Did you leave Greece? Did you go to Türkiye?”
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“Yes,” I replied, thinking to say more would be unwise. She paused a moment, then vigorously stamped my passport and thrust it back at me.
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Like engaging in insurance fraud.
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I omitted disclosures of individual therapy and family counseling on applications for health insurance. And I always paid out-of-pocket to avoid creating a record of reimbursement linking me back to mental health professionals. Never mind that in the 1990s I held management positions with one of the nation’s largest health plans, which provided mental health services to its subscribers.
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At the time, I worried that if an insurance application became public, it could affect my finding a new job or securing a loan. Though the risk may have been greater some years back, when acknowledging emotional instability was more of a stigma than in today’s era of “broadcast all family dysfunction on FaceGramChatInstaSnapTok.”
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Like breaking into classified files.
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At my elementary school, two classmates and I were plucked out of eighth-grade math to study freshman algebra. The math department gave us textbooks and set us up in the cafeteria, while our fellow eighth graders remained in the standard course. Being 13-year-olds, we goofed around a bit during that fifty-minute period. Being “A” students and generally well-behaved, we settled down and worked as we were supposed to, teaching ourselves high school math without the supervision of trained instructors.
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One time, however, we betrayed the trust vested in us. We left the cafeteria and entered the Guidance Counselor’s office. A couple of doors past the principal’s suite, it was unlocked and unoccupied. Our mission was to search through his files for the results of our IQ tests. As we opened the file cabinets, I hesitated. “I’m not sure this is such a good idea.”
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“Oh, come on, we’re not gonna get caught,” replied one of the boys.
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I mention the “rule-follower” comment to Jamie, a co-conspirator involved in the Counselor’s office caper. Jamie, my astral twin whose dark hair and height mirrored mine in our childhood, says he’s given lip service to rule-following throughout his life. “Whenever I thought I could get away with something—without anyone of consequence finding out — I did it. White male privilege in action no doubt!”
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Jamie lived in Tokyo for two years after college at Haverford. He tells me there is no more rule-abiding society on this planet than the Japanese in Tokyo. “Your own example of jaywalking: no Japanese pedestrian ever crosses a street on a red light. Even if the street is a five-foot-wide alley! Even if there’s no traffic in the alley whatsoever!!! This drove me crazy! I never waited at such lights! I’m sure I reinforced their thinking that Whites are rule-breakers and impatient people!”
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My rule-breakings were minor indiscretions. They didn’t result in widespread harm or significant economic loss.
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Still, I don’t share Jamie’s nonchalance about rule-following. All these decades later, I still carry inside the awkward child whose self-esteem lies in pleasing authority figures.
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And the times I disregarded rules aren’t consistent with “the impression of myself I have created” as an otherwise upstanding adult in society.
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Those are words of my individual therapist. The one for whose services I never submitted reimbursement, so that my accessing of mental health care would never be disclosed as part of my insurance records.
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Linda Kotis lives in Washington, DC, and is writing a memoir of her 2024 trip to Greece. Linda’s work appears in The Write Launch, Up North Literary Journal, Grande Dame Literary Journal, Mediterranean Poetry, Drift & Dribble Miscellany, and elsewhere. She’s received residencies at Wildacres, Mudhouse Artist Residency, and Weymouth Center.
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Submit your literary speculative fiction or poetry that takes us beyond the ordinary, specifically, beyond this world. Please limit your submission to one in either fiction or poetry. No fee. Special judge: Myna Chang. Deadline: September 15th at 11:59 pm. PRIZES: $100 first prize/$50 runner-up in each category. Publication for all in October …
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CARROLL COUNTY BOOK FESTIVAL
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Find us at the first-ever Carroll County Book Festival on Saturday, September 19th!
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GRACE & GRAVITY OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS
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GRACE IN JUSTICE… exploring the great divides in our nation today and the hope for a better tomorrow. Guest editor MELANIE S. HATTER. Series Editor: Caroline Bock The distance between survival and security has never felt greater. Across our communities, rising housing costs, stagnant wages, mounting debt, widening inequality, and challenges to our dignity and basic rights as women are …
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WWPH LITERARY SALONS
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Our community-based free literary events continue! Join us on September 27 at Lost City Books and on October 4th at KBIRD.
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Made possible with the support of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.
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Welcome to the Summer of Love Tour, where Washington Writers’ Publishing House is bringing authors all over the DMV to celebrate our new mini-anthology, Capital Love. These writing salons will reflect the intention of Capital Love, which is the belief that love is the antidote to hate and that love is action, intent, healing, and hope. This event is designed to …
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CAPITAL LOVE - the last WWPH Literary Salon of 2026 - The Big Wrap-Up Event!
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Join us at KBird Bar in Washington, DC, for our last WWPH literary salon for CAPITAL LOVE! We're celebrating our last CAPITAL LOVE event of 2026 by raising up our voices in love, hope, joy, and a happy hour drink or two! Join us for a creative writing workshop and a reading with contributors from CAPITAL LOVE. When: Sunday, October 4 …
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We believe AMERICA'S FUTURE has a place in your classroom. With 179 works of poetry, fiction, essays, and visual language spanning 526 pages, it offers a rich mosaic of writers looking at what's next for our nation through a literary lens. We have developed sample lesson plans suitable for AP-level high school classes and college-level work. We offer a special …
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Last, thank you...for your beautiful support of my new novel, The Other Beautiful People (Regal House Publishing, 2026). Now available everywhere books/ebooks are sold...I am a featured author at the upcoming Carroll Book Festival (and we'll also be there with a WWPH table). So, I hope to see you there!
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Prose editor, WWPH Writes
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Thank you for being part of the Washington Writers' Publishing House community! Join us at one of our upcoming events!
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Poetry editor, WWPH Writes
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Copyright © 2026 The Washington Writers' Publishing House, All rights reserved.
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