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Elizabeth Kilcoyne is a writer, a baton twirling trainer, an election coach for pro-choice women candidates, and lives in Massachusetts. Her first essay, “A Stone in My Pocket,” about a heroine’s journey on the Camino de Santiago, was selected as the favorite nonfiction essay for 2019 by L’Éphémère Review. “Our Power is in Our Voice and Our Vote” was published in Women’s eNews after the Supreme Court’s June 24, 2022 decision to eliminate protection of safe, legal abortions in the United States.
When she's not writing you can find her at the gym lifting weights, a museum in South Beach, or maybe at her favorite café in Berlin. |
"Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can."
Arthur Ashe
In 1874, attorney Belva Lockwood was denied access to practice before the U.S. Court of Claims because she was a woman. Belva said, “For the first time in my life I began to realize it’s a crime to be a woman, but it was too late to put in a denial so I pled guilty.” She later went on to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court and then ran for president of the United States in the National Equal Rights Party in 1884. She ran again in 1888. Neither time could she vote for herself!
Like Belva, I have been a crusader for peace and women’s equality for most of my life. I have written for newspapers about these issues and now write for literary journals, Medium and still a newspaper her and there.
Since 2010, I have been thinking more about being in the moment and being satisfied with my life. Gautama Buddha said, “As you walk and eat and travel, be where you are. Otherwise, you will miss most of your life.” To do this, we must accept that we are in charge of our lives and our choices. And, THERE ARE ALWAYS CHOICES.
So, after a career of writing financial policy, I am venturing into personal essays.
My first essay "A Stone in My PockeT" is about walking 500 miles on the Camino de Santiago. It’s a heroine’s journey that begins with an ordinary person looking for more meaning in her life. She needs to get away by herself, out of the routine of daily tasks, and do some inner searching. The Camino de Santiago in Spain has been calling pilgrims to experience this arduous journey since the 9th century. It promises to test and reward all who walk it. "A Stone in My Pocket" was published in L'Éphémère Review, August, 2019.
My second essay Getting to Oxford follows one of my daughters and me on a walking adventure along the Thames River. It was published in the Spring 2019 issue of the Green Briar Review.
My third essay "Redemption" reminds us of the days when shopping "rewards" for purchasing food and gas actually allowed middle class people to obtain lavish items they would otherwise forego. It was published in the September 2019 Issue of the Adelaide Literary Magazine.
"I'm not going" follows my daughter, Anna, and me on a graduation trip to Greece. It's about our wondrous adventures in Athens and Mykonos and an abundance of courage along the way.