~formerly known as Moon Shadow Sanctuary Press

We are small but formidable! I am d. ellis phelps, founding & managing editor. For the random beauty ii issue of fws: international journal of literature & art, Rachel Aguirre Leisman is serving as Associate Editor. I am very grateful for her astute reading and careful commentary.

Alongside the journal, the press has published woodlands: nature~magic~mystery~myth (2022), an anthology celebrating forests and trees, what she holds (2020), my memoir in poetic form; purifying wind (2020), an anthology of prose and poems that celebrate the vulture; and one novel, Making Room for George: a love story (2016).

You can view our list of contributors here.

I am primarily a poet but I have written and published essays, creative non-fiction, flash fiction, and several newspaper columns (that dates me!) plus this blog.

I love to give good writing a home and to help others achieve their publishing goals.

Here is a short bio:

d. ellis phelps’ poetry, art, and essays appear widely in print and online.

She is the author of five books of poetry, including of failure & faith (Kelsay books, 2023), what she holds (MSSP, 2020), words gone wild (Kelsay Books,2021), what holds her a book of ecstatic poetry (Main Street Rag, 2019), and book of common breath (Kelsay Books, forthcoming 2026); one novel, Making Room for George (MSSP, 2016), and of the blog formidableWoman. Anthologies for which she has served as managing editor include The Larger Geometry: poems for peace (2018), Through Layered Limestone: a Texas Hill Country Anthology of Place ( 2019), Purifying Wind (MSSP, 2020), easing the edges: a collection of everyday miracles (Friends of the Boerne Public Library, (2021), and woodlands: nature~magic~mystery~myth (MSSP, 2022), among others.

From 2016-2019, Ms. Phelps served as the Animating Director of the San Antonio peaceCenter’s reading series, poets for peace, a quarterly gathering of poets and musicians celebrating and promoting peace.

Further Ms. Phelps has taught fine arts to students of all ages since she graduated from The University of Texas at Austin in 1974.  For many years, she taught as Writers in Communities faculty for Gemini Ink, a San Antonio, Texas literary organization.  She teaches writing craft workshops for the Patrick Heath Public Library in Boerne, Texas.

d. ellis phelps, August 2025

Find our calls for submissions here. I look forward to reading your work!

Words matter. Send yours!