Author Archives: Katie

Thimble Prize & Pushcart Nominations

Now that I’ve finished grading for the semester (hooray!), let me take a moment to share an award and some nominations here…

Last month, the wonderful Thimble Literary Magazine awarded one of their first ever Thimble Prizes to my poem “Don’t Repeat This,” an honor with an honorarium that they gave to one prose piece and two poems from the previous year.  I’m still so surprised and pleased by this! Thank you, Nadia Arioli and staff!

Also, after a seven-year drought, four of my poems received Pushcart Prize nominations from two publishers. Origami Poems nominated “When Your Granny Panties Saved Me” from The Best of Kindness 2020 anthology, and my incredible chapbook publisher, River Glass Books, nominated three poems from 28,065 Nights.

In the midst of this impossible year, I’m grateful for these bright spots of affirmation and encouragement to keep going.

Tasty Other: A Dramatic Song Cycle!

I’ve had trouble sharing this because I get too excited about it, but here goes: Victor Labenske has made a song cycle from poems in my book Tasty Other! 

In May, we met via Zoom so we could talk through poems and plans.

In June, we met again so Victor could show me his first complete draft, and he sang through the whole thing for me, which was amusing and wonderful!

This past Friday, Victor recorded the song cycle with two sopranos, Elda Peralta McGinty and Judi Labenske. I can’t wait to hear the final version! Having my poems turned into a song cycle is such a dream for this choir girl for life. 🙂

Thank you, Victor!

“How to Use Vanilla” on Poetry Sunday

What a lovely surprise today to hear Jo Angela Edwins read my poem “How to Use Vanilla” from 28,065 Nights for Poetry Sunday on Poetry Across the Pee Dee. According to the page description, “Poetry across the Pee Dee is a page dedicated to spreading knowledge about and enthusiasm for poetry across the Pee Dee region of South Carolina and the entire state. It is curated by the Poet Laureate of the Pee Dee region.”

I also enjoyed hearing her talk about the history of chapbook making, and I appreciated the yowls (of appreciation, no doubt) from her cat, Eliot.

28,065 Nights Release Reading

Today’s release reading for my new chapbook was such a gift. I got to read alongside students, peers, and mentors in a Zoom room full of friends, family, and former strangers. Most of the reading is available for viewing on YouTube now.

I never expected that such a joyful event would come from my little chapbook of deep grief, but getting to weave my words together with work by each of these wonderful poets was amazing.

Thank you to all who read with me and worked behind the scenes to make this possible. Thank you to the 100+ people who attended too. This poet feels very celebrated and grateful today.

Visit this page to find out more about 28,065 Nights.

Poetry on Point

I started Poetry on Point in 2016 because I knew that the faculty, staff, and administration across disciplines at PLNU were writing poems (secretly and not-so-secretly), and I wanted them all to read their poems to me! This year we’re not together in an ocean view room, and I don’t have cookies to share, but please feel welcome to bring your own cookies and to watch these videos from current and retired PLNU faculty and staff. I needed this today.

Thanks especially to Ashley Reynolds Montaño for creating this beautiful web page and arranging the virtual room for this event (in addition to jumping in and sharing one of her own poems!).

Two Poems in Madness Muse Press

Two of my poems are included in the third issue of Madness Muse Press in some incredible company! You can check out “Is This Homeschooling?” (Everglades facts!) and “Star Wish” (erasure!) along with poems by Jessica Covil, Kai Coggin, Darren Demaree, Howie Good, Jeremy Karn, Connie Post, and more.