Category Archives: Blog

A Hundred Pitchers of Honey

Reading in Donna Vorreyer’s virtual series, A Hundred Pitchers of Honey, was such a delight this past Thursday evening! I shared some poems from How to Play, along with a couple of newer dinosaur poems, and I loved getting to hear my fellow readers–Fox Henry Frazier, Ann Hudson, and Steven Sanchez. Their incredible readings might’ve caused me to do some book buying immediately after…

If you’d like to relive the magic, the reading is now on YouTube! Grab a cold drink and imagine you’re with us in real time. 🙂

La Playa Books & SD Book Crawl

The good folks at La Playa Books featured my poetry books for the San Diego Book Crawl over the last weekend of April. I was out of town, so extra thanks to Sarah Holly for sharing this photo with me!

Conversations with Poets!

I had such a fun time chatting about poetry and reading some poems with Michael Klam at the San Diego Public Library for this Conversations with Poets video series.

I’ve really enjoyed watching the other videos in the series too. Thanks also to the San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture and the San Diego Poetry Annual for this great collaborative project.

Shows & Publications

I’m spinning too many plates right now. Some plates that should be spinning are actually still packed in the box, but I’m limited, and between the ongoing pandemic and the violence in Ukraine, it’s hard to continue on as usual.  Even so, here are some poetry highlights from the past month…

In early March, I got to be a virtual featured poet for Wednesday Night Poetry, the longest running weekly open mic in the country, and it was a joy to share some of the poems for my spouse from How to Play.

Also in March, I received my contributor’s copy of Dear Vaccine, the print anthology created from the global poetry project of the same name. It’s fun to see work by friends in here with me, and I was excited that Naomi Shihab Nye was one of the editors.

At the end of March, I got to release the new spring issue of my journal, Whale Road Review, and it’s amazing. Even when the rest of life is chaotic, I love doing this editing and publishing work.

Yesterday, John Compton hosted me on the jojo show, and it was so fun to talk with him about How to Play, all things poetry, and whatever else we stumbled upon.

To anyone reading this, I hope you’re safe and well.

How to Play: Poems Inspired by Games

I am overjoyed to announce that my new chapbook, How to Play, is officially published!

A box of copies is on the way to me from Louisiana right now, so if you’d like to be one of the first to order a signed copy from me or to order a copy from Louisiana Literature Press, we’re officially taking orders! You can find all of the order links on this page.

Readings in the Stars

The end of January found me in some amazing company! I got to participate in two release readings for A Harp in the Stars: An Anthology of Lyric Essays (U of Nebraska Press, 2021). I’m still pinching myself to make sure I’m not dreaming about having a piece included in this gorgeous book!

On Saturday, January 29, The Writers Place in Kansas City hosted a reading on Zoom with anthology editor Randon Billings Noble and contributors Dorothy Bendel, Heidi Czerwiec, and me. Lyric essay as labyrinth? Lyric essay as body wash instructions? I loved hearing these essays aloud and sharing my “Nevermore” in such company. The sponsor was also special to me: I helped connect us to TWP, and this organization gave me a scholarship when I was an MA student at UMKC. I’m honored to be a member now.

On Monday, January 31, San Diego Writers, Ink sponsored our reading, and my former student Madi Bucci, who is now their administrative assistant, was our Zoom host! This time I got to read with Randon Billings Noble, Laurie Easter, LaTanya McQueen, and Maya Sonenberg, and I was once again stunned by my fellow contributors. Have you ever seen a lyric essay take the form of a word search (and then have it gut you with its content)? Well, you can if you read this anthology, and you definitely should.

 

“Nevermore” & The Lascaux Review

My short prose piece “Nevermore” was reprinted online in The Lascaux Review before it was in my chapbook 28,065 Nights. Now it’s also included in this beautiful print edition of The Lascaux Review, and I’m honored to have it in such lovely company. Stephanie Vanderslice’s final essay, “Dear Madeleine,” especially wowed me.

How to Play: a new chapbook!

My chapbook of game-inspired poems will be published by Louisiana Literature Press in early 2022! 😁🎉 I’m so excited to work with Jack Bedell and staff and to be press mates with Ray Ball, Sneha Subramanian Kanta, Chloe Clark, and more!

28,065 Nights Turns 1

Happy first birthday to my chapbook! I’m grateful to have 28,065 Nights in the world. Thanks to everyone who has purchased, read, reviewed, gifted, and otherwise shared this book. Thanks also to Kimberly and Marley Stewart of River Glass Books, who have been such generous and attentive publishers and have taken good care of this collection that’s so close to my heart.