Three Poems in Verse-Virtual

To kick off National Poetry Month, I have three poems in the April issue of Verse-Virtual. This was my first submission to this journal, and I love the focus on community building and the note at the bottom of each page that encourages readers to contact the author if they love a piece.

My three poems in this issue are harder to share than most. They deal with the car accident that took the lives of my spouse’s parents. If you’re up for reading about my wishes to rewind and rewrite the past, the details of the car accident that kept me from sleeping well for months because I kept imagining it, and the bronchoscopy I witnessed, then these poems are for you. If you need to skip these poems, I will certainly understand.

I highly encourage you to read more of this issue, especially Barbara Crooker’s poem, which uses the Spanish glosa form. Thanks to editor Jim Lewis for curating this space and including my poems!

Guest Blog: 5 Steps to Poetry Publication

In 2014, I wrote a guest blog for Editing Addict called “How to Submit Poems for Publication.” The fantastic Trish Hopkinson has now published an updated version of this guest blog: “5 Steps to Poetry Publication.”

I found the process of submitting for publication bewildering when I first wanted to begin, so I hope I can help others feel more confident about getting their poems out there.

Writer’s Symposium by the Sea

Last Wednesday, I had the absolute joy of co-leading Writing the Unspeakable: A Generative Poetry Workshop (which you can now view at that link) with my colleague Margarita Pintado Burgos at the 26th annual Writer’s Symposium by the Sea. I loved getting to share this creative space with Margarita and about 70 others, and I was amazed by how intimate this workshop felt given the number of people and the virtual format.

That evening, this interview was also released to the public. A few weeks before, Margarita and I met virtually with Dean Nelson, the founder of the Writer’s Symposium by the Sea and an incredible journalist and interviewer. After watching Dean interview some of my favorite writers over the years, I was thrilled to experience his preparation and thoughtful questions from the writer’s seat.

You can find all of this year’s events at this link, where you can also find more info about next year’s symposium, which will include Cornel West and Nadia Bolz-Weber!

“I & You” at MOXIE Theatre

I loved watching MOXIE Theatre’s production of “I & You” tonight via Zoom and then being on the panel of guest poets after the show! This play engages with Whitman’s “Song of Myself,” social media, mortality, and more. I know I’ll be thinking about it for a long time. Do yourself a favor and get tickets to see this play virtually while you can!

 

 

Ruminate Happenings!

I had so much fun writing on Instagram live as part of the Ruminate Happenings on March 13. This was my third time doing this live-writing event, and I spent my hour writing poems for Beatriz Fernandez and Charnell Peters. If you’d like to eavesdrop on my writing process and watch me create those two poems, you can still watch the video on Ruminate’s IG account at this link. If you’d also like to join me in supporting this lovely magazine, then you can subscribe at their website. 🙂

“Scheherazade’s Last Words” in The Shining Years

I’m so pleased to have my poem “Scheherazade’s Last Words” included in The Shining Years, an anthology edited by Gary J. Lechliter and published by Blue Wild Indigo Productions.

I admire so many of the poets in this anthology, so I won’t try to list them all here, but one of them is my late thesis advisor, Michelle Boisseau. I’m deeply honored to appear in this company. 

Tasty Other Song Cycle Premiere

Last night, many of us gathered for a YouTube watch party for the virtual premiere of Tasty Other: A Dramatic Song Cycle. What a gift to have Victor Labenske compose this song cycle from nine of my poems! Elda McGinty Peralta and Judith Spaite Labenske brought so much humor, skill, beauty, and brilliance to the vocals, and Victor’s playing and back-up vocals were gorgeous too. The YouTube video will remain available to view; it includes the audio track and the sheet music, which is also available for purchase here.

When I wrote poems based on anxiety dreams during my pregnancy ten years ago, I couldn’t have imagined that some of them would become a song cycle, but last night I got to watch and listen with my nine-year-old son eagerly watching and listening with me, and that was such a joy.

My book Tasty Other won the Main Street Rag Poetry Book Award in 2016 and is available for purchase from the publisher or directly from me. Visit this page for more details.

Rise Up Review & The Minison Project

Over this past long weekend, I had three minisons (14-letter poems) published in the Love Letters issue of The Minison Project, an exciting new journal that focuses on shrunken sonnet forms.

I was also thrilled to have a new poem, “Zombie Dice During Election Week,” published on Monday in the Winter 2021 issue of Rise Up Review.

My work is in spectacular company in both issues! Thank you, editors!