news

For most of June, I’ve been working on organizing my book manuscript and dissertation SPEECH MAKING: FROM THE AMERICAN PLATFORM OF MATILDA FLETCHER. I put all the poems in the book, then took some out, then added a few back in, then took others out. I think, though, it’s finally perfect (for now). I’ve been researching Matilda for a little over a year and a half (wow!). I’m thrilled Matilda poems have been accepted by the editors of The Broad River Review, West Branch Times, The Queen City Review, and Naugatuck River Review. There will also be Matilda poems in the forthcoming anthologies Knocking at the Door (edited by Lisa Sisler and Lea C. Deschenes), A Face to Meet the Faces (edited by Stacey Lynn Brown and Oliver de la Paz), and Multi Culti Mixerations (edited by Richard H. McNab).

In other news, there’s a mini-review of my poem “Dead Girl Brand II” in Big Muddy. The forthcoming anthology of poems on violence that I’m co-editing (with Christine Stewart-Nunez), WOMEN WRITE RESISTANCE: POETS FIGHT GENDER VIOLENCE, was awarded a grant from the South Dakota Humanities Council to cover some of the costs of permissions. I’m super excited about our anthology! It’s something Christine and I have been putting together since the fall of 2007. Finally, my chapbook GHOST GIRL just came out from Pudding House…more on that soon.

residency

In May, I was an artist in residence at the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts in Nebraska City, Nebraska. The residency at KHN was wonderful! The environment at KHN was warm and welcoming among the artists and writers, but also quiet, serious, and hardworking. I wrote twelve poems in twelve days and wrote out the first ten pages of an essay I’ve been writing in my head for over a year. I loved meeting the other artists and seeing the evolution of their art during their residency. The people in Nebraska City were friendly and nice. The place of Nebraska City was comfortingly Midwest.

KHN has framed photos of previous residents in the hallways. I loved seeing shots of awesome writers like Denise Duhamel (Kinky), Kim Roberts (The Kimnama), Nancy Krygowski (Velocity), and local Backwater Press editor Greg Kosmicki (Nebraska Presence). What an amazing experience to write in the same environment!

Here’s me in my writing studio: