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Link to read me page with more information.
I have a couple new poems up at the lovely Fou alongside Sierra Nelson and many other talented folks. Thanks to Cate Peebles for welcoming me back into the poetry fold.
I also am very pleased to announce that I'll be presenting at the Letters Festival in Atlanta November 12-14 with friends/heroes Amelia Gray, Dorothea Lasky and Janaka Stucky. Hope to see you there!
Get that worm.
Salamander didn't want the story I sent them, sadly, but I'll be reading submissions at SmokeLong all week. Send in your best!
This is what it was like eating the soup.
Granta does not want the essay I sent them.
But I reviewed a terrible soup over at Hobart: Mushroom Madeira Bisque.
And I'm reading at the ChiPRC anniversary reading on Friday night. See the Events page for more details.
Both the incredible Sator Press and Tarpaulin Sky do not want my poetry book. I think the book will take a little nap now, a little rest away from submission for a while.
An essay was also rejected by the Oxford American.
And the Illinois Arts Council officially notified grant applicants that there are no longer funds for the arts grants we applied for, so that was a sadly useless application I gave my time to. I feel for the IAC though. I see their social media trying to point people to other sources of funding and I feel for the people doing that good work. I know they are probably more frustrated than the rest of us.
Some real talk: I've been working on this funny little novel for over four years. That's not even that long, but I've found it's taking a toll. Working on something longer means that you don't get those little boosts from sending out stories and essays and individual poems and having an editor say, "Yes, this is great! We'll take it! Keep going!" When I started working on this manuscript I felt the odd loss of that encouragement and then I made my peace with it. I think it's worth acknowledging that that sense of loss and insecurity has returned. It's fine. My confidence will return, but it's been helpful to me in the past to know that even the most successful people doubt themselves and worry that they've been fooling the world and will be revealed as the fakes they feel they are. I try to stay thankful and remember that these lows make the good news feel all the better, but it's a tricky dynamic and I wish you all the best in navigating your particular version of it.
The incredible Action Books doesn't want my poetry book, but I realize I was really shooting for the moon there. The books they will put out though are sure to be INCREDIBLE. Especially excited for Overpour from Jane Wong.
I also found out today that I wasn't selected to move to the next stage of the Creative Capital Grant application process. I'm told 33% of awardees have applied multiple times though, so that's promising!
And a nice little review of A Different Bed Every Time has gone up at Pamplemousse. Thanks to Jensen Beach for sharing the book with his students!
The Georgia Review did not want the story I sent them and AGNI didn't want the essay I passed their way.
BUT, I'm interviewing Jacky Collis Harvey at the Printers Row Lit Fest in June and I'm teaching a workshop at The Northwestern Summer Writers Conference in July.
And my Non-Reader Spotlights are back in action at Hobart: Seth Fein and Justine Bursoni.
Always a balance.
Fence didn't want the essay I sent their way. I love Fence. Someday!
CopperNickel didn't want an essay I sent them.
BOMB didn't want a different essay I sent them.
But, I feel super engaged in lit right now. Lots of little projects going on. Thinking about writing and lit a lot. Making more time for it than I have since grad school (excluding residencies). Feels good!
Gag.
Drunken Boat doesn't want the story I sent them. I received this notification after running two miles without stopping for the first time in a year, so nothing could bring me down. I am an American hero.
One time I saw a lady running barefoot on the streets of Chicago, and I thought, "Weigh the benefits carefully, ma'am."
Nothing wrong with a cookie cutter. Especially when it's a UNICORN.
Prairie Schooner rejected an essay I sent them. It was fun to receive an email from Kwame Dawes even if it was a template!
