Goose Hill

Last month I finished my second series of six poem-collages. The first were paired with my Silence of the Lambs  poems. These are paired with my Alien  poems.  I used the same source materials for these as I did for the previous series, which are primarily The MacMillan Wild Flower Book  and Gray's Anatomy . Using the same sources helps to connect both series, make them part of a greater narrative that is explored in my full-length manuscript, Catechesis .  These are the six poem and collage pairings of this series: What's the story, Mother? + round-leaved sundew & venus flytrap / plate 74 Wait a minute, there's movement. It seems to have life — organic life. + jack-in-the-pulpit / plate 2 You still don't understand what you're dealing with, do you? + false dragonhead / plate 170 I can't lie to you about your chances, but you have my sympathies. + swamp pink / plate 35 We've got this far — we must go on. We h...

First piece of good poetry news: l ast weekend I finished the last piece for   Catechesis , my first full-length poetry collection! It is a total of 27 poems and 12 poem-collages: fairytale-girl poems,  Silence of the Lambs  poems & collages, and   Alien   poems & collages. I'll give the manuscript a little breathing room, and then I'll start looking for open calls at presses. Second piece of good poetry news: my poem "Wait a minute, there's movement. It seems to have life —organic life" has been accepted for publication in the Spring 2018 Issue of Passages North ! This is the first out of my six Alien  poems to be taken by a literary magazine, so it is very encouraging for the rest of the series. Riding the high of this acceptance, I've just submitted the remaining five poems to another crop of journals. After nearly four years of working on this manuscript, it's a very strange feeling to be finished. I've been entirely project-focused ...

I am so thrilled to announce here that my second chapbook Blackbird Whitetail Redhand  will be published later this year by Porkbelly Press . Congratulations to my new pressmates, whose chapbooks will also be appearing this year: Maggie Woodward, Eloisa Amezcua, Kristi Carter, and M. Brett Gaffney! Funny-but-awesome-side-note: We just published Eloisa Amezcua's poem "Mission Bay" in issue 3 of Cherry Tree ! So I am especially excited to be in the same lineup and, eventually, to read her new chapbook. There are fifteen poems in this chap, all of the poems about my three  fairytale-girls   from my nearly completed full-length manuscript: the Girl with no Hands, the Girl with Cloven Feet, and the Girl who Gave Birth to an Apple. Although they are a significant chunk of the larger manuscript (and there are certain publishing downsides to this), I decided after much internal deliberation that these poems deserved to have their own separate platform, showcasing them as ...

In the past two months we've held two launch events for newly-released Still Life with Poem: Contemporary Natures Mortes in Verse , which I co-edited with my friend Jehanne for the Literary House Press; we've waded through over a thousand submissions for the third issue of Cherry Tree ; and although I haven't been able to get much new writing done, I did manage to send out a batch of poems to thirteen literary magazines. I'm pretty exhausted! On October 18, we hosted the first book launch at home at the Rose O'Neill Literary House with readings from contributors James Arthur, James Allen Hall, Leslie Harrison, dawn lonsinger, and Dora Malech.  I gave the introduction (a first for me) and also read my poem, as well as two others from the anthology.  We had some delicious food, debuted a beautiful commemorative letterpress broadside that I helped to design and print, and decorated the space with still lifes made up of gourds, antlers, tarot cards, and o...

The September 22nd reading at Frederick's brand-new Sky Stage was an amazingly fun evening. A crew of present and past Chestertonians came out: My reading-mate Rae Bryant was an incredible host who made me feel like family as soon as I arrived. I feel very fortunate now to call her a friend. I read a fairly large batch of work: some fairy tale girl poems, some Silence of the Lambs  poems, and even a few Alien  poems. I was happy to discover some fellow horror movie fans in the intimate audience.  My best partner-in-poetry snapped these photos of me in action (thank you, Emma!) and she took video snippets of my reading:  And because my copy arrived on Tuesday, I showed off the brand-new Autumn 2016 issue of Faerie Magazine  (based out of nearby Baltimore) and read my fairy tale girl poems published there. Really, if you don't subscribe to this gorgeous full-color magazine, you should. Rae gave a fantastic reading...

And just like that, the summer has passed and September is here again. (Thank God — bring on sweater weather!) Although they came very slowly, I did manage to get two more Alien  poems written before Labor Day. And I'm once again wading through submissions for Cherry Tree , but this time for our third issue!  This fall I will also be participating in two poetry reading events. Here are the details: Reading #1: Sky Stage Eco-Urban Reading Series Featuring Rae Bryant & Lindsay Lusby  Thursday, September 22 at 7:00 p.m. Sky Stage, 59 S. Carroll St., Frederick, MD  Reading #2:   Still Life with Poem: A Literary House Press Book Launch Featuring James Arthur, James Allen Hall, Leslie Harrison, dawn lonsinger, Lindsay Lusby, Dora Malech, and Jason Schneiderman Tuesday, October 18 at 4:30 p.m.  Rose O'Neill Literary House, 407 Washington Ave., Chestertown, MD And speaking of readings, during our first Cherry Tree Young W...

Since my last post (in March! What?!), I've been entirely sucked into my (fantastic but busybusybusy) day job at the Rose O'Neill Literary House. It's been a productive few months professionally, but my writing has stagnated in the meantime. I intend to turn that around again soon, making sure the entire summer doesn't pass before I've written at least 2-3 more Alien  poems.  In news: after months of editing and proofing, we finally received the first printed copies of the Literary House Press's next poetry anthology, Still Life with Poem ! It's just as beautiful as I hoped it would be. This is the second volume I've co-edited with my great friend and colleague Jehanne Dubrow . Sadly, this is going to be the last, at least for now. Jehanne recently accepted an exciting new position that she is looking forward to beginning before the end of the summer. As heartbroken as I am for myself and for the Lit House, I am thrilled for her. I can honestly say ...