Today, it seems that our balmy spring is gone. It's rainy and grey, and resembles a normal Washington April, which we had thus far avoided. This morning, I turned up the heat and pulled out some poetry books to leaf through on the couch, but my daughter kept pulling them from my hands and placing … Continue reading Reading for a rainy day
Category: Authors
Returning to Blacksburg
Today is the five-year anniversary of the shootings at Virginia Tech that claimed thirty-two innocent lives. I was an English major at Virginia Tech back in the nineties, so Blacksburg is a place full of memories for me. Like many other alumni, I mourn the loss of those lives, and the loss of innocence that … Continue reading Returning to Blacksburg
I met Margaret Atwood! And just now have the presence of mind to write about it…
At the AWP conference in Chicago last month, I was fortunate enough to be confused about the location of the shuttle bus that ferried writers from one hotel to another. I waited for about twenty minutes in front of the Hilton, when a large black car pulled up. A moment later, Margaret Atwood stepped out … Continue reading I met Margaret Atwood! And just now have the presence of mind to write about it…
My previously-published poems (“Klimt & Time”), now online!
My set of three poems, called "Klimt & Time," appeared in the Notre Dame Review in 2010. They now appear in the online journal Redux, edited by novelist Leslie Pietrzyk. Not only does this journal reprint amazing work from prestigious print journals, but the editors encourage authors to write commentary about the poems or story. … Continue reading My previously-published poems (“Klimt & Time”), now online!
Writing While Female: Remembering Adrienne Rich
On Saturday, several days after the death of poet Adrienne Rich, I read with other female poets in celebration of SWAN (Support Women Artists Now) Day in Washington D.C. It could not have been a more beautiful spring day in Georgetown, and we read in the intimate sanctuary of Grace Church. The voices were diverse; … Continue reading Writing While Female: Remembering Adrienne Rich
Watching the night sky
March - especially with the balmy weather we enjoyed this month in DC - was a lovely time to observe the planets and stars in rarely-seen configurations. (A guide to what you can see is here.) Sometimes I spend so much time on my laptop that I need to be prompted by newspaper articles to … Continue reading Watching the night sky
E.E. Cummings on spring
Tomorrow is the first day of spring, although in D.C., the trees and flowers have been blossoming for weeks. A good day to pull out a little E.E. Cummings, whose poems about spring are some of the liveliest out there. Remember these lines? in Just- spring when the world is mud- luscious the little lame … Continue reading E.E. Cummings on spring
Passion and Work
Today, I'm holding my first book in my hands, fresh from its Barnes & Noble packaging. It contains nearly twenty years of work: poems that were edited over and over, pushed into envelopes, some accepted and some rejected by journals. Some were loved, some not. Now they will reach a wider audience. And now I … Continue reading Passion and Work
Change will do you good
I just returned from my first AWP writing conference in Chicago, at 1:30 a.m this morning. I'm exhausted, but feeling flush with new ideas. I attended presentations on blogging and book publicity, meeting the dynamic writer Brendan Constantine at the latter, who told stories of stuffing publicity postcards in newspapers, and on brochure racks at … Continue reading Change will do you good
Spinning straw into gold
Like many writers, I am a collector of words. For years, I kept a notebook of lines from poems that I loved, sometimes even the whole poem. There is something about writing down beautiful words, even if they are not yours, that changes you. That changes your writing as well, or so it has for … Continue reading Spinning straw into gold
Between Gods 