Hey y'all.
I'm a little late posting these, but I was fortunate to have two new publications this week, working in new genres, and in two journals I've admired for many years.
Last Friday, my first personal essay went up at Hobart. It's called "You Against You" and examines mental health and life changes, filtered through viewings of the Rocky series. A deep thank you to editor Aaron Burch, who not only loved and accepted this, but has given me so many milestones over the years. He's given me my first fiction publication, my first print publication, and now my first piece of creative nonfiction.
And this past Wednesday, I placed "I Don't Want to Pry," my first prose poem, in the great journal Pidgeonholes. Thank you to Jennifer Todhunter and Dina Relles for seeing its potential, working with me through several edits, and championing this tiny but (hopefully) strong piece.
Hope you enjoy reading my work. The responses so far have blown me away. I'm grateful for the writing community, and I hope these publications are a springboard to new, more challenging creative outputs in 2020.
Friday, February 7, 2020
Wednesday, January 1, 2020
2019 Readings, 2020 Goals
Happy New Year! Yes, this blog is still active. Yes, I'm still active.
This year was very difficult for me, both personally and creatively. My writing faltered somewhat, but it's picking back up, and sadly, my TBR pile is basically the same. But I'm going into 2020 with cautious optimism. I usually start the year with defined reading goals and reflect on whether or not I made progress. I'm not doing that this year, even though 2020 starts a new decade, and there's hope in that deliciously even number. I'll be happy as long as I read more books and keep my selections diverse.
Hopefully I'll update this space more frequently. Here are the books I read in 2019. 41 total, down from 43 in 2018. If you want to know my thoughts about any of these titles, feel free to ask.
1.) Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon
2.) How to Set Yourself on Fire by Julia Dixon Evans
3.) The Golden State by Lydia Kiesling
4.) They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us: Essays by Hanif Abdurraqib
5.) How to Write an Autobiographical Novel: Essays by Alexander Chee
6.) Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
7.) The Collected Schizophrenias: Essays by Esmé Weijun Wang
8.) The Dinosaur Artist: Obsession, Betrayal, and the Quest For Earth's Ultimate Trophy by Paige Williams
9.) King of Joy by Richard Chiem
10.) Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit
11.) The Future Is Here and Everything Must Be Destroyed: Poems by Colette Arrand
12.) You Only Get Letters From Jail by Jodi Angel (reread)
13.) Backswing: Stories by Aaron Burch (reread)
14.) Academy Gothic by James Tate Hill
15.) The Jordan Rules: The Inside Story of One Turbulent Season with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls by Sam Smith
16.) Every Kiss a War: Stories by Leesa Cross-Smith (reread)
17.) Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls: A Memoir by T Kira Madden
18.) Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo" by Zora Neale Hurston
19.) Orange World and Other Stories by Karen Russell
20.) Bluebird, Bluebird: a Novel by Attica Locke
21.) She/He/They/Me: For the Sisters, Misters, and Binary Resisters by Robyn Ryle
22.) Mute by Shome Dasgupta
23.) The Man They Wanted Me to Be: Toxic Masculinity and a Crisis of Our Own Making by Jared Yates Sexton
24.) Martin McLean, Middle School Queen by Alyssa Zaczek
25.) The Nickel Boys: a Novel by Colson Whitehead
26.) Biloxi: a Novel by Mary Miller
27.) The Book of X: a Novel by Sarah Rose Etter
28.) The Most Fun We Ever Had: a Novel by Claire Lombardo
29.) All the Ugly and Wonderful Things: a Novel by Bryn Greenwood
30.) Because I Wanted To Write You a Pop Song: Stories by Kara Vernor (reread)
31.) Inland: a Novel by Téa Obreht
32.) The Yellow House: a Memoir by Sarah M. Broom
33.) How We Fight For Our Lives: a Memoir by Saeed Jones
34.) The World Doesn't Require You: Stories by Rion Amilcar Scott
35.) Make It Scream, Make It Burn: Essays by Leslie Jamison
36.) The Source of Self Regard: Select Essays, Speeches, and Meditations by Toni Morrison
37.) The Book of Delights: Essays by Ross Gay
38.) American Grief in Four Stages: Stories by Sadie Hoagland
39.) Ghosts of You: Stories by Cathy Ulrich
40.) Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow
41.) Breaking Into the Backcountry by Steve Edwards
This year was very difficult for me, both personally and creatively. My writing faltered somewhat, but it's picking back up, and sadly, my TBR pile is basically the same. But I'm going into 2020 with cautious optimism. I usually start the year with defined reading goals and reflect on whether or not I made progress. I'm not doing that this year, even though 2020 starts a new decade, and there's hope in that deliciously even number. I'll be happy as long as I read more books and keep my selections diverse.
Hopefully I'll update this space more frequently. Here are the books I read in 2019. 41 total, down from 43 in 2018. If you want to know my thoughts about any of these titles, feel free to ask.
1.) Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon
2.) How to Set Yourself on Fire by Julia Dixon Evans
3.) The Golden State by Lydia Kiesling
4.) They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us: Essays by Hanif Abdurraqib
5.) How to Write an Autobiographical Novel: Essays by Alexander Chee
6.) Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
7.) The Collected Schizophrenias: Essays by Esmé Weijun Wang
8.) The Dinosaur Artist: Obsession, Betrayal, and the Quest For Earth's Ultimate Trophy by Paige Williams
9.) King of Joy by Richard Chiem
10.) Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit
11.) The Future Is Here and Everything Must Be Destroyed: Poems by Colette Arrand
12.) You Only Get Letters From Jail by Jodi Angel (reread)
13.) Backswing: Stories by Aaron Burch (reread)
14.) Academy Gothic by James Tate Hill
15.) The Jordan Rules: The Inside Story of One Turbulent Season with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls by Sam Smith
16.) Every Kiss a War: Stories by Leesa Cross-Smith (reread)
17.) Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls: A Memoir by T Kira Madden
18.) Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo" by Zora Neale Hurston
19.) Orange World and Other Stories by Karen Russell
20.) Bluebird, Bluebird: a Novel by Attica Locke
21.) She/He/They/Me: For the Sisters, Misters, and Binary Resisters by Robyn Ryle
22.) Mute by Shome Dasgupta
23.) The Man They Wanted Me to Be: Toxic Masculinity and a Crisis of Our Own Making by Jared Yates Sexton
24.) Martin McLean, Middle School Queen by Alyssa Zaczek
25.) The Nickel Boys: a Novel by Colson Whitehead
26.) Biloxi: a Novel by Mary Miller
27.) The Book of X: a Novel by Sarah Rose Etter
28.) The Most Fun We Ever Had: a Novel by Claire Lombardo
29.) All the Ugly and Wonderful Things: a Novel by Bryn Greenwood
30.) Because I Wanted To Write You a Pop Song: Stories by Kara Vernor (reread)
31.) Inland: a Novel by Téa Obreht
32.) The Yellow House: a Memoir by Sarah M. Broom
33.) How We Fight For Our Lives: a Memoir by Saeed Jones
34.) The World Doesn't Require You: Stories by Rion Amilcar Scott
35.) Make It Scream, Make It Burn: Essays by Leslie Jamison
36.) The Source of Self Regard: Select Essays, Speeches, and Meditations by Toni Morrison
37.) The Book of Delights: Essays by Ross Gay
38.) American Grief in Four Stages: Stories by Sadie Hoagland
39.) Ghosts of You: Stories by Cathy Ulrich
40.) Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow
41.) Breaking Into the Backcountry by Steve Edwards
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