May 30, 2019
The Wow Moment: On the Joys of Teaching
June 2009. My classmates and I are gathered in a dimly lit room in Rome, where our instructors, Stephanie Vaughn and Michael Koch, lead Cornell’s annual summer creative writing program […]
May 13, 2019
“What Are You Doing?” and Other Questions to Ask Your Characters
In my second year of graduate school, I attended a reading by Charles Baxter, who was at that time a visiting professor at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. This was in […]
October 30, 2018
As Midterm Elections Approach, Poets Respond
For almost a year now, I’ve been teaching at The Speakeasy Project, where I serve as a Poetry Mentor. I have never in my life enjoyed this kind of workshop experience as […]
October 15, 2018
Was Philip Roth a White Male Author?
It’s been four months now since Philip Roth died, long enough in our fast-paced media world that all the eloquent and moving obituaries have largely dissolved into a broader consensus […]
September 24, 2018
Little Monsters: On Time & The Consciousness of Poems
Hope is a pearl that I share I share it with you It’s a pearl that I share I share it with you, all the time I share it with […]
September 10, 2018
Little Monsters: On Sex, Exorcisms & Efes
I’d lay down my life for the fawn who, arising, at night to the sweet sound of harp and flute, saw a cup in my hand, said: “Drink your […]
July 31, 2018
In the Summer You Really Know: on living, writing and not publishing
Summer has always been my least favorite season and, weirdly, my most productive one. Being that for most of my life I’ve been immersed in academia in one form or […]
July 23, 2018
10 Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me When I Was Younger
1) Nothing replaces hard work–not even the stupendous, mind-blowing genius you’re hoping to catch like a cold. 2) You will benefit from the personality you were forced to build as […]
March 29, 2018
On Writing, Workshop & Mental Health: A Roundtable (Part 1)
The following began as a conversation on Twitter initiated by this tweet by Emma Bolden, which opened up a larger conversation about the writing life, workshop experiences, and how we deal […]
March 23, 2018
The Legacy of Theresa Hak Kyung Cha: Part One
All writers who play with form that have come since are indebted to Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, often without even knowing it. I’m hoping to help out with the […]
March 14, 2018
Poeta, You Resist
Author’s Note: The following was read at the Women of Resistance book launch last night, March 13th, 2018, at Strand Bookstore in NYC. I wanted to write a piece that incorporated the […]
February 28, 2018
Anyway What’s Left Of These Two Worlds Collided
I I was standing You were there Two worlds collided And they could never tear us apart —“Never Tear Us Apart,” INXS A year ago, when we first met, you […]