POEM & INTERVIEW*
The Steps
(feature includes audio stream of my poem recitation)
*NOTE: When viewing this publication on a mobile device, please rotate to landscape mode to preserve the poem's formatting.
I'm overjoyed to share that my autobiographical poem "The Steps" has been published—along with a thoughtful Q&A and audio of me reading the poem—by the phenomenal poetry education & advocacy org, Brooklyn Poets. It's an honor to have my work featured as part of this longstanding series, alongside so many sensational writers. My gratitude extends at once to the editors of Poet of the Week and the entire staff at Brooklyn Poets, as this publication coincides with the close to an unforgettable (five-month!) season of teaching my weekly drop-in class as part of BKP's incredible programming. It's been deeply inspiring to serve the org's vital community as a faculty member—especially during the inaugural year of their brick-and-mortar space! Which is stunning. But don't take my virtual word for it—I urge to you to visit them IRL at 144 Montague St. #GoYo!
POEM
Thrilled to have one of my poems housed in this beautiful 15th-anniversary edition of The Red Wheelbarrow literary journal, which is published annually out of William Carlos Williams' hometown of Rutherford, NJ. To learn more about the noble publishing org and to order a copy of the journal, visit The Red Wheelbarrow Poets.
TWO POEMS
and
I'm honored to have two works published as companion poems in the spring 2022 print issue of Shift: A Journal of Literary Oddities. I'm also grateful that this beautiful journal will now be the hand-held home to these deeply personal poems, written in honor of my late father and mother, respectively.
POEM (print & video)
PHOTOBOOK REMEDIATION
by Walt Whitman
This photobook is an inspired remediation of the classic Walt Whitman poem "Song Of The Open Road," which first appeared in the 1865 edition of "Leaves of Grass." I composed this eBook in June of 2011 while pursuing my B.A. in Creative Writing at Florida State University, as the final project to a fantastic course entitled "Rhetoric and Composition in the Digital Age."
HUMOR ESSAY
I composed this "critical" essay in 2012 while pursuing my B.A. in Creative Writing from Florida State University. The essay won first place in the nonfiction category of The Kudzu Review's annual writing contest, and was published in their Spring 2013 issue.
EPISTOLARY ESSAY
Again Like April: A Love Letter for the Mystically Disinclined
This essay first took shape in 2013 as an "About" page to a weekly blog I thought I might keep to chronicle the unexpected—and unimaginably sublime—year I lived in writerly retreat on an apple orchard in Eastern Iowa. As it turns out, that is precisely the wow-fired circumstance in which the sky really is the limit when it comes to artistic and personal growth and so...#IRL4eva #clouds
Eventually I evolved the piece into an epistolary essay, and now, over a decade since its origin, I've decided to say what the hay barrel, and self-publish it here. At its core, the work is a love letter to my fifth-grade teacher Miss Peters, who I'll forever cherish as the noble, silent partner to any of my page&pen pursuits.
MY FIRST* POEM
*Composed at age ten, I believe this poem endures as one of my strongest works of verse!
NOTE: Juuuuust to be clear, my backyard was a forest! I had a Spirograph and a Snoopy Snow Cone Machine! The complete hardcover Nancy Drew Mystery Series! Purple bedroom walls with clouds and a giant rainbow painted on them—by my dad! Actual human friends! I do not recall looking at birds.
CRITICAL ESSAY
The Poetics of Trust: An Examination of the Nature and Significance of Trust in a Poem's Speaker
This scholarly essay was composed as a key requirement for the completion of MFA in Poetry. And yes I wrote it in my pajamas with award-worthy bedhead while sipping a glass of oaky red cursing long-ass critical essays the whole time. I believe deeply in its central theme and think you just might too, so come on-a my idea-house with your beverage of choice and give it a readerly shot!
TRIBUTE POETRY RECITATION (voice/bass duo)
The Art of Disappearing by Naomi Shihab Nye
Click image for full text.
POEM
The Daily Palette was an outstanding online journal published by the University of Iowa School of Art and Art History from 2006-2018. The mission of the journal was to heighten awareness of and appreciation for the visual arts and writing by recognizing the works of Iowa-identified artists. In 2013, thanks to the grace of two remarkable heartlanders who were longtime patrons of my music, I had the privilege of calling Iowa home for a year when they invited me to live in private writing residence on their small farmstead, just east of Iowa City. This publication was a deep honor as the written works for the journal were selected by members of the Iowa Review editorial staff.
VISUAL ESSAY
In Art We Trust: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Paradox
This eBook is a visual essay I composed while pursuing my B.A. in Creative Writing from Florida State University, for a powerful course entitled "Literature and Culture of The Great Depression."
PERSONAL ESSAY
In 2016, I successfully presented this essay to the admissions committee of the Master of Arts in Teaching Literature Program at Bard College. Sadly, after attending my first semester in the program, I had to withdraw due to complications that emerged from a personal loss.
POETRY RECITATIONS
"Walt Whitman Practices Holding Up a New York Deli"
&
"Sammichele di Bari"
NOTE:
Since recording these clips, both poems have evolved for forthcoming publication. These videos were originally created and shared as social media posts during the 2020 pandemic lockdown.
