Category Archives: New Work

Finding a Form, Choosing a Genre, Embracing Your Nymph

A common question I get, since I wrote poetry and creative nonfiction, has to do with how I know what genre a piece of writing should be in. One answer I have given to this question is to say that the work will teach you its form, to just write, and see what shape it takes on. But there are other ways to think about genre, form, and what that thing you are writing wants to be.

Science, Poetry & a History of Disrepair

Southeast Review just came out with their new issue, which includes “A History of Disrepair,” one of the poems I’d hoped to share on the AWP panel, Science at the Source, this year. Unfortunately, but necessarily, the panel was cancelled due to the pandemic. Go here to read that poem, which is about Genevieve Jones, a nineteenth century ornithologist, climate change anxiety, and what it means to love each other in a crisis.

I’d also like to share some of the remarks I’d planned to make on that panel, which was organized by Rosalie Moffett and also included John James, Nomi Stone, and Rushi Vyas…

A RUE Sampler

Thanks to Tin House for publishing “Hexagenia Limbata,” the last poem from RUE to appear in magazines before they make their debut, all together with a spine, in April. Here’s a sample of some other poems from the book that are available in journals online. “The Petty Politics of the Thing” — 32 Poems “Rue”Continue reading “A RUE Sampler”

Getting symbiotic with scientists & film-makers

Poems on instances of symbiotic mutualism were commissioned by the True/False Film Festival. Ant/acacia expert extraordinaire, Dr. Todd Palmer, provided the scientific background. The brilliant multi-media geniuses Chelsea Meyers, Becca Sullinger, and Mike Marshall made this sensory feast out of my little “Symbiosis Sonnet.” And be sure you don’t miss the one on the LancetContinue reading “Getting symbiotic with scientists & film-makers”