Second Book: Winner of the 2015 Vignette Collection Award (Book Forthcoming from Vine Leaves Press)

I am happy to announce that my second book The Crimes of Clara Turlington won the 2015 Vignette Collection Award and is forthcoming from Vine Leaves Press!

The book was selected by Sara Sargent (an editor at Simon Pulse, an imprint of Simon & Schuster) and the Vine Leaves editorial team!

I am so honored! I'm so excited to work with Vine Leaves!

When I first heard about this contest, I was really excited to enter. I love line breaks, prose poems, writing that doesn't fit into genre boundaries, poetry, nonfiction, fiction... (Can you tell I went to the NEOMFA?)

An earlier version of this book (at the time titled Butter Sad) was my MFA thesis. Halfway through my MFA program, my first book Inappropriate Sleepover was accepted for publication by The National Poetry Review Press and came out during my last semester in the program. (At the beginning of the program Inappropriate Sleepover was my thesis.) When my first book was taken, I started writing a new manuscript. My thesis director was Mary Biddinger. Frank Giampietro and David Giffels were also part of the committee. Best thesis committee ever. I continued to work on the manuscript this year. This fall, I was lucky enough to meet and become friends with Jennifer L. Knox. Jen has been extremely supportive of me during this process which has been so helpful.

I feel extremely grateful.

And feisty.

Very feisty.

AWP Photos

Dressing Room Poetry Journal at the AWP bookfair!

Thanks to Katrina, Gail Hosking, and Vanessa Jimenez Gabb for volunteering at the table! 

I picked up my copy of the gorgeous Painted Bride Quarterly print annual at their booth. Thanks again to PBQ for including two of my poems. 

My Minneapolis friends are amazing. Friends of friends in Minneapolis are the coolest too. At Katrina's...

Yes, I love dresses...

Up next: Kansas! 

Poetry Forthcoming in Tinderbox Poetry Journal

Just got an acceptance from Tinderbox Poetry Journal.

I want a wall-size "to-do" marker board, but how would I travel with it? So...many...used up...notebooks...taking over...my apartment...

See you at the bookfair!

New Interview Out (& Girl Time)

An interview I did with Extract(s): Daily Dose of Lit about my book Inappropriate Sleepover is out now. You can read it here.

AWP being in Minneapolis this year means I get to see Ria Misra and Katrina Wollet!

DRPJ at AWP, Book Finalist x 2, Forthcoming Poetry, etc.

I recently found out that my second book The Crimes of Clara Turlington was a finalist at Portage Press.

I also recently found out that the book is currently a finalist at Vine Leaves Press. I'm very flattered! 

Today I had a poem accepted by Eleven Eleven.

I was recently interviewed about Inappropriate Sleepover by the wonderful Jenn Monroe for Extract(s): Daily Dose of Lit. The interview will be out next week.

AWP is happening soon! If you're at the bookfair, come visit Dressing Room Poetry Journal at table 854! 

Lately, things have been...busy... I'm...tired... I feel a little like this or this. Overdramatic sigh.

Eight

I found out on Saturday that my second book The Crimes of Clara Turlington (formerly titled Butter Sad) is a semi-finalist in the Pamet River contest at YesYes Books. This is the eighth time the book has been named a finalist or semi-finalist in book contests.

On March 8th, Jennifer L. Knox, Blueberry Morningsnow, and I were the judges at the Poetry Out Loud state finals for Iowa. It is always really fun to hang out with Jen and it was great to meet Blue.

It is the time of the year when writers recently accepted into MFA programs make decisions about where they will go in the fall and people have been asking me about the NEOMFA Program. Talking to people about the NEOMFA is making me miss Mary Biddinger even more than usual! I can't wait to see Mary at AWP!