Upcoming Readings, Publications, and Surprises!
Words from the Wild Readings
I hope you can join me at the upcoming “Words from the Wild” free readings featuring five contributors to the journal Deep Wild: Writing from the Backcountry.
The first reading will take place on Wednesday, March 1st, at Out West Books in downtown Grand Junction, CO, at 533 Main Street, beginning at 6:30 p.m. The Second reading will take place Friday, March 3rd, at Lithic Bookstore in downtown Fruita, CO, at 138 S. Park Sq. #202 (upstairs), beginning at 7:00 p.m. Deep Wild editors Heidi Blankenship and Rick Kempa, and contributors Peter Anderson, Wendy Videlock, and I will read stories and poems inspired by our journeys on the Colorado Plateau and beyond.
At the readings, I will be reading my poem “Why We Went to the Desert” about taking my young daughter to the canyon country of Utah and what I hoped she would carry inside her from that experience. I’ll read a few other poems, including one by another contributor to the 2023 Deep Wild issue.
The mission of Deep Wild: Writing from the Backcountry is “to provide a home for creative work inspired by journeys to places where there are no roads.” Each summer, the journal publishes poems, essays, stories, and visual art that convey the experiences and insights of adventures pursued by foot, skis, kayak, horseback, or other non-motorized means. So far it has featured close to 200 writers who have raised their voices in celebration of and in defense of wild places. You can buy past and current issues of Deep Wild and learn about submitting to the journal here.
The readings are free, and I hope to see you there!
A Poem in Plainsongs
I was thrilled to receive the winter 2023 issue of Plainsongs, a wonderful little poetry magazine out of Hastings, Nebraska, which includes my poem, “It’s Animal.” I wrote the poem the day my daughter started her freshman year of high school, and my son his senior year. I happened to read Ellen Bass’s poem “After My Daughter’s Wedding” that day, which inspired me, and the line “it’s animal” came from her poem. You can buy print copies of the issue for $15.00 or an electronic PDF for $5.00 from Corpus Callosum Press. There will soon be another way to access that poem, which leads me to my next topic…
Surprise!
I have a few exciting projects in the works and look forward to sharing them with you soon! Keep your eye out for future announcements!