I'm so excited to share the cover of Sugar Fix, my first full-length poetry collection, forthcoming from Terrapin Books in September 2019. My first appearance with the book will be at the Southern Festival of Books, October 11-13 in Nashville, and I'll be announcing events in Rutherford County and beyond soon. Stay tuned! … [Read more...]
Reading and community: Will you join me in reading these novels-in-verse?
November 26, 2018 By Leave a Comment
As I began my second term as Murfreesboro Poet Laureate this past summer, I reconnected with Read to Succeed, a local organization that promotes literacy for people of all ages throughout Rutherford County. In the past I've been a volunteer with RTS to select and promote its annual One Book selection, and as a classroom reader for Reading in the Schools Day. The organization also offers free youth and family programs, adult tutoring, ESL classes and much more. When I sat down with Family … [Read more...]
We Come From the Down Home Blues
October 10, 2018 By Leave a Comment
I have a new article in the Murfreesboro Pulse that tells about my experience working with incarcerated women through Doors of Hope. More importantly, the women I was working with have their collective poem, "We Come From the Down Home Blues" published. I know they're proud of it, and I'm so proud of them! Read the article and poem in Inmates Write of Hard Times and Hope … [Read more...]
Writing About Race in the James Dickey Review
March 1, 2018 By Leave a Comment
As a white person, I've always felt a bit awkward writing about race and racism, but I've also been drawn to the subject. Poet Tiana Clark recently tweeted an excerpt from the essay Forging New Centers: Marginal Voices in Contemporary Poetry by Jodie Kahan. Here's what Tiana shared, quoting Kaveh Akbar: … [Read more...]
Dorothy Jones Cantrell, Colonial Feminist Troublemaker
October 5, 2017 By Leave a Comment
To put a spin on a famous quote*, well-behaved women seldom inspire poetry. So meet Dorothy Jones! Dorothy was a Welsh girl of 10 when she came to the American colonies with her family in 1682. Their voyage, on a ship called Submission, was rough, and another child on board died during a storm. Maybe that experience gave Dorothy a "carpe diem" attitude. She grew into a lively young woman who married Richard Cantrell, a Philadelphia bricklayer, "out of church." In other words, she was Quaker, … [Read more...]
