reader / writer
I had two sad poems out last month in Electric Literature’s weekly thing, the Commuter, January and Vinegar Ghazal. Wrote the first one back in 2011 when a beloved family friend, Douglas Capra, passed away — so this one’s for you, Doug. <3
Read the culmination (or maybe just the beginning?) of my obsession with wretched 18th century surgical history, From the Root, out today in Lightspeed Magazine. There's even a podcast version, thrillingly.
This is my first historical fiction/fantasy, but probably not my last, because I had such a blast writing it -- and it was my week 6 story at Clarion West, so will always hold a special place in my heart.
To help raise money for my beloved Clarion West, I'm participating in the workshop-concurrent write-a-thon, and for the next six weeks will be writing 500 words a day, 5 days a week, with the aim of a) finishing rewrites on my novel and b) finishing or least maybe hopefully coming reeeealllly close to finishing a novella. Clarion West changed my life, and the lives of many, many other writers both past and future, and I can only hope to give back a fraction of what they gave to me -- literally and metaphorically and psychically and spiritually etc etc.
My sponsorship profile can be found RIGHT HERE Y'ALL, and the sponsorship rewards are as follows:
$15. On a postcard, which I’ll send to you, I’ll draw a picture of what I was doing at the exact moment you were generously donating money.
$25. On a postcard, which I’ll send you, I will write a rhyming poem that praises you as if you were a murderous emperor, and I a court poet in fear of my life.
$50. I will read any novel you choose, and on a postcard, which I’ll send to you, I will write a brief fanfiction (gen or slash, up to you) in your choice of popular trope: Coffeeshop AU, CurtainFic, or GenderSwap.
$100. I will use your full name in a story — you may choose if you’d like to be a character, a place, or a fake product-placement.
Thank you! <3
I have a story out today in Uncanny Magazine, and you can read it free online: Like a River Loves the Sky!
It's my first published Clarion West story, from Week 4 of the workshop, and the issue also includes two stories from my CWest '17 classmates, so it's a glorious day all around for Team Eclipse! A.T. Greenblatt's story And Yet is also available today, and Vina Jie-Min Prasad's "Pistol Grip" will be available free on 4/3.
... to the Minnesota Regional Arts Board, who have approved my Artist Initiative grant. I'm so grateful, and so awed to be in such amazing company. Many of the winners of this grant, past and present, are artists I count among my friends and inspirations. Minnesota arts organizations have shown me a truly amazing amount of financial support since I moved here, and for that and many other reasons, I hope someday I'm in a position to give back.
While I'm on the subject of loving Minnesota, I may be a bit disappointed in Minneapolis' recent mayoral elections, but St. Paul finally elected their first black mayor, and over on this side of the river we've got the glorious Andrea Jenkins -- not only the first openly trans black woman ever elected to public office, but a brilliant artist and poet, too! We have a long way to go, but good job Minnesota! I love you and your Regional Arts Board.
... I will be in Seattle. First, six weeks of living out my not-so-secret childhood dream of learning to write fantasy/sci-fi at the Clarion West summer workshop (!!! hard to describe how stoked I am about this !!!), and then back teaching at the Hugo House for Scribes, a two-week writing camp for teenagers. My co-instructor is once again the brilliant poet Quenton Baker, and our session starts July 31st, so tell all the Seattle-based teens in your life!
Free application editing for queer, trans, POC, and/or immigrant folks. I will help with school, grant, and artist residency applications aaaannnddd DATING PROFILES (I have been working for an LA-based company writing online dating profiles for three years now so am literally professionally trained). I've edited all these forms of writing with success (people accepted into school; grants won; love found). Hablo Español. Hit me up!
Somewhat belated post, as this happened in the summer, but THANK YOU THANK YOU to the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council and the McKnight Foundation for granting me $$$ from the Next Step Fund to help me finish my novel! I am so so grateful for the support.
Hello Minneapolis! I'll be teaching a 6-week short story workshop through the Loft this spring, from April 15 - May 18th! Official description is as follows, and you can find more information and sign up right here.
This workshop-based class offers students a supportive space to deeply explore and edit their own short stories of up to 25 pages, with submission for publication as a final goal. Close-reading our own work as well as the work of published writers, we'll focus on questions such as: What makes a short story compelling? How do we create meaning in a short story? How are we moved by a story? How does plot function in short fiction? Wherefore character development? Whither setting? And the perpetual doozy, What is this story about? We'll also learn what makes a helpful workshop critique, and how to incorporate peer feedback as we revise. We will learn to take our own stories apart, and put them back together again. Too, we will look at contemporary literary journals and discuss effective submission practices. This class is for those who have short story manuscripts they're ready to take to the next level.
Announcement! I won the Missouri Review's Editors' Prize in fiction for my short story, "The Wall," which will be published by the Missouri Review in their Spring 2016 issue. Friends, I am STOKED.