Tagged with: Writing
I am over the moon to be included in the Fall 2021 issue of South Carolina Review! “Handbook for Demolition Cats” is one of my most gleefully absurd pieces and was a sheer joy to write, and I’m so grateful to the team at SCR for selecting it. “Handbook for Demolition Cats” is a companion piece to “What the River Takes,” published in Litro. Copies of South Carolina Review Volume 54.1 can be purchased on their website or at Barnes & Noble.
This fall, I had the honor of attending my first-ever writing residency, at the Sundress Academy for the Arts’ Firefly Farms, on the outskirts of Knoxville, Tennessee, and it was an experience for which I am immeasurably grateful. I wrote a ridiculous and over-the-top piece of pseudo-poetry about the end of the world, and painted and collaged, and read high fantasy, and wrote short fiction; I got to spend whole days thinking through characters and plot-holes and sentences and structures, and no matter what time it was or where I was (my favorite spot: the barn loft after dark), could grab my notebook and start writing again. It was glorious. I wandered a state park and a community garden bursting with love, hiked and swam in a quarry (like something out of Michael Fournier’s Swing State!!) and drove twisting, winding mountain roads, and saw so much natural beauty I had no idea existed here. It was eye opening. I spent every possible second I could outside, and earned dozens upon dozens of mosquito bites. I visited historic cemeteries (a tiny company graveyard, half up a mountain and half-full of the graves of children; a national cemetery for veterans, with the names of their wives written on their tombs’ back-sides) and the Museum of Appalachia, where most of the thousands of items on display came with hand-written explanations. I learned so many small pieces of people’s individual stories; I was honored so many people shared their lives and hearts with me. I helped cut off a piece of netting that had been wrapped tightly around a duck’s foot, and helped an awe-inspiring neighbor find her missing dog. Speaking of doggos: Inara and Zoe, the resident farm-floofs are the absolute goodest girls and the best to snuggle and stargaze with, and I know I left a piece of my heart with them and the fireflies (and mosquitoes) on that rugged, wonderful hollow hill. Thank you, SAFTA, for this incredible experience; I am so deeply humbled and grateful!
The Sundress Academy for the Arts is an absolutely wonderful organization that offers a reading series, workshops, lectures, published works, and so much more. If you’re looking for a writing community or for a writing residency or book publisher, be sure to check out their offerings!
I am so thrilled and honored that Litro chose my newest short story, "What the River Takes," for their #SundayStory feature. Litro is one of the UK's leading arts and literary magazines, and has been a long-time dream publication for me. This story is about guilt and consequences, and feeling like you don't belong, and I'm so excited to share it with you. You can read it online here.
This week, I was delighted to receive my contributor's copy of Issue #6 of Red Earth Review, from the Red Earth MFA in Oklahama City University. I'm deeply honored that the editors chose to include my short story "The Things That Change." You can read a free version online here, or if you'd prefer to read a print copy, visit the Red Earth Review website for details about where to purchase this gorgeous journal. I'm thrilled to share my work with you!
Last week, I had the great pleasure to be interviewed by Mud Season Review's Editor in Chief Lauren Bender. Check out the interview here!
