October (2024) Update from MEH
My monthly (?) missive on all things MEH
Random Thoughts & Writing Prompts
“Time moves on…You’d get over it.”
I’m currently pondering a conversation wherein one of my kids said the above. I’m sure she’s wrong. It’s the bread and butter of artists to rebel against this sentiment to some degree or another. Time distances, but never fully erases. It can release or crystalize some of the joy, the pain, but we are never really “over” anything. Mentally, somatically, practically, things remain a part of us forever. It’s part of the reason why our choices matter. It’s part of the reason we judge others as we do. This doesn’t have to be a negative thing.
I’m sitting here actively dividing time between four manuscripts and a handful of orphaned poems and essays. All are largely drawn from my life and how the lives of others—real and imagined— have impacted and intersected with mine. Things I can’t shake, even when forgotten for a stretch of time. The revelations and explanations that emerge when the dust is brushed off, when light is allowed in from a different angle. I’m sometimes surprised by what’s there. Surprised by the things I want to hold onto, especially when they seem to want to be forgotten.
What can’t you get over? But more importantly, what/who do you not want to get over?
Poetry Collections I’ve Recently Finished
Trespassing on the Mount of Olives ~ Brad Davis
Little Palace ~ Adam J. Gellings
Latest News and Publications
Awards and Nominations
“reflection” was nominated by Decolonial Passage for a Best of the Net.
“being present” was nominated by Porcupine Literary for a Best of the Net.
“notice five things” was a finalist for the 2024 Beals Prize for Poetry.
Recent Publications
While “notice five things” did not place in the Beals Prize competition, “Perspective,” a creative nonfiction version of the story, was published by After the Art.
A wonderful review of The Third Renunciation came out in Pedestal Magazine.
I have work forthcoming in the Lily Poetry Review, Nixes Mate, Pirene’s Fountain, Porcupine Literary, The Radical Teacher, Whale Road Review, and others.
Recent Events
In September I read at the Salem Literary Festival for Molecule Mag, and ) alongside Kai Coggin and MT Vallarta as part of the Wild & Precious Life Series.
Upcoming Readings and Events
For October (so far…)
October 7, 2024 ~ Book Launch for Sarah Kersey's Residence Time at Roxbury Innovation Center (7- 9 PM). Quintin Collins and I are so happy to help Sarah launch her debut collection.
October 15, 2024 ~ Arts at the Stone Church Cafe Reading. First Congregational Church of Wareham (7:30-8:30 PM)
October 26, 2024 ~ "Poetry as a Radical Act." I have the honor of reading with Joan Kwon Glass, Jennifer Martelli, Kevin McLellan, and Anna V. Q. Ross, with Danielle Jones as part of a panel at the Boston Book Festival. Goethe-Institut (11:00 AM - 12:00 PM)
[More information and any updates are posted on my website]