Today I celebrate beginning my 100th writing journal. Nearly every poem I’ve ever written began as a first draft in these journals, starting with journal #1 way back in my sophomore year in high school. Which was some time ago now. 🙂
Collaboration Acceptances at Jellyfish Magazine and the BLP Collaboration Anthology
As the full-length manuscript of the collaborative prose poems I’ve been writing with Dustin Nightingale begins to find its way out to a few presses for consideration, it’s a thrill to share the news that one of the remaining unpublished poems, “Every Other Week a New Planet,” has just been accepted at Jellyfish Magazine!
Additionally, three of our previously published collaborative prose poems have been accepted for They Said: A Multi-Genre Anthology of Contemporary Collaborative Writing, forthcoming next summer from Black Lawrence Press. Yippee!
“Beaver Lake” and “Elegy for the Travel Agents” Published in Southern Indiana Review
Massive thanks to Marcus Wicker, Emily Skaja, Ron Mitchell, and the rest of the good people at Southern Indiana Review for including my poems “Elegy for the Travel Agents” and “Beaver Lake” in the spring issue! It’s such an joy to share these pages with the likes of George David Clark, Emily Rose Cole, John Gallaher, Anna Claire Hodge, Ada LimĂłn, Mark Neely, Sarah Rose Nordgren, Catherine Pond, Maggie Smith-Beehler, Ephraim Scott Sommers, Michael Waters, and more! Not to mention the interview with, and visual art by, Guided By Voices’ Robert Pollard!
2 Poems Accepted at the Southwest Review
I’m delighted to share the news that my poems “Shadows of Blackbirds on Our Arms” and “Let’s Arm Ourselves with Supple Skin” have been accepted for publication in the venerable Southwest Review. Helps make up for the fact that someone seems to have misplaced the springtime sun here in Syracuse. Been missing for a week. Probably fell behind the fridge. 🙂
2 Poems Accepted at Meridian
Huge thanks to Poetry Editor Courtney Flerlage and the rest of the folks at Meridian for accepting my poems “The Sky We Want to Reach Up and Press Our Thumbs Into” and “One Theory of What’s Happening Out There” for publication in their upcoming Borders issue!
I’ve Won a Pushcart Prize!
My poem “It’s Something People in Love Do,” published last year in Sycamore Review has just WON a Pushcart Prize 2017. I’m delighted, elated. Back in 2005 I received my first Pushcart nomination, from Redactions. That and each nomination since then has felt like such an honor. To have actually won a place in the anthology this year is, well, wow. Thank you to the individuals, editors, and journals who have generously supported my work over the years. Thank you to Bill Henderson and the rest of the Pushcart folks for choosing this poem for the 2017 Pushcart Prize Anthology. And thank you again to Anthony Sutton, Mitchell Jacobs, Rachel Reynolds, and the other good people at Sycamore Review for giving my poem a home in the first place!
“These Seagulls Are Better More Gullier Than the Ones in the City” Published in Crazyhorse
I’m blossomingly delighted to have received my contributor copies of Crazyhorse Spring 2017, which contains my poem “These Seagulls Are Better More Gullier Than the Ones in the City” — a poem inspired by the Lake Ontario shoreline in Oswego, NY. It’s an honor to share these pages with such folk as Marianne Boruch, Erica Dawson, Paul Guest, Peter LaBerge, Michael Robins, Bret Shepard, L. Lamar Wilson, Catherine Wing — to name but a few of the fantastic writers in this issue. Thanks so much Emily Rosko, Jonathan Bohr Heinen, and the rest of the Crazyhorse crew!
“One Push on Top Is All It Takes” Accepted at Passages North
The good folks at Passages North have accepted my poem “One Push on Top Is All It Takes” for next year’s print issue and I couldn’t be happier. This last March they kindly published my lyric essay “Each Breeze Began Life Somewhere As a Little Cough” online.
“We Might As Well Be Hovering” Published on The Iowa Review Blog for National Poetry Month
My poem “We Might As Well Be Hovering” has been published online today at The Iowa Review blog as part of their poem-a-day celebration for National Poetry Month. Thanks so much Poetry Editor Devon Walker-Figueroa and the rest of The Iowa Review crew!
Read the poem HERE.
Teaching 2 Creative Writing Workshops This Spring at The Downtown Writer’s Center in Syracuse NY
I’m thrilled to share the news that I’ll be teaching two eight-week creative writing workshops this spring at The Downtown Writer’s Center in sunny Syracuse, NY — a Monday night workshop on the lyric essay and a Wednesday night poetry workshop focusing on the line. Both classes begin the third week of April (see the class descriptions below). Registration is inexpensive and open to the public. To learn more about The Downtown Writer’s Center, download the spring class schedule, and register for these workshops, visit the Center’s website HERE. Feel free to share with anyone who might be interested!
The Lyric Essay with Christopher Citro. Mondays, 6:00-8:00. 8 weeks, starting April 17. “The lyric essay partakes of the poem in its denÂsity and shapeliness, its distillation of ideas and musicality of language. It partakes of the essay in its weight, in its overt desire to engage with facts”(Tall & D’Agata). In this class we’ll explore this exciting hybrid genre, using prompts drawn from our reading to inspire new work.
Listening to the Line with Christopher Citro. Wednesdays, 6:00-8:00. 8 weeks, startÂing April 19. In this workshop, we’ll explore what contemporary poets are doing with the free verse line, how they use line breaks, the tension beÂtween the sentence and the line, and more. We’ll use prompts drawn from our readings to inspire us to experiment and grow in our own writing.