Poet & Stadler Fellow Sarah Ghazal Ali, my Tightwires Season 5 guest!

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In the midst of a very busy few months— I got married in December! And moved out of my apartment!— I had such a great time talking to Sarah Ghazal Ali, fellow Pakistani poet and long-time internet friend. Sarah and I talked at length ahead of the release of her brilliant debut full-length collection Theophanies—  Editors’ Choice for the 2022 Alice James Award and easily one of my favorite 2023 reads.

Some topics of discussion: finding time to write as a new parent, an intricately involved writing process, a mutual fascination with sticky notes & birds, a fear of mirrors, and what it means to “parable a name”!

Theophanies will be out next Tuesday, January 16 from Alice James Books!

Preorder it here: Alice James Books, Pegasus Books

Interested in being a future featured guest? Let me know!
I am now booking for 2024!

Poet & Software Developer Olatunde Osinaike, my final Season 4 guest!

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I met poet & software developer Olatunde Osinaike back in 2019 during Open Mouth Literary Center’s Third Annual Poetry Festival, and I’ve long admired his work!

I had so much fun speaking to him ahead of the release of his debut full-length collection, Tender Headed— a beautifully and deliberately crafted collection that I deeply enjoyed reading last month and that I’m already so excited to revisit! Camille Rankine, who selected it as a winner of the 2022 National Poetry Series, called it “a two-step on a tightwire,” and I agree. I’m ecstatic to feature Olatunde as my last guest this year on Tightwires, and I learned so much from our conversation!

Tender Headed comes out next Tuesday, December 5 from Akashic Books!

Preorder it now from any of these retailers: Akashic Books, Bookshop, Books-A-Million, Target, Barnes & Noble, Walmart.

Interested in being a future featured guest? Let me know!
I am now booking for 2024!

Poet & Editor J. Bailey Hutchinson, one of my Season 4 guests!

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I had a great time talking to J. Bailey Hutchinson, the second of my three Season 4 guests, in a special Halloween episode of Tightwires!

Bailey is a fellow Open Mouth Literary Center and Arkansas MFA alum— she was a fourth year when I was a first year— and I’ve long admired her work. Including her 2022 Miller Williams Poetry Prize-Winning debut collection Gut, which we discussed at length during our conversation and for which she is currently touring.

Other topics of discussion: the post-grad school job hunt, navigating truth in writing, our endless admiration for poet & professor Geffrey Davis, how butchery is like poetry, and the best chicken wings in Fayetteville!

Interested in being a future featured guest? Let me know!
I am now booking for 2024!

Indie Bookstore founder & comparative literature graduate Diana Dominguez, one of my Tightwires Season 4 guests!

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Last month, I spoke to the first of my three Season 4 guests! Diana Dominguez, founder of Más Libritos bookstore in Springdale, Arkansas, had so much to say about the day to day life of a bookstore owner– I learned so much!

View our full conversation below, and check out Más Libritos when you get a chance. It’s an intersectional feminist bookstore of new and used books that center Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), and it’s the first and only Latina-owned independent bookstore in Arkansas!

Poet & Ph.D. Taylor Byas, my Tightwires Season 3 guest!

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This week on Tightwires, I’m so excited to feature a recent conversation with poet and Ph.D. Taylor Byas, who shared some incredibly valuable words on poetry and process.

I have long been a Taylor Byas fan and so enjoyed reading her debut full-length collection, I DONE CLICKED MY HEELS THREE TIMES, this summer. It’s the sort of book that rewards repeat reading, a poignant journey full of careful considerations that have come to feel like hallmarks of Taylor’s work. (A tiny example: The first line of the first poem is in conversation with the last line of the last poem.) I already can’t wait to revisit!

I DONE CLICKED MY HEELS THREE TIMES will be released on Tuesday, August 22 from Soft Skull Press. You can preorder it now from a preferred retailer on this page: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/731254/i-done-clicked-my-heels-three-times-by-taylor-byas/

And in the meantime, you can view our full conversation below!

Writer & Comedian Mary Ryan Brown, my Tightwires Season 2 guest! 

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This week on Tightwires, I’m sharing a conversation with writer and comedian Mary Ryan Brown, who had so many insightful things to say about comedy, craft, and performance! I learned so much, which comes as no surprise— Mary Ryan and I met in my first poetry workshop at the University of Southern Mississippi and she’s been a dear friend and inspiration since!

View our full conversation below!

Interested in being a future featured guest? Let me know!

Join me in the 2023 #ClimatePoemProject!

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It’s Week Three of National Poetry Month! I’m still sharing poetry collections and prompts every weekday on YouTube, but in anticipation of Earth Day this Saturday, I am also participating in the Authors Take Action #ClimatePoemProject!

You can find links to climate poetry prompts from your favorite children’s authors and poets here.

Here’s my contribution:

Write a poem about your oldest and most distinct memory of a weather event. Place either yourself or a favorite fictional character in the scene, and end the poem on a hopeful note.

Potential weather events could include:

  • Storms
  • Floods
  • Droughts
  • Tornadoes
  • Hurricanes
  • Hail
  • Snowstorms
  • etc.