2015 School of the Arts registration is up!

I've been happily dividing my work time this past winter between the summer of 1876 (setting for my YA novel) and the daily happenings of the Northwoods (making radio for the fabulous WXPR). Oh, and writing poetry about motherhood. Yup, I have the best job ever.

And now, teaching! I'm excited to teach poetry to the students of St. Germain elementary school this Friday. And I can't wait for another wonderful session of School of the Arts in Rhinelander this summer. Three days of writing and making arts and exploring. The workshops are now online.

Venturing into fantasy

I love how poetry crosses genres. So many great 'zines are popping up to explore where poetry connects with the realms fiction used to control. Like Silver Blade, which promises its online readers "cutting edge science fiction, slipstream, classic and modern fantasy" in poetry and prose. Here's a link to their August issue's poetry section, and here you can jump straight to my poem, "All worlds meet at Happy Nails," crosses immigration, country music, and Yul Brenner. Enjoy!

Scientific Poetry

I'm happy to have my poem "Discoveries" republished in Eye to the Telescope's summer issue. Check it out: it's an intellectual and artistic collection--free to readers--with a poem by Darwin thrown in just for fun!

School of the Arts classes a go!

All three of my School of the Arts classes are a go for this July. There's still room, all ye procrastinators. The small class sizes should lead to fabulous, in-depth discussion. Can't wait!

School of the Arts open registration

I'm getting excited about teaching writing workshops at the School of the Arts (through UW-Madison extension programs) in Rhinelander this July. This kind article, "Bright to teach writing courses at SOA," appeared in local papers today.

Also, check out my podcast "How Being a Poet Prepared Me to Be a Parent"--along with some behind-the-scenes comments on the making of said podcast--on Michigan Writers on the Air, April 24th (1 pm) and 25th (9 am) on Interlochen Public Radio.

New Anthology

Just in time for the centennial of Williams Stafford's birth comes Becca J. R. Lachman's lovely collection A Ritual to Read Together: Poems in Conversation with William Stafford.  My poem "At the State Correctional Facility" is included in the book, and it's referenced in the intro, which is always nice.

This book makes me want to read and write more poetry.

That is one of the top compliments you can give to a poetry book, particularly one centered on a premier American poet whose teaching and emphasis on nonviolence inspired so many others. This collection is cleverly assembled of poems in conversation with Stafford's: some are tributes, some play off one or more lines and some (like mine) are linked only in their mutual interests. The result is a ready-made class, oh professor friends. (There's even a study guide with poets' commentary at the end of each chapter.) What fun that would be to teach...

Upcoming Creating Writing Classes

I'll be teaching three courses at School of the Arts in Rhinelander, WI
July 19 - 23, 2014:

• Bringing Your World to Life (creating original and memorable settings and characters, from the historical past to the imagined future)
• Mini Memoir: Writing the Memoir Essay
• Telling Your Story: Traditional Memoir Writing

If you're in the area, please join me!