Several years ago, I began working on an essay that would become part of my forthcoming third book of nonfiction, Exhibitions: Essays on Art & Atrocity. “Lost Vessels” was about art–specifically an exquisite exhibit I once saw at the Sackler Gallery in Washington, D.C–and my cousin’s opioid addiction, which eventually killed him. The essay is […]
»MoreFor many years, I worked on an essay about my love of mid-century design and, specifically, my passion for some of the great chairs that were first produced at the end of WWII. The Eames LCW. Jens Risom’s Lounge Chair. The 1006 Navy Chair from Emeco. These are pieces that were created either to address […]
»MoreI’m delighted to have a new poem up at The Los Angeles Review. “Trench Whistle” is one of my “artifact sonnets,” that is, a sonnet that meditates on an object, exploring its history as well as its materiality. Like my sonnet, “Acme No. 470 Clicker,” this poem examines an artifact of an earlier war in […]
»MoreNot long ago, I finished work on my tenth book of poems, Civilians. With the drafting and revision process done, I now have a few final poems from the manuscript appearing in literary journals. I’m thrilled to have a sonnet from the manuscript, “The Acme No. 470 Clicker,” appear in the current issue of The […]
»MoreFor many months now, I’ve been working on a hybrid memoir about my long-term love affair with Anne Carson’s novel-in-verse, Autobiography of Red. The manuscript, Red Monsters, blends person essay, close reading, pedagogy, and poetry. Divided into three parts, the project explores how Carson’s book has changed me as a reader, as a teacher, and […]
»MoreMy second book of creative nonfiction, Taste: A Book of Small Bites, is out today. This collection was such a pleasure to write. Every part of the process, from drafting the proposal for Columbia University Press to the final stages of revision, were full of joy. It’s a lighthearted book (which occasionally explores dark subjects) […]
»MoreSomething delightful arrived today–my first copies of Taste: Book of Small Bites! I can’t believe this little book is real and here (and now available for preorder). If you’re interested, I hope you’ll consider purchasing a copy here, here, or here.
»MoreAs I’ve mentioned before, my current in-progress manuscript, Civilians, contain many poems that explore family. The book considers what it means for a service member to retire and to finally leave the military, reentering civilian life. The book is essentially a reflection on marriage, particularly those unions that include the titles of sailor and civilian. […]
»MoreFor more than three years, I have been working on a book of hybrid essays that blend research, literary theory, and personal experience. Exhibitions: Essays on Art & Atrocity explores my peripatetic childhood as the daughter of two American Foreign Service Officers. Born in Italy, I grew up in Yugoslavia, Zaire, Poland, Belgium, Austria, and […]
»MoreSo, my third book, Stateside, is now a one-act opera composed by Rachel Whelan! The piece will premiere this Sunday, April 24 at 5 pm CST on YouTube (the pandemic interfered with the possibility of a live performance). It’s hard for me to express how touched I am that this book has been transformed into […]
»MoreIn Civilians, my current in-progress poetry manuscript, there are number of poems that function as small family portraits. This is a book that explores what it means for a service member to retire and to finally leave the military, reentering civilian life; many of the poems in the collection examine the distance between the experience […]
»MoreIn August 2022, Columbia University Press will publish Taste: A Book of Small Bites, my second nonfiction book. Taste looks at the sweet, the sour, the bitter, the salty, and umami through an interdisciplinary lens and considers the ways that this often overlooked sense informs poetry and fiction, theater, film, opera, philosophy, and religion. You […]
»MoreSo, for the past 18 months, I’ve spent my free time earning an MFA in creative nonfiction from the Vermont College of Fine Arts, also known as VCFA. I officially graduated today, a newly minted (or reminted?) MFA. I earned my MFA in poetry from the University of Maryland, College Park in 2003, and my […]
»MoreMy next nonfiction book, Taste: A Book of Small Bites, is forthcoming from Columbia University Press in August 2022. The book looks at the sweet, the sour, the bitter, the salty, and umami through an interdisciplinary lens, considering the ways that taste informs poetry and fiction, theater, film, opera, philosophy, and religion. You can read […]
»MoreWell, I guess Taste: A Book of Small Bites is really going to be a real book! I was excited to see that it’s included in Columbia University Press’s spring 2022 catalog. It looks like there are some fabulous books coming out next year, and I am so grateful that Taste will be in such […]
»MoreWhen I first decided to become really serious about my training in creative nonfiction, I took a series of online courses through the literary journal Creative Nonfiction. The classes were excellent and offered me exactly the kind of education that I lacked in my fumbling-solitary-efforts-to-figure-out-what-an-essay-was. I loved these online courses for their interesting, imaginative writing […]
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