Making money moves!
I now have two of the biggest monetary awards for individual creative people in Minnesota under my belt, all of the sudden, in one year!
Performing for Power to the People
(Content advisory: some foul language)
I read two poems and spit a rap (!) at the Power to the People Stage for Twin Cities Pride on June 24, 2023.
A poem and a publication for Juneteenth
The Inlandia Institute has published a new book, These Black Bodies Are…A Blacklandia Anthology, of writings and art by people of African Descent. I am honored that three of my poems, “Hope Fool,” “Cashier” and “Whole Numbers,” are among the written works in this new book, released on Juneteenth.
Rappin’ for Danez Smith and the Cave Canem crew
At the Cave Canem “Laboratory Poetics” Minneapolis Regional Workshop reading held at Open Book in Minneapolis, MN May 17, 2023, I recited a humorous rap that was video recorded by National Book Award-nominated poet and workshop teacher Danez Smith.
A poem for environmental justice
In April 2022, the St. Paul Almanac publicized the winners of its Environmental (In)justice in Mni Sóta Maḳoce (Minnesota) Storytelling Contest held in collaboration with the University of St. Thomas Sustainable Communities Partnership. A poem of mine was one of the six winners.
The elegy: a sestina
In a poetry class I’m taking, the teacher educated us on the sestina, a very demanding poetic form with rules for word repetition for specific lines. I used the homework assignment to write a sestina to create my promised elegy to loss of friendship and friends.
Rainbow goddesses rising
Iris is the goddess of the rainbow, and she lends her name to a family of flowers prized for their colorful beauty.
My poem won a contest!
I am one of six winners of the Environmental (In)justice in Mni Sóta Maḳoce (Minnesota) Storytelling Contest presented by the University of St. Thomas Sustainable Communities Partnership and the Saint Paul Almanac.
Wishing I could celebrate…
Wishing I could celebrate my latest publication on Melissa Fondakowski’s blog Unfit to Print, but I’m still hurting over the death of my longtime colleague from the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, editor-journalist-activist Mel Reeves. Still, I’m grateful for the publication and for Melissa heaping such great praise upon me.
A kiss-off letter becomes a poem
A now-former friend told me she has no sympathy for anybody who joins the military for any reason. Upon hearing this, I literally fell out in tears. Days later, she emailed me an apology that showed she still didn’t recognize the wrongness of her statement. The kiss-off email I wrote back turned into a poem.