“Being a poet has, historically, meant gathering people; it hasn’t always been a solitary endeavor, and to be an ambassador-poet with a structured role is an important social responsibility.”

My latest article in Newcity features Mayda del Valle, avery r. young, Mark Turcotte, The Poetry Foundation, Chicago Public Libraries, DCASE, and more.

The Public I: Poets Laureate and Chicago’s Literary Legacy Poets laureate are ambassadors not just for poetry but for arts and culture in general and the people who create and consume them. Being a poet has, historically, meant gathering people.

Poets and poetry readers, this just in from the poets laureate of Chicago and Illinois: poetry has to walk around with others. It breathes in experience and cries out life.

lit.newcity.com/2026/04/15/t...

#poetry #Chicago #poetslaureate

I’m 34 now, and here’s a poem to prove it I am not twenty-one anymore and I do not drink. Do I want to visit a museum?

I am not twenty-one anymore and I do not drink. Do I want to visit a museum?

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Reclamation A review in poetry

Reclamation

On the Whatnots of March Sometimes life sneaks up and says "nope!"

Sometimes life sneaks up and says "nope!"
Thoughts on joys in winter up at my website.

Join me and these extraordinary panelists I get the privilege of speaking with at AWP for a conversation about translation, poetry, and the bodddddy! I can promise you I will talk about my Saint Catherine translations project, but I cannot promise how saintly it will sound. Come find out with me!

“Imagine how they lie when there’s no evidence to contradict them.”

Watch this powerful message from Jon Stewart.

For now, here’s a draft of one poem later in the sequence in which I write to Magnus Hirschfeld.

I’m sorry to report that tomorrow’s Lost Songs Cafe performance in Louisville is canceled due to the weather. I’m sad to not be able to share my poem “Tomorrow, Overnight” and the collaborations with Chris Gleason and Emily Ravenscraft with you live, and I hope I’m able to soon.
#poetry #amwriting

Dinner and a Show with the Chicago Mob Behind the scenes of Nitti's Supper Club presents “Who Killed Eddie O’Hare? A True Crime History Mystery Musical” at Harry Caray’s Italian Steakhouse.

Wanna know more? You’ll get more clues about who killed Eddie O’Hare going to Harry Caray's dinner theatre than by asking me, so read this preview article in Newcity.

Link in bio and -
www.newcitystage.com/2026/01/23/d...

#journalism

Dinner and a Show with the Chicago Mob Behind the scenes of Nitti's Supper Club presents “Who Killed Eddie O’Hare? A True Crime History Mystery Musical” at Harry Caray’s Italian Steakhouse.

One day in 1995, Bears legend Walter Payton was dining at Harry Caray’s before frantically running up four flights of stairs to see mobster Frank Nitti’s apartment. “He just started looking around like a detective,” becoming the unofficial tour guide for the rest of the day.
#chicagobears

It’s 4 Degrees Outside If you'd like to catch up on previous posts, visit "newsletter posts" from the menu on my website and enter the password: poetryismagic! Highlights: It’s 4 Degrees Outside “Dear Magnus” Saint Catherine’s Prayers Publications, Reviews, Happenings, & Whatnots - It’s 4 Degrees Outside So, I thought 18 degrees was bad, and then the universe elected to punish me for my silliness. As I write, it is 4 degrees outside and it’s mid-day. I hope you have dogs and/or cats to keep you company during the winter, too! -

Fresh newsletter! Subscribe read a new poem from my Holocaust Remembrance project "Tomorrow, Overnight" and a new translation from the prayers of Saint Catherine.

Can we walk along the lakefront again,
Glaring sweaty torsos eyeing us back, heads turned away
As we munch bagel sandwiches? Laugh? Consider art criticism one of the most important things to do in all creation?“

From my poem “Tomorrow, Overnight” #poetry #amwriting

“Dear Magnus,
You made me beautiful.
I can never look in the mirror again, you’ve ruined me!

My current favorite definition of metaphor! What’s yours? Thanks @victoriachang.bsky.social #poetry #amwriting

Mary Ruefle knows me #poetry

ICE from My Window If you'd like to catch up on previous posts, visit "newsletter posts" from the menu on my website and enter the password: poetryismagic! Highlights: ICE from My Window Lost Song Cafe in Louisville January 27th "Mad Prophet, Mad Poet, Mad Composition" Publications, Reviews, Happenings, & Whatnots - ICE from My Window Happy turn of the year, friends. I've had a great holiday season spending time with friends and family and had a busy, productive December before that. I hope you've had time with loved ones and a bit of rest before the always alarming and disarming beginning of a new year!

New Year, New Post! Featuring an upcoming live performance and excerpts of new erasures and essays!

The Lost Song Cafe: Lost Communities Remembered in Song & Spoken Word

Immense gratitude to my collaborators Chris Gleason, who has been with me every step of the process, and Emily Ravenscraft, who will be performing live improvisational violin with me onstage! (Event link in bio)

The Lost Song Cafe: Lost Communities Remembered in Song & Spoken Word

I was commissioned to write and perform a poem honoring LGBTQ+ victims of the Holocaust. I’m honored by the opportunity (and was more than a little intimidated by the ask, at first). I’ve created a multimedia poem that I’m excited to share.

The Lost Song Cafe: Lost Communities Remembered in Song & Spoken Word

I’m the featured poet at The Lost Song Café on January 27th in Louisville, Kentucky! This is a FREE event in honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day.

“Caricatured as typewriter poet” WAS on my 2025 bingo card, and it got called just in time!
(Do I win with just a postage stamp or…)
Thank you Sam Nassau for copoeting with me at a rockin' wedding!
#poetry #typewriter

Typewriter poetry is best enjoyed with fireplaces
#poetry #typewriter #poet

Make Room Beside the Muppets for “Manual Cinema’s Christmas Carol” The work of this world-class company at Studebaker Theater is required viewing.

Read more about "Manual Cinema's Christmas Carol"
www.newcitystage.com/2025/12/19/m...

Review: There’s nothing quite like a Manual Cinema production. They’re the kind of company that, once you’ve seen their work, becomes a point of comparison for other spectacles. I say with no exaggeration that anyone who enjoys theater should consider Manual Cinema’s productions required viewing.

Thank you to Phil Spotswood and Steve Halle for publishing my work in this forthcoming issue!

I’m incredibly honored that Spoon River Poetry Review nominated my love poem “With the Kiss of a Thousand Flowers” for a Pushcart Prize!

“He brought me birds! hundreds of thousands of birds,
Splitting the sky with song,
With ‘you, you, you…’”

⚡️ZINE LUNCH!⚡️presents “Humanizing Medicine,” a free, virtual workshop with Katie Farris this Friday, December 12, at 12 PM EST.

Link in bio to register—it’s free!

Articles: Criticism, Essay, Journalism, Interview The following PDF includes samples of: “Chicago’s New Golden Age of Magic: A magic mansion with major funding enters a city where the art form already flourishes.” Feature Essay Newcity “Cruising Kentucky and Bulgaria: An Interview with Author Garth Greenwell” Interview Feature Queer Kentucky “This Is the Moment for Kokandy’s “Jekyll & Hyde”: Jaw-dropping vocals breathe life into a melodramatic cult favorite.” Theatre Review Newcity “Crane by Tessa Bolsover” Poetry Review Rain Taxi “‘A Public for Poetry’: On Harriet Monroe and Poetry” Exhibition Feature The Poetry Foundation…

Articles: Criticism, Essay, Journalism, Interview

The following PDF includes samples of: “Chicago’s New Golden Age of Magic: A magic mansion with major funding enters a city where the art form already flourishes.” Feature Essay Newcity “Cruising Kentucky and Bulgaria: An Interview with Author…

FALL is Over If you'd like to catch up on previous posts, visit "newsletter posts" from the menu on my website and enter the password: poetryismagic! Highlights: Ma Vie comme Montage Reviews on Reviews Publications, Happenings, & Whatnots - It has been a busy minute since I last posted! Thank you for reading and keeping up with me. In montage style, here's what I've been up to: Tucson, Arizona. Scene: a bar after the University of Arizona narrowly wins their homecoming match. 8 translators of poetry whispering in everyone's ears. A surprisingly successful time.

Newest blog post, in montage style!