Spring is coming! There is so much sunlight coming through my apartment windows! Seasonal depression who? I don't know her. Unfortunately the changing seasons also means that I am sick as I am writing this, but alas such is life! I thank my immune system for looking after me.
Much has happened in my personal writing life since my last blog post on here. Most significantly, I was graciously awarded a Literary Creation Grant from the Ontario Arts Council, and a Recommender's Grant from Palimpsest Press. This was the first time I'd ever applied for grants for my own writing and I truly cannot express what it means to be a recipient. I'm so appreciative of the arts funding in Ontario because it gives me the means to keep writing, and that is monumental.
The full length project that I'm working on is tentatively titled "When was the Last Time I Thanked my Mother," examining multigenerational relationships among women in my family, intergenerational trauma, and queer coming of age and queer family, to hopefully arrive at a collection ultimately about how we are shaped by those we choose to share our lives with. I know - what a poet thing to be writing about my mom, but mothers are so poetic! A few excellent mom poems I've read recently:
"Macrame feat. Stevie Nicks" by Kayla Czaga, in Midway
"Hereditary Blue" by Oubah Osman, in The Anstruther Reader
"Lost Weekend" by Steve McOrmond, in The Malahat Review #229
"Tinnitus" by Eve Joseph, in The Malahat Review #229
"Cross-Country Skiing with Doris by Shannon Quinn, in The Malahat Review #229
It was my friend Adam in New York who shared the poems from The Malahat Review with me. Speaking of Adam — we're both headed to Kefalonia, Greece this May for a writing retreat at the Ionian Centre for the Arts. Many of the same folks from Martha's Vineyard are participating in this week long course called "Freeing the Muse." I'm especially eager to work with Christopher Citro again! More than anything, I can't wait to be in a space filled with other writers and friends - friends who are writers - just bouncing off of each other and focusing on nothing but our craft for a week. By the Mediterranean Sea, baby!! I am so stupidly lucky to have the life I do, and to spend it with the people I get to spend it with working on projects I care about. Wowie!!
Finally, lookout for a not-directly-mom-related poem called "Glosa for the Night Terrors and My Lover" in Arc Poetry #106. With thanks to mentorship from Arc's poet-in-residence at the time and all around literary powerhouse Chelene Knight!
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