I had such a great time at AWP! There’s something wonderful about being surrounded by thousands of fellow writers and editors. I got to reconnect with grad school friends and meet some writer/editor friends in person for the first time.

I also got to talk with some of my rockstar poets, including Carolyn Forche and Elizabeth Alexander (pardon the blurry shot).

I participated in the off-site reading “One Poet, One Poem” on Friday night, and it was awesome.  I read my poem “God in the Shower.” Thanks to Thom Caraway and Rock & Sling for inviting me!

I also presented in a panel on Saturday called “Wild Equations: A Math Poetry Reading.” I read several poems, including “Week by Week” (my poem that uses the Fibonacci sequence for its line-by-line syllable count). I was so impressed by the work of my fellow panelists and honored to present alongside these intelligent, creative women. Thanks to Carol Dorf and Talking Writing for including me!

I also sold, bought, and traded many books, of course. 🙂

I had so much fun reading from my Bible word banking chapbook, A Door with a Voice, this past Thursday at the PCA/ACA conference in Seattle. It’s a pleasure to hear people laughing at these poems that I feared might be inaccessible to everyone but me! I’m so excited for them to be published with Agape Editions in May.

It was a joy to read alongside incredible poets from all over the world. I love how friendly and engaged the poets and audiences are at the PCA/ACA conference, and I have so much fun overseeing the poetry area. Poetry is clearly a living, vibrant part of pop culture and American culture.

I also had a fantastic time reading from The Gospel of the Bleeding Woman and I Awake in My Womb with Nicelle Davis and company at the Hugo House on Saturday afternoon. We even got to tour the basement and see the baby coffin before the house is demolished and they move to a new space.