I am now more than half way through my PhD.
I also did not pass my first attempt at testing out of the “language reading proficiency” requirement. Half way might be longer than it seems.
In other news, in 2016, I started a thing, along with a co-founder friend. We asked some other friends to join us, and then asked a few people who weren’t friends yet. It was pretty good. Then in 2017, we did it again. Right after that, I realized that there was no way I could continue to coordinate a book festival for 4000 people when I was a mere 1850 miles away. Something had to go, and it was going to be my sanity if I stayed. So I exited, as did my co-founder. I’d like to think we left that baby in good hands.
This year, all I have to think about is my school work. Or that was the plan. Then one parent got sick. Then another parent got sick. Then an ankle broken. Then my landlord decided he wanted to sell the house and oh, hey, can you move out in 35 days even though your lease isn’t up until July, k thnx bai.
In about two weeks, I’m heading to Portland for AWP, where I have a reading on Wednesday with the good people from Zoetic Press, and I am organizing a panel to talk about how my co-founder and I pulled off a major literary festival in less than six months (hint: we had a lot of help), which will be on Thursday at 10:30 am in the Conference Center Level 1. I hope you can make it. I’ll also be at the Witness table, pulling my time as Fiction Editor of that fantastic literary journal, generally on Friday and Saturday morning. I’ll also be at the Witness/ALR co-sponsored reading on Friday night at Paddy’s. I also will be at the Believer party at 4:30 on Thursday although I don’t have specifics for that, so I guess ask around or ask at the Believer table if you want to get in on that action. After that, I’ll be presenting at the Las Vegas Writers Conference in early May (there’s still lots of tickets available and this is going to be a REALLY good time). At that conference I have two sessions: One is how to submit to literary journals on Saturday, and then the other is held twice: once on Friday and again on Saturday called “The Magic Pill for Writer’s Block”. This is an encore for the class I taught at Barrelhouse’s Conversations and Connections in Pittsburgh this fall — it was standing room only, which kind of blew me away, but it looked like we had a lot of people who enjoyed what they produced, so hopefully magic happens in reliable increments!
All this to say, thank GOD I am not also trying to organize a literary and book festival at the same time! Phew!
I updated the publications page, with new work published at Barrelhouse and Waxwing, as well as a reprint at Evansville Review. I also instituted an Events thing so you can track my movements, much like a tagged shark in the clear waters off the coast of Baja. Only not as streamlined or as interested in eating seals, but otherwise just like that.