New Year, New... 2026
Quiet before the storm, eye of the storm, quiet before the eye, eye refuse to be quiet
This is 2026
I started to do a Preview of the Whole Year and wow that was a bad idea. Instantly overwhelmed 😅. So let me just touch on a few major bits and say…there’s a lot to look forward to! Actual January events, just a couple, are toward the end.
The Podcast Launch
Lots more about this in the Very Near Future because it’s coming up…in March!
The Poetry Collection
OK, this is technically not happening until 2027, but preorders ought to open up late this year! Please set aside a very small amount of money (Two lattes! One sandwich! One one-millionth of something that costs a lot of money!) in your budget for your very own copy of This Body, This Fruit. You’re really going to love it 💖. Maybe set aside a couple extra lattes’ worth for friends’ gifts, too 🥰.
The Play
My new play, a solo performance by yours truly 😊, will debut at the dawn of summer 2026. It bears the same name as my poetry collection, This Body, This Fruit. (And if randomness tilts my way, you may also see it at the Fringe Festival 🤞🏼.) You’ll see more about this in the Very Near Future.
Better Things
I am deeply grateful to the Minnesota State Arts Board and the voters of Minnesota for the award of an Arts Experience grant for the ReEntry Lab to continue hosting Better Things for another year 🥰.
Midwest Poetry Mash-Up
It’s coming up quick, y’all! This is my 3rd year entering, and my team is called 3 Ds and a B, and we’re going to have so much fun! Mark your calendars now for April 30-May 2, 2026.
New Website & Services
Technically this happened in 2025, and it’s been there for a few months, but: I have a newly redesigned website! It’s stylistically matched with this newsletter’s recent redesign, both of which match my business cards 💖, and I really love it. I’ve also added a page about my editing and coaching services, available as single sessions or ongoing arrangements. I’m fully booked through the first part of this year, but if you’re interested, now would be a great time to get something on the calendar.
There’s more; there’s always more until, one day, there isn’t, but this is enough for now, don’t you think?
January 2026
Better Things Gathering
Tomorrow (!), Tuesday, January 6th, is the next Better Things gathering (our next 5x5 Reading will be on February 3rd). We’ve got a very special guest workshop presenter, Kyle Tran Myhre, aka “Guante,” poet, activist, spoken word artist, musician, social justice advocate, and human being who makes me proud to be one, leading a Narrative Interventions workshop.
What’s this, you ask? In his words:
This will be a space in which we can dream up ways to make our values, politics, and principles come to life in the world. In poetry terms, it’s about brainstorming ideas to make the abstract a bit more concrete. What narratives do we notice around us? What stories are operating underneath our communities’ understanding of different issues and concepts? What counter-narratives would we like to cultivate? A “narrative intervention” can be an art project, a media campaign, a virtual program, an event idea—anything that creates real-life space for a counter-narrative to grow. In this interactive workshop, we’ll explore these questions, share skills and ideas, and have some space to dream together. We’ll take a few minutes at the end to share work, either generated during this lab or something you bring with you.
I’m super-excited to share this space and work, and I’d love to see you there!
BuckSlam
Hoping real hard to make it to this one 😅. But even if I’m not there, you should go, because there are some spectacular poets and performers showing up on the regular. And it’s a sport! Poetry! Sport! What’s not to love??
And that’s it for the month! Stay Warm, Avoid ICE, and I’ll catch you on the flipside….