2015 Roundup

I had a good year.

Here are some of my poems that were published in 2015:

• "Plume" in Poetry City, USA, vol. 5
• "WEATHERLURKER [Over a clear horizon]" and "WEATHERLURKER [Hard to contain]" on Tinderbox Poetry Journal
• "WEATHERLURKER [waves wash]" in SAND Journal (two other poems appeared in this issue, but not online)

I also had two poems in the minnesota review​.

In addition to publishing work, I had an incredible year in the Loft Mentor Series for Poetry and Creative Prose. Thank you to all 6 of my mentors, especially Matt Rasmussen and Patricia Smith who selected me. Thank you also to my fellow series participants.  May we all continue to push and stretch and support one another for many years to come. Let's start with 2016.

My favorite new music

10. Frank Turner, Positive Songs for Negative People
9. Chvrches, Every Open Eye
8. Prof, Liability
7. Ghost, Meliora
6. Waxahatchee, Ivy Tripp
5. Sleater-Kinney, No Cities to Love
4. Sunn O))), Kannon
3. Deafheaven, New Bermuda
2. mewithoutyou, Pale Horses
1. Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp a Butterfly

Honorable mention (in alphabetical order)
Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress
Jason Isbell, Something More than Free
Laura Marling, Short Movie
Kacey Musgraves, Pageant Material
Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus, beauty will save the world

Books I read in 2015

I read a lot of books in 2015. Below is the list in the order that I read them. Bold entries are the ones that stuck with me the most. I left a handful of unpublished manuscripts off of the list (two that are forthcoming and two that aren't).

1. If the Tabloids Are True What Are You? by Matthea Harvey
2. The Bad Wife Handbook by Rachel Zucker
3. Trickster's Queen by Tamora Pierce
4. Blood Dazzler by Patricia Smith
5. On Sal Mal Lane by Ru Freeman
6. Terrier by Tamora Pierce
7. Self-Portrait in Green by Marie NDiaye (translated by Jordan Stump)
8. All My Friends by Marie NDiaye (translated by Jordan Stump)
9. Bloodhound by Tamora Pierce
10. The New Testament by Jericho Brown
11. Mastiff by Tamora Pierce
12. Recyclopedia by Harryette Mullen
13. Slow Motion by Dani Shapiro
14. Brand New Ancients by Kate Tempest
15. Tender Buttons by Gertrude Stein (re-read)
16. First Poems by James Merrill
17. Terrane: a poem by Megan M. Garr
18. Langoustine: fragments of a philosophical marine romance by George Szirtes
19. City of Bears by Molly Sutton Kiefer
20. Oh No Everything by Brett Elizabeth Jenkins
21. The Collected Poems of Chika Sagawa translated by Sawako Nakayasu
22. No Harbor by Mark McCloughan
23. Basil by Katharine Rauk
24. Plurality Decree by Celina Su
25. The Country of a Thousand Years of Peace by James Merrill
26. Shoulda Been Jimi Savannah by Partricia Smith
27. How to be Drawn by Terrance Hayes
28. Bluetes by Maggie Nelson
29. Wildlives by Sarah Jean Alexander
30. The Great Medieval Yellows by Emily Wilson
31. Making Your Life as an Artist by Andrew Simonet
32. Micrographia by Emily Wilson
33. The God of the Whole Animal by Lewis Mundt
34. Blue Yodel by Ansel Elkins
35. Quiver of Arrows: Selected Poems 1986-2006 by Carl Phillips
36. Silverchest by Carl Phillips
37. Elegy by Mary Jo Bang
38. The Last Two Seconds by Mary Jo Bang
39. Uprooted by Naomi Novik
40. Seam by Tarfia Faizullah
41. American Music by Chris Martin
42. Tortall & Other Lands: A Collection of Tales by Tamora Pierce
43. Becoming Weather by Chris Martin
44. Black Movie by Danez Smith
45. [insert] boy by Danez Smith
46. Last Night I Dreamt of Volcanos by Michelle Peñaloza
47. Tells of the Crackling by Hoa Nguyen
48. Pink Reef by Robert Fernandez
49. Blue Hour by Carolyn Forché
50. Warden by Rebecca Wolf
51. Magnetic North by Linda Gregorson
52. Escape from Combray by Rick Snyder
53. East by Edith Pattou
54. River Inside the River by Gregory Orr
55. This Way to the Sugar by Hieu Minh Nguyen
56. The French Exit by Elisa Gabbert
57. Nantes: a poem by Neele Dellschaft
58. As Breath in Winter by William Reichard
59. Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor
60. Sleeping with the Dictionary by Harryette Mullen
61. Le Animal & Other Creatures by Metta Sáma
62. Tell Me by Kim Addonizio
63. Goest by Cole Swensen
64. Sabriel by Garth Nix (re-read)
65. The Glass Age by Cole Swensen
66. The Summer of the Pike by Jutta Richter (translated by Anna Brailovsky)
67. Lirael by Garth Nix (re-read)
68. Voyage of the Sable Venus by Robin Coste Lewis
69. Abhorsen by Garth Nix (re-read)
70. The Falling Down Dance by Chris Martin
71. Ruin by Cynthia Cruz

48 of these are by women (with the unpublished manuscripts it's 50 by women out of 75 total).