This page is reserved for news of what I’ve been up to, and possibly also useless facts, dystopian nightmares, quotes by other people that make me sound smart, dire warnings, maniacal ravings and/or grocery lists.
March 15, 2026 -- I organized my first local book event/fundraiser at Wonderland Books in Bethesda MD (thank you Amy Joyce!) around Jean Merrill's wonderful classic 1964 YA novel The Pushcart War, which oddly mentions this date (March 15, 2026) in the first sentence (so, you know, I had no choice but to do something). I was joined by Tope Folarin, Lawrence-Minh Bui Davis, and Rachel Louise Snyder. We raised money for Ayuda, a local nonprofit that provides legal, social, and language services to help low-income immigrants.
March 4-7, 2026 -- I survived my 26th Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) annual conference, this time in Baltimore MD where I was a speaker on two panels: Imagining Literary Futures in Challenging Times with Nightboat Books Director and Publisher Stephen Motika, Cave Canem Director Lisa Willis, and Copper Canyon Director and Publisher Ryo Yamaguchi, moderated by Four Ways Books Board Member KT Herr; and The Role of Art in Shifting Political Landscapes with fellow writers and thinkers Tope Folarin, Lawrence-Minh Bui Davis, and David Taylor, moderated by Rachel Louise Snyder.
December 11, 2025 -- What a pleasure to celebrate Arthur Sze at his inaugural reading in Washington DC at the Library of Congress as the new U.S. Poet Laureate. Check out his poem Here.
November 19, 2025 -- I donned a fancy dress (thanks Rent the Runway!) and enjoyed myself immensely at the 76th National Book Awards ceremony and dinner in NYC thanks to a special (and much appreciated) invite from Ruth Dickey (ED of the National Book Foundation) and the wonderful NBF staff.
November 5-8, 2025 -- I had the pleasure of attending the American Literary Translators Association's annual conference in Tucson AZ and speaking on a panel with Michael Holtmann (The Center for the Art of Translation ED and publisher), Elisabeth Jaquette (translator, ED of Words Without Borders), and Edward Gauvin (translator).
October 24, 2025 -- The night after the ceremony Rigoberto, Kazim, and I presented remarks at the Poetry Foundation. I talked about my career and what serving the field means to me. Here is a written version of what I said.
October 23, 2025 -- I wore black leather to the Poetry Foundation's "urban chic" ceremony and afterparty at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago IL where they very nicely awarded me the Pegasus Award for Service in Poetry along with Rigoberto Gonzalez (who won the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize) and Kazim Ali (who won the Pegasus Award for Poetry Criticism). I'm still traumatized from seeing my face so large in this video they showed of me on stage.
May 5, 2025 -- My team and I released a letter to the literary arts field announcing our departure from the National Endowment for the Arts. The journal N + 1 republished it here.