news
things have been quiet over here as i sit in a holding pattern some of you may be familiar with: waiting on decisions from publications with long response times. i made it a goal to be more targeted in how and where i sent work out this year, and it’s certainly paying off to some degree. but this also means i find myself having fewer updates than usual, which i remind myself is fine. there’s a long life ahead of me.
zine reminders:
join my zine club.
download all my mini zines in one $10 digital bundle.
i’m selling physical zines on etsy.
follow all of my zine-related adventures @ramenzines on instagram.
published piece: “IF YOU WANNA FIGHT, FIGHT” in HAD
published poem: “self-defense as celibacy” in Frozen Sea Issue 12
notes
the idea for a specter dust sequel is brewing. i’m not quite at the drafting stage yet, but i feel like as i have healed from the myriad fucked up things that have happened to me in the last year and a half, i’ve mostly been writing where the wind blows me rather than around the framework of a planned project.
as i work towards eventually executing this project, i’ve also been thinking about the fate of some of my older books, some of which may go out of print soon. it reminds me of a conversation i recently witnesses in a publishing listserv about “new and selected” volumes of living poets. i used to think there wasn’t really a use to something like this, that any such collection should absolutely happen posthumously. but someone in the thread brought up the idea of modern poets with indie releases that have gone out of print after just a few years,1 and i considered this idea more for a moment. the longevity of literature, for better or worse, is not what it used to be. all that is to say don’t be surprised to find me typesetting a long volume of out-of-print poetry in the next year.
sneak peek
this month, i am participating in Tupelo Press’ 30/30 project. this comes in conjunction with both National Poetry Month and The Aurelie 30, a writing challenge i completed last april. here’s one of the pieces from this month:
let’s play a love game
in the sense that i have never known
anything but pushing pawns around,
the morning after as my goal, and queenly
i am not. it’s all strategy—risk directly
proportionate to reward. i have never
claimed to be a saint. my voice rasps
at the first sign of spring and that’s when
i haven’t dragged an errant cigarette.
i’ll be lucky if i can breathe tomorrow
but that’s not the point. i’m the pawn.
i’m the embodiment of divided by zero,
so much nothing i am become void,
destroyer of romance. (if you keep pressing
the same buttons, they’ll go numb eventually.)if you like the poems (or even if you don’t), you can donate to Tupelo Press via my donation page to help fund my progress!
what’s happening
release: preorder Sadee Bee’s Celestial Bodies | Earthbound Wounds from White Stag Publishing
current events
here’s what i’ve been reading, watching, listening to, and playing.
books: Sapello Son by Alejandro Lucero
tv: Summer House, Southern Hospitality, The Real Housewives of New York (rewatch), House of Villains
games: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
the part where i ask for money
i have reopened paid subscriptions. while the pool will always be 100% free, i am still out of work and appreciate any support i’m able to get right now. if you’d prefer not to ferry your money through substack (i get it), you can also set up a recurring donation on ko-fi or send me a tip (scroll to the bottom of the page for payment links).
please also hit me up for freelance work! i’m happy to discuss your project ideas via email.
you may recognize this phenomenon from such titles as you stupid slut and inside baseball
oh yeah, did i mention i’m a first reader for MEMEZINE now?