More highly regarded journals and paying publications can receive thousands of submissions in response to an open submission call. An editor has to conclude their selection process somewhere. If they’ve narrowed it down to ten best but need to choose two, things we think are "of little concern" as poets become magnified.  We all want to believe our poems will be evaluated for literary merit alone, not summarily discarded from failure to follow guidelines. But when poems of close to or equal...

I had the privilege on January 19th to sit down with fabulous local poet, Linda Quinlan, for her interview show, "All Things LGBTQ." We had a couple of false starts with technical problems trying to record on Zoom, so we finally brought it to the studio in Montplier, Vermont to complete the interview. We had a fun time chatting about poetry in general, my process, and I had a chance to read a few of my poems. It will air tomorrow, Saturday January 23rd, at 8PM on ORCA, Onion River Community...

I was invited as the feature poet for a poetry group at the Charlotte Grange on January 8th in Charlotte, Vermont. Pronounced, "Shar-LOTTE" here in the great state of Vermont. I read for about 40 minutes to this really wonderful, friendly and welcoming group of poets, who meet once a month with a featured reader, followed by an open mic. After my reading there were questions from the listeners, and they had really good ones. I enjoyed this experience so much, and if you live anywhere near...