Petal & Snow, Idaho Book of the Year Award honorable mention, and other late 2020 updates

The end of 2020 brought new challenges, but also some opportunities for connection, community, and growth.

In August and September, I taught a six-week-long class online through The Cabin called Petal & Snow: A Fairy Tale Workshop. This was a dream class, and I gave it my all. You can check out some highlights from the class here.

Also through The Cabin, I completed a three-week-long WITS (Writers in the Schools) residency, during which I visited 3rd and 4th grade classrooms (online, due to the pandemic) and led prompts on poetry and emotions. This was a delight. The students did amazing work.

Shelter in Place was named a 2019 Idaho Book of the Year honorable mention. The Idaho Libraries Association wrote of it here, "Filled with sometimes stark, sometimes beautiful images of life in these strange times, this book of poems has an underlying message of hope. The book is uncannily timely." This was a huge honor. Thank you to the ILA!

Also, I had a poem, "Elysium," which I wrote during my residency at Surel's Place, accepted to the Boise City Department of Arts & History archive. The poem was an ekphrastic piece inspired by this painting by Léon Bakst. I'm very honored to have a piece of my work in the city's archive, documenting life during COVID-19.

I hope that wherever you are, you are visited by some peace and tranquility as this difficult year winds down. May 2021 bring hope, art, and more.