How do I hear God’s “still small voice” when I am scared of silence? I despaired thinking that to hear God I had to get comfortable with silence. It seemed impossible. A […]
A Short Interview with Christi Clancy
Recently, my friend Christi Clancy, an amazing writer and Assistant Visiting Professor of English at Beloit College, has accepted a two-book publishing deal with St Martin’s publishing house, a well-deserved accomplishment that’s […]
Don’t Be Like Me: Take the Help, Dummy
One of the dumbest things I have ever done in my career as a poet was to waste the opportunity to get feedback on my poems from two advanced-career poets who actually […]
Why I Can’t Write
I am a writer, and I am drowning in time. I am actually drowning in different types of time, and I don’t know, really, which is first, or more important, or more […]
Depression, Medication, and Creativity
Right now, as I’m typing these words, I feel like I don’t have “it.” “It” is that elusive quality we need in order to write. We know it when we feel it, […]
Writers and Meditation
I gave this talk as part of a panel with Casey Clague at the Gulf Coast Association of Creative Writing Teachers conference a couple of weeks ago, so forgive the speech-like feel. […]
Meditation Monday: Interview with Robert Annis
In this interview, poet Robert Annis makes a connection between poetry and meditation. Enjoy! –Katie When and why did you start meditating? I started meditating as a practice in my second […]
Advice for Writers Getting the MFA
First of all: yes, your professors are right when they tell you it is very difficult to get a tenure track teaching job at a college or university. It is very, very […]
Write to Change the World
—This is an adaptation of a speech given at Florida Gulf Coast University, at the behest of their Creative Writing Club and Sigma Tau Delta society. I feel at home in places […]
I’m Nobody
I’m Nobody! Who are you? Are you – Nobody – too? Then there’s a pair of us! Don’t tell! they’d advertise – you know! How dreary – to be – Somebody! How […]