Upcoming
Birdhouse Books and Gifts (which has the best categories in a bookstore I've ever seen) will host fabulous writers and performers Stalina Villarreal, S.C. Says, Hollie Hardy, Kim Denning, Jason Molin, and me to celebrate the launch of my book The Bullet Takes Forever. With this crop of writers and the musical talents of Jason, I'm expecting both a rousing and intimate evening.
Sponsored by Mouthfeel Press.
Get your tickets through the bookstore here.
Birdhouse Books is a community-focused, queer-woman owned independent bookstore & third space for adults and kids to be the Many Things they are. I love and support multitudes, so I'm excited to launch the book here. It feels appropriate for a poetry book from the point of view of a mother against gun violence.
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The Beginners Virtual Launch
​​This is a fabulous lineup of stellar award-winning international and local writers! If you're in a different time zone, join us while drinking coffee or snacking and listening to bizarre, uncanny, and mind-blowing stories. You don't have to leave your house or your pajamas. We won't tell.
FREE!
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Women Who Submit is a wonderful collective of brilliant women and nonbinary writers. I'm thankful I've been able to be part of some of the events and resource-sharing of this group. They are supportive and super talented!
Come hear this alive, daring writing.
FREE!
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Vintage Books & Wine knows how to do the holidays: with wine, books, a cozy house stuffed with books, local vendors, books, local crafts, and did I say books already? Books coming out your ears? Because who doesn't love books in the fall and winter? I hope there will be cats too, because that would be perfect. But if we have to imagine the cats and a fireplace, I'm okay with that.
FREE!
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Readings
The Vortex has been a fearless theater exchange since 1988.
We consumed poesía this past black friday!
From poets writing from the heart of what it's like to live right now: Juania Sueños' spatial internal and external entwinings, Jadine Pluecker's wanderings that cycle back on themselves with natural beauty and the pulse of America's issues, plus the striking words and heart of Raya Maxochitl. I read from poems The Bullet Takes Forever.
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Saturday Night Special is a long-running open mic literary series that is now virtual. I loved featuring there in 2022.
I featured for my friend Hollie with my other friend Allison!
I love how Allison creates compressed and yet expansive horror-movie poems. She also read others that shared her spare yet revelatory style.
I read a few poems from The Bullet Takes Forever and one flash fiction from The Beginners.
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Eastern Shore Writers Association is a nonprofit writer organization where members share and learn from programming ESWA provides on Thursdays. I taught Thursday, October 16th, 7:30-9pm ET on Zoom, and the recording is archived for ESWA members.
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Flying Rabbit Circus Presents: Damsels NOT in Distress
Flying Rabbit Circus presents a celebration of self-identified damsels NOT distressed, distressed AF, and everything in between. For our feminists, queer queens, and mother earth herself, we are living in a time where distress is lurking around every corner and at the bottom of every doomscroll. But for one power hour, we will stand in community, feel empowered to share our collective voices, and be emboldened to embrace joy as resistance to the anti-progress movements our country is facing.
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I read Saturday, October 25th, as part of this special evening. The community of these strong and honest creatives was exactly what we need in this moment.
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The Pinch Journal released issue 45.2, and I had the privilege of reading at their release party, along with very high quality work by other contributors: Whitney Collins, Kelsey Mahaffey, Robert Frankel, Darby Power, Emma Jones, Seth Wade, and Alexa Doran. Thank you to The Pinch for making writers feel so special and honored!
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Greater Austin Book Festival
Speculative Fiction Panel
I chatted with fun authors G.M. Gray, Aparna Verma, Relvin Gonzalez, and moderator Becky Dean about speculative fiction at the Austin Central Library on April 26, 2025.
Kara Lenore and Britta Jensen Book Launch Party!
dancing, music, readings, and Q&A
We heard great music and readings from Kara Lenore's and Britta Jensen's new books on April 26, 2025. Nancy Knight and I conversed with Kara and Britta about their stories, process, and inspiration.
A Featured Reader Mouthfeel Press and Green Writers Press AWP Offsite Reading
I was so excited to meet my fellow pressmates Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo, Anthony Huerta Velasquez, Chim Sher Ting, and Reverie Koniecki, and hear their wonderful work out loud. I'm thankful for a great reading and to my friends who showed up, new and old! Meant a lot to me.
A Featured Reader at the Veil & the Flame
The Veil & the Flame was a spectacular show put on by Red Light Lit Austin's Loria Mendoza (@textualseduction) and Cristal of Cristal Experience (@cristalexperience). Each performer put their heart, soul, and body out there, with huge talent and skill. We felt it. And we loved every bit of it.
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Special thanks to Coneja (@coneja_) for her gorgeous dancing that embodied the spirit of my story.
Hollie Hardy and I were at the Lone Star Zine Fest 2024 on Saturday, October 19th.
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It was great to be amongst makers, having deeper conversations, and seeing cool zines and art. I love how raw and real the work on the ground is at each Lone Star Zine Fest.
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A Featured Reader at the Plaza Prizes 2024
The Plaza Prizes are international writing awards, ranging from poetry categories, to fiction, and even first chapter awards. You can enter the most competitions in the most diverse new forms.
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On October 16, 2024, I read my award-winning poem "The Bullet Renames," and the poems "Statue, Madonna with Child, Rare" and "Gimme." The writing was amazing, from 15 other winners. Their prose and poetry made me cry, awed me, and made me laugh. I'm so grateful to be amongst this cohort this year.
A Featured Reader at Hollie Hardy's
Lions Like Us Launch Party
Lions Like Us is Hollie Hardy's beautiful second poetry collection.
We had so much freaking fun celebrating the Austin launch of the book
on August 18th, 2024 at Vintage Bookstore & Wine, a lovely place that
feels like a rich man's 19th Century house, if his shut-in wife
loved books and crammed them in every creaky room.
We heard from the fabulous writers Bianca Alyssa Perez, Stephanie Yue Dehem, C. Prudence Arceneaux, Dale Bridges, S.C. Says, Shy-Zahir Moses, Kim Denning, and of course, Hollie Hardy.
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A Featured Reader at Red Light Lit Austin
I'm grateful to have read at Red Light Lit Austin again (this time on July 31, 2024). Each time I find it a delight to connect with the other artists and the audience. Spiderhouse Ballroom is such a cool space!
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The beautiful music, comedy, and burlesque rounded out the evening of love, sex, relationships, and bodies. Thanks to Loria Mendoza for her standout heartfelt poem and talented hosting.
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The anthology, Mixed Bag of Tricks, is a short story collection
featuring 11 international women. We celebrated the launch of the book
on November 18th, 2023 at Alienated Majesty, a bookstore that
loves the radical, the weird, and the lost. What a beautiful space.
Our book of misfits fit right in there. :)
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I could not be more proud of all the hard work and talents we've put in to make this anthology the best it can be. Such a group of talented, dedicated, funny, and smart women.
A Featured Reader at the Mixed BAg of Tricks Launch Party
A Featured Reader at Come As You Are
I read at "Come As You Are," a queer variety show, at Neon Grotto on September 5th, 2023.
May Buzzetti was an amazing host and I shared my story "Robot You" alongside the crooning of @jxckson.music and the laughs from @daddymaxcomedy.
What a fun night!
A Featured Reader at Art Expressions LA Studio City
I read a batch of poems loosely related to music for James Evert Jones' Art Expressions LA, Studio City Library on September 2nd, 2023. It was nice to see some familiar faces
in the poetry scene!
A Featured Reader at Red Light Lit--Austin Lounge Party
Red Light Lit hosted a lounge style reading on April 23, 2023. I was a featured reader along with the wondrous poetry and sparkling prose from Hollie Hardy, Tomas Moniz, and the vibrant host Loria Mendoza. Memorable work all around, in an intimate and cozy evening!
A Featured Reader at Red Light Lit--Anniversary Show
Red Light Lit's anniversary show, hosted by the talented Loria Mendoza on April 29, 2023, featured burlesque performances, poetry, prose, and comedy by Ivy, Diego, Devin, May, and Azucar.
And cake. We had cake.
A Featured Reader at Beasts of Bourbon
Beasts of Bourbon's inaugural show, hosted by Paul Corman Roberts, took place on June 15, 2023 at the Night Heron in Oakland. I was a featured reader along with Garrett Murphy and Vivian Tran.
A Featured Reader at Broke Up, Broke Down, Broke Even
The Racket Journal hosted an anti-valentine's day themed reading at The Sycamore in the Mission of San Francisco on February 2, 2023. I was a featured reader along with excellent friends and writers Syr Beker, Judith Serin, Marie Sinclair, Paul Corman Roberts, and Lauren C. Johnson.
The International Women's Writing Guild (IWWG) hosted a 24-hr worldwide open mic. We celebrated women's voices and solidarity around the world.
I read December 18th, 2022, along with Jennifer Elise Wang and Judith Serin, among many other talented poets and writers.
A Featured Reader at Hollie Hardy's Homecoming and Gallery Reopening
I was a featured reader at Hollie Hardy's Homecoming on October 14, 2022, along with the excellent writers Tongo Eisen-Martin, Cassandra Dallett, K.R. Morrison, Jennifer Lewis, Peter Bullen, Elisa Salasin, Sara Biel, Keith Gaboury, Tomas Moniz, Liz Cahill, Hollie Hardy, Miah Jeffra, Richard Loranger, Lisa Martinovic, Hugh Behm-Steinberg, Melissa Anderson, Garrett Murphy, Tracy Artson, Loria Mendoza, Riley O'Connell, and Kimi Sugioka.
Watch me read "Someone I Love Is in Oakland" and "A Small Death" in the video to the right.
A Featured Reader at Poetry Bread Presents
I read for Poetry Bread Presents on September 12, 2022, the poem: "Notes Taken in Research for a Poem About School Shootings." A beautiful radio show hosted by T.A. Niles. Read more about my fellow poets here: Grace Cavalieri, Sistah Joy Alford, Jay Rose Ana, Teresa Gallion, Julian Matthews, Rawle Iam James, Fizza Abbas, Jennifer Elise Wang, Dr. Michael Anthony Ingram, Mary Dezember, Julia Fricke Robinson, Sibuco (Tatenda Murangi), Doreen Spungin, Andre Brenardo Taylor, Rick Lupert, Sylvia Dianne Beverly, Elise Stuart, J R Turek, Vincent J Calone, Mbonisi Zikali Zomkhonto, J C Wayne, Chip Williford, and Hiram Larew.
A Featured Reader at Saturday Night Special
I read for Saturday Night Special, Hollie Hardy's long-running reading series, on August 30, 2022, with my collaborator and co-conspirator T.A. Niles. We read a collaborative poem on the theme of "Opposites" and I read a poem in response to one of T.A.'s. I also read from my chapbook Split.
Afterglow Party
I read "A Small Death" for Smokelong Quarterly's Afterglow Farewell Party on October 15, 2022 with the talented fiction writers Gwen E. Kirby, Alana Reynolds, Joel Hans, Cole Beauchamp, Jill Loomis, Elissa Field, Claudia Monpere, Suzanne C. Martinez, and Janice Leadingham.
Click here to watch the video.
The Featured Reader at The Cobalt Cafe
I was the featured reader at The Cobalt Cafe on November 23, 2021.
Click here to watch the recorded event. My reading starts about a half hour in, but don't miss the open mic readers! A lot of good stuff.
A Featured Reader at Club Chicxulub I
I read for Club Chicxulub on November 17, 2021. The event took place at DecoDance—a beautiful space on Polk and Sutter in San Francisco. It was a great experience, with synthesizers and wild SF energy. Check out Dev Bhat on Bandcamp, and the great writers: Ploi Pirapokin, Paul Corman Roberts, Noah Sanders, Carson Beker, and Michael Iafolla. Club Chicxulub has audio recordings of all their shows, which I highly recommend, because Dev's synthesizers really take each story to another level. Check out the audio recording of my story "A Grief That Shatters Oceans" here.
Vax Party
I read for Vax Party on April 24, 2021. I had the honor of reading with my friends and wonderful poets. Check out the writers: Stalina Villarreal, Elliot Harmon, Jessica Wickens, Andy Nicholson, and Marcus Merritt. Click here to watch the recorded event.
Presentations
I presented along with Kim Denning for Nerd Nite Austin at Barrel O'Fun on December 19, 2024 (and on Twitch).
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Nerd Nite Austin #165: Infrastructure Construction and Poetic Deconstruction
Us poets knocked it down together, after Russell Taylor showed us how things were built up in certain Austin areas for classist and racist reasons. I read two poems showing different approaches to knocking it down: "The Bullet Cures" and "Hell Is Definitely a Porta-Potty in Texas." Kim read her Pushcart-nominated "Borderland Suburbia" poem and "Ode to a School Breakfast Tray."
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Poetry of the 70s Conference
I read a paper for a panel during the conference in 2008: “Renshi: Poetry ‘Linking’ Cultures,” discussing collaborative poetry in the Japanese and American cultures.
9th Annual Massachusetts Undergraduate Research Conference
I read a paper for a panel during the conference in 2004: "Mutual Influence in the Films of Kubrick and Kieślowski," analyzing and connecting the films and creative choices of directors Stanley Kubrick and Krzysztof Kieślowski. MURC has been going on for a long time!
8th Annual Massachusetts Undergraduate Research Conference
I was chosen to read poetry for a panel during the conference in 2003. MURC has been going on for a long time!