The Apostrophe Blog
I was overjoyed to have two of my poems appear in the Spring/Summer 2025 issue of the literary journal, Fence. Maybe it is because the way I feel about poetry—and writing in general—meshes with their raison d’être, an event that can be rare these days.
From their website:
“Fence is committed to publishing from the outside and the inside of established communities of writing, seeking always to interrogate, collaborate with, and bedevil all the systems that bring new writing to light. As a non-profit, Fence is mandated to make decisions outside of the requirements of market force or capital concern, and only in keeping with its mission: to maintain a dedicated venue for writing and art that bears the clear variant mark of the individual’s response to their context; and to make that venue accessible to as many, and as widely, as possible so that this work can reach others, that they may be fully aware of how much is possible in writing and art; such that Fence publishes almost entirely from its unsolicited submissions; and is committed to publishing the literature and art of queer writers and writers of color.”
Amen!
I also really liked that they eschew those (often boring, too often bragging) boilerplate author bios in favor of something entirely different and fun. Each author accepted for publication must submit a statement about what you have been reading recently and maybe a bit about why.
Here is what appears in the current issue about me and my reading habits:
I read widely, constantly, and eclectically; I have never been a candidate for those clubs where you are assigned a monthly book to read then chatter about. I am lucky to live six blocks from an outpost of Portland, Oregon’s Multnomah County Library where I can pick up titles I have on hold when my number finally comes up. That is how I was able to get my hands on a terrific new history by Manisha Sinha—The Rise and Fall of the Second American Republic: Reconstruction 1860-1920. Sinha not only expands our historical understanding of that much maligned era but offers original insights and perspectives that helped me to better contextualize our current political moment/nightmare. On a recent road/ferry trip to and from Whidbey Island, Washington, I ran out of reading material. Luckily, I found a copy of Marilynne Robinson’s 1980 jewel of a novel, Housekeeping, in a Little Free Library. It was just as good this fourth or fifth time around. Last week, I could not put down James, the newest novel from Percival Everett. A brilliant re-envisioning of Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn from the enslaved Jim’s point-of-view, it is horrific and hilarious, brutal and beautiful. Finally, I just finished Elena Ferrante’s The Days of Abandonment and am about to start rereading the first volume of her Neapolitan Quartet, My Brilliant Friend. Both of these novels recently landed on the New York Times “The 100 Best Books of 21stCentury” list at #92 and #1 respectively.
Interests: Reading, writing, not arithmetic. The art and craft of poetry. Photography. Vegetable and flower gardening especially heirloom bulbs and dahlias. Movies in real theatres. Theatre on real stages. Art in real galleries. Crossword puzzles and, of course, Wordle. Singer-songwriters like Aimee Mann and Patti Griffin. All kinds of music especially 1930s jazz. Venice, Italy! The Dude abides.
- Don’t Fence Me In! - July 5, 2025
- Nothing to Celebrate Today… - July 4, 2025
- Call It By Its Name - July 2, 2025
