2025 cost us so much. I almost gave up on writing this blog post—what has become my annual check-in to keep Chicks Dig Poetry from going dormant—but then that felt like just one more thing to be lost. So: hello! & Sal the Wonder Cat says hello, posing on the couch of my home office. (To be more precise, he offers his diffident gaze while awaiting kibble and pets.)
Here are some things that brought me joy:-Reading at Bowling Green State University (making it despite blowing out my tire en route on the Ohio Turnpike—and using my extra day in town, once my car was repaired, for a quick sidetrip to Toledo), and as part of the Nantucket Poetry Festival (where I experienced the most welcoming, fun home-hosting of my life, and enjoyed a sandwich on the beach + unforgettable light).
-My husband's month of artmaking at A.I.R. Studio in Kentucky.
-Successful heart surgery (his, not mine).
-Being in the audience at the Potter's House, Georgetown University (Anne Carson!), Hill Center, Folger Shakespeare Library (torrin a. greathouse!), the Edgar Allan Poe Cocktail experience, Woolly Mammoth, Martin Luther King, Jr. Public Library, Shakespeare Theatre (Frankenstein!), Kramers, One More Page, Politics & Prose, Library of Congress, Anthem, and Wolf Trap.
-The single best concert I saw was probably Josh Ritter at the Lincoln Theatre. He lifted everyone up with his energy.
-Being part of the 200-year anniversary of the Jefferson Literary and Debating Society by gathering with friends at the University of Virginia. This multi-day event included the Edgar Allan Poe recitation contest (for which I read "Annabel Lee") and the Moomaw Oratorical Contest (for which I gave a speech calling back to my probationary presentation entitled, "Burn, Rotunda, Burn: On Living in the Shadow of Legacy"). My relationship with Jeff Soc has been a complicated one, but this was a grand gathering that included a lot of amazing stories of various eras of the Hall, sweet reunions with old friends, and late-night talks over bourbon. It was good to see my dad's flag standing by the President's Chair, and refresh taking my oath of membership.
-Finally getting to see my friend Megan Marlatt's big heads in action. (Note, Edgar Allan Poe made an appearance in my 2025 three times over. Probably a sign.)
-Discovering the cherry blossom tree in our backyard is truly epic (last year, we moved in after the season had come and gone).
-A birthday outing to Glenstone with friends + terrific sushi.
-Karaoke night at the Taylor Family Reunion in North Carolina.
-Extending my relationship with the Hood College low-residency MFA, where I'm excited to mentor their three graduating poets this coming spring. In celebration of that, I did a reading with Dorian Elizabeth Knapp at the Frederick Book Arts Center that included sharing new poems. That event was an incredible introduction point to the FBAC space (run by the wonderful Casey Smith, a longtime D.C. poet and former professor at Corcoran College Art + Design). Casey sold me a spiffy flag that says "E pluribus unum ~ Protect trans kids" and is now hanging in my aforementioned office.
-Reading Gaby Calvocoressi's The New Economy.
-Having Made to Explode included in the inaugural selection of LitBox, a vending machine dedicated to books by D.C.-area authors. Though it has been a tough year to live in D.C., I am continually inspired by the makership of this community. I'm also thinking about American Poetry Museum, 804 Lit Salon, the Arts Club of Washington's Queer Lit Salon, the mothertongue anniversary celebration, and the anthologies put out by Washington Writers' Publishing House and Grace and Gravity. A huge highlight was the symposium on the life, work, and legacy of Sterling A. Brown, this city's first poet laureate. Not to mention beautiful, unique acts of protest—from a "Free DC" message crocheted on a Southwest park bench, to the melting "D-E-M-O-C-R-A-C-Y" staged in front of the U.S. Capitol.
I can't write any neat wrap-up here. We miss you, poets and artists who passed away—including Myra, Alonzo, Marty, Mel. I am grateful to my loves and family and friends. I am grateful to the people who find this to read it.
