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So happy to have placed 3rd in Midway Journal’s Contest! Congratulations to the other winners and finalists and big thanks to judge, Lee Roripaugh, Ralph Pennel, Suzanne Richardson, and all of the editors of Midway Journal. From their promotions, here’s the complete list:

Winners:

1st Prize: “Grooves,” by Jay McKenzie

2nd Prize: “Beak,” by Meggie Royer

3rd Prize: “How to Avoid or Survive a Crocodile Attack,” by Koss

Honorable Mention: “Mushroom Hunting: A Villanelle for The End of The World,” by Emma Kaiser

Lee Horikoshi Roripaugh had this to say about the first-place winner:

“Grooves” sings its strange song with verve, elan, and surrealistic flourish. The language here is a tour de force of musical word play and sonic artistry. With powerful subtexts of desire, pain/self-harm, ritual, and the sacrifices of art, this story is a dazzler.

Finalists:

JJ Pena

Kelly Gray

Tiezst Taylor

Chey Dugan

Ryan Russell

Sejal Spicely

Rachel Bae

Jennifer Pinto

Lynne Schmidt

Nicole Reed

Jordan Franklin

Semifinalists:

Richard Hamilton

Zachary Bos

William Preston

Hunter A. Allund

Debra Coleman

Joe Dooley

Pamela Balluck

Look forward to reading the winners and the issue in October!

Honored to have a micro review in Bending Genres written by poet, Matthew Freeman! Check it out here, and find out more about the book on Diode’s site. You can purchase there, or, if you’re in the U.S. I still have some copies as of 9/13/25.

Very grateful for this interview in (Re) An Ideas Journal, today. Thank you, Kristine Esser Slentz for your time and thoughtfulness in this interview. And thank you, Felice Neals and H.E. Fisher (editors) for the publication. So honored! We talk about grief, healing, trauma, religion, and writing queer and working class. Be sure to read the whole issue as it has great poetry, art, and other creative goodness!

Pleased and surprised to find this lyrical book review by Barton Smock, a brilliant language-kind-of-poet with a heart. Barton published one of the poems (the last long list poem) in Isacoustic, his journal, a few years ago. Find the review here.

Very surprised and grateful for this spicy book review by Jerome Berglund in Heterodox Haiku. It makes me feel good when someone gets pleasure out of reading my work. Here is a little excerpt, but please, if you have a few minutes, check it out here. And check out the ‘zine while you’re there!