Educational History                      

 

2015, Ph.D. in English

University of Louisiana-Lafayette

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2011, Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing

McNeese State University

 

2011, Master of Arts – English

McNeese State University

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2008, Bachelor of Arts – English

University of Louisiana-Monroe

 

 

Awards & Honors                          

 

Wallace Stegner Fellow in Poetry, 2016-2018, Stanford University

Winner, 2013 Swan Scythe Press Chapbook Contest

Semi-Finalist, 2013 Discovery/Boston Review Poetry Contest

Judge, Bayou Writer’s Group Poetry Contest, 2013

Best of the Net Nomination, “The Hard Lines of Our Bodies” (Trigger - #2, 2012)

Best of the Net Nomination, “Rayville, LA, 1927” (Trigger - #1, 2011)

Finalist, Standing Rock Chapbook Contest, 2012

Joy Scantlebury Award, 3rd Place, McNeese State University, 2010

William J. Dorè Writing Fellowship, McNeese State University, 2009

William J. Dorè Writing Fellowship, McNeese State University, 2008

Write to Excellence Professional Development Award, McNeese State, 2008

Rhysling Award Nomination, "28 Blackbirds at the End of the World," 2008
James Award Nomination, "Rhyme In Haiku," 2006

 

Publication History                       

 

Edited Books

Vision/Verse 2009-2013: An Anthology of Poetry (Yellow Flag Press, 2013) (Co-editor w/ Erica McCreedy)

 

Chapbooks

The Dissenter’s Ground (Hyacinth Girl Press, 2016)               

Flood (Swan Scythe Press, 2014)

Notes to a Husband (Imaginary Friend Press, 2013)

Lancelot (Lazy Mouse Press, 2013)

28 Blackbirds at the End of the World (Bandersnatch Books, 2010)

 

Anthologies

The Gulf Stream: Poems from the Gulf Coast  (Snake Nation Press, 2013) –

     “Boy, Age 9,” “On Seeing the Ocean from 35,000 Feet”

Vision/Verse 2009-2013: An Anthology of Poetry  (Yellow Flag Press, 2013) –

     “Counting Dust Devils: Early Season,” “Aubade”

This is Not a True Story  (Nous-Zot Press, 2013) – “The Deer Stand”

Improbable Worlds: An Anthology of Louisiana and Texas Poetry

     (Mutabilis Press, 2011) – “The Deer Stand,” “In the Backwater,”

     “The Frog Kings of Bayou Lafourche”

JMWW IV Anthology  (JMWW Publications, 2010) – “The Dirty Side”

The 2008 Rhysling Anthology (SFPA, 2008) – “28 Blackbirds at the End of the

     World”

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Broadsides

Boy, Age 9 (Atelier Poesie Press, 2016)

CNN (TNRS, 2015)

Night Fishing (Yellow Flag Press, 2011)

Aubade (Yellow Flag Press, 2009)

Counting Dust Devils: Late Season (Yellow Flag Press, 2009)

 

 

Selected Magazines/ Journals

The Southern Review, 2017 – “The Conversion of Saul,” “St. John the Baptist”

Birmingham Poetry Review, 2015 – “The Penitent Magdalene”

Louisiana Literature, 2015 – “First Letter Home”

Harpur Palate 13.1, 2014, “Alone in the Briar Thicket”

Pembroke Magazine #46, 2014, “Madonna of the Serpent,” “The Incredulity of 

     St. Thomas,” “The Rest on the Flight Into Egypt”

Tapestry #25, 2013, “The Men on the Levee”

Canyon Voices, 2013, “David with the Head of Goliath,” “Photograph of my

     Mother at Woolen Lake”

Burntdistrict – #2 Spring 2013, “Boy, Age 9,” “Beneath the Chinaberry Trees”

Aldus  1.2, January 2012, “Lambs of God That Impose Sins Upon the World”

     (Translation, Javier Lentini)

Trigger - #2, January 2012, “Poem,” “The Hard Lines of Our Bodies”

Crab Orchard Review – 16.2, Summer/Fall 2011, “Caernarvon, LA, 1927”

Louisiana Review – Vol. 9, April 2011, "Crop Dusting: Late Season"

Trigger - #1, January 2011, “Rayville, LA, 1927,” “Traiteur Nocturne”

Swamp Lily Review – January 2011, “Flood,” “The Gentle Knock,”

     “A Lot like Venus”

You Must Be This Tall To Ride – 2010, "On the Levee, Greenville, MS"

Rougarou – Fall 2010, "Jugs on the Shelf"

A Handful of Stones – May 2010, "they dance in the cool"

Yankee Pot Roast – April 13, 2010, "Andy and the Puma," "Hippies, Hair Metal,

     and How I Learned to Stop Watching Television"

Tipton Poetry Journal –  #17 April 2010, "Counting Dust Devils: Early Season"

JMWW – Fall 2009, “The Dirty Side”

Lilliput Review – #170, June 2009, “How to make a poem”

The Louisiana Review – Vol. 7, Spring 2009, “The Frog Kings of Bayou

     Lafourche”

The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature – April 2008, “Burnt  Fields,”

     “Night Fishing,” “This is the song that I sing…”

Expressions – Fall 2008, “Wonderland”

Doorways Magazine – #3 2007, “The Flaming Carousel: A Recant”

     (w/ Ana Spann)

Drown In My Own Fears – #1 September 2007, “The Fundamental Horror of

     Realization”

Chimaera Serials – July 2007, “Henrietta Remembers” (w/ Ana Spann)

Helicon Form 2 – March 2007, “The Years, Like Leaves”

Helicon – #42, 2007, “Expansion Theory,” “Geology,” “Pollination,”

     “Store-bought Spectacular,” “The Skink,” “Understanding Endtime    

     Prophecy,” “Veins”

Chimaera Serials – November 2006, “Blood In The Bourbon” (w/ Ana Spann)

Helicon Form 2 – September 2006, “From The Sculpture Garden”

Thick With Conviction – #4, July 2006, “Kinetics/Genetics”

Helicon – #41,  2005, "Agenda," “Insomniac Dream,” “In The Candle’s Glowing

     Light,” “This Love Triangle Only Has Two Sides Left”

The TMP Irregular – #37, July 2005, "Nightglow"

 

 

Selected Poetry Readings                                           

Word Crawl 2015, Lafayette, LA, September 2015

The Thursday Night Reading Series, Lafayette, LA, March 2014

Words of Fire/Words of Water, The Little Big Cup, Arnaudville, LA, Dec. 2013

Le Mot/The Word (Bilingual Reading), James Devin Moncus Theatre, Acadiana

Center for the Arts, Lafayette, LA. September 2013

The Thenstead Center, Grand Coteau, LA, September 2013

Voices Seasonal Reading Series, Carpe Diem, Lafayette, LA, June 2013

Vision/Verse 5, Central School for the Arts, Lake Charles, LA, June 2013

The Louisiana Review Reading Series, Eunice, LA, March 2013

Casa Azul Reading Series, Grand Coteau, LA, February 2013

The Gaines Center and UL Creative Writing Present Reading Series,

     The Ernest J. Gaines Center, Dupré Library, University of Louisiana- 

     Lafayette, Jan.2013

Vision/Verse 4, Central School for the Arts, Lake Charles, LA, June 2012

The Porch Reading Series, Lake Charles, LA, November 2011

The Louisiana Review Reading Series, Eunice, LA, October 2011

The Thursday Night Reading Series, Lafayette, LA, October 2011

Vision/Verse 3, Central School for the Arts, Lake Charles, LA, June 2011

The Porch Reading Series, Lake Charles, LA, February 2011

Writers Guild of Acadiana, Guest Speaker, Lafayette, LA, January 2011

Bayou Writers Group, Guest Speaker, Lake Charles, LA, April 2010

Vision/Verse 2, Central School for the Arts, Lake Charles, LA, June 2010

Vision/Verse, Imperial Calcasieu Museum, Lake Charles, LA May 2009

Fridays at the Center, McNeese State Write to Excellence Center, April 2009  

 

 

Conference Presentations/ Workshops Given                          

NUNU Cultural Arts Collective, Workshop Leader, “Chapbooks and Small Press

     Publishing.” Arnaudville, LA. May 3-4, 2014

Modern Poetry Discussion Panel, ENGL 319, University of Louisiana at  

     Lafayette, March, 25, 2014

Acadiana Wordlab, Acadiana Center for the Arts. Panelist, “Submitting Your

     Work as a Professional Writer.” Lafayette, LA. March 22, 2014

Ragin’ Writers, “Fiction Workshop.” University of Louisiana at Lafayette,

     November 15, 2013

Acadiana Wordlab, Acadiana Center for the Arts. Workshop Leader, 

     “Ekphrastic Poetry.” Lafayette, LA. April 20, 2013

The Louisiana Conference on Language, Literature, and Culture, University of

     Louisiana, Lafayette, LA. Paper Presented: “The Nintendo Generation and

     Entertainment in Fiction” March 29-31, 2012

The 3rd Annual Louisiana Studies Conference, Northwestern State University,

     Natchitoches, LA. Poetry Presented: “Flood (poems).” October 2011

Ancestral Memories: A Dialogue Symposium, University of Louisiana at

     Lafayette, Lafayette, LA. Paper Presented: “Chances for Freedom: Mary  

     Prince’s Acts of Rebellion.” June 2011

Southern Writers/Southern Writing Conference, University of Mississippi, 

     Oxford,MS. Poetry Presented: “Flood (poems).” June 2010

The Louisiana Conference on Language, Literature, and Culture, University of

     Louisiana, Lafayette, LA. Poetry Presented: “'27: A Creative Look at

     Desire in the 1927 Mississippi River Flood (poems).” March 5-7, 2009

BabelCon, Panelist, “An Introduction to Genre Poetry,” Baton Rouge, LA, July

     2008

Readercon, Presenter, “The 30th Annual Rhysling Awards for Poetry,” 

     Burlington, MA, July 2008

 

Editing Experience                        

Acquisitions Editor, Texas Review Press, 2018-Present

Owner & Publisher, Yellow Flag Press, 2008-Present

Poetry Editor, Rougarou, 2012-2013

Editorial Assistant, McNeese Review, 2010- 2011

Editorial Board Member, Fiction Weekly, 2009- 2011

Owner & Publisher, Spec House of Poetry, 2005-2009

Editor, The Shantytown Anomaly, 2005-2009

Assistant to the Editor, Turnrow, 2006-2008

 

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