Poet Laureate of Virginia

It has been twenty-four days since I posted my last first draft on Tupelo Press’s 30/30 Project page for December. What a tight squeeze to draft a new poem per day throughout the holidays! This rapid-fire process helped my poetic peers and me gain noticeable momentum and insight during our writing marathon. For example, I realized my love for the Appalachian mountains and overhanging galaxies drives my poetic expression. In a future post, I will describe how I took that realization about mountains and galaxies to The Porches Writing Retreat in Norwood, VA, where I spent four days dividing my work into four book manuscripts guided by themes integrating light, mountains, and galaxies which anchor each book. I cannot divorce myself from writing about my rural Appalachian experiences for better or worse!

As a final touch to the project, a cento formed from our cohort’s December poems was posted on January 31, 2024, by fellow participant, Janel Galnares, a poet, teacher, and editor from Tucson, AZ. Janel created the cento from the five favorite lines selected from each participant’s daily drafts by each poet. We enjoyed watching the cento unfold into the manifold, interwoven lines ordered through Janel’s synthesis. Check out the cento before it is removed!

Kirsten Miles’s supportive words and craft talks throughout the project are an added, memorable bonus. Her efforts to support this small poetry press paid off for all of us! If you have any questions or are interested in drafting a poem a day for thirty days, reach out to kmiles@tupelopress.org, and she can provide the details.

Please check out January’s poets, Kathleen Decker and Joanna Lee! Both Virginia poets contribute unique and varied poems to the project, and it would be wonderful if you could support their fundraising efforts for Tupelo Press! It would be equally wonderful if you support my efforts or the efforts of another poet you recognize there.