January Paper Boat
Somehow, the new year seems to be both dragging and chugging along. Both brisk and slow, as January is wont to be sometimes. We’ve had quite a bit of snow and cold in Chicago so far, which feels unduly personal when the digital world feels so jagged and depressing. I am trying to stay focused even when the constant barrage of terrible news is unceasing and overwhelming—working more on poems in the SWINE DAUGHTER series (which you can catch in some #workinprogress snippets on IG) as well as some more edits on the second act of the play, on which I vacillate between its genius and its ordinariness (sometimes all in the same hour.) Of course, perhaps at a time when I most need art to function, it fails me sometimes. It occasionally feels like yet another thing we have to continue to do as the ship goes down (playing the violins and making the beds on a Titanic full of water already. ) I don’t have answers on how to navigate it—the decline and disillusionment we all feel. The drag of it on our limbs. I look for moments of lightness: a few sunny and clear but cold days. A slice of lemon pie. Good coffee. Covers to design and collages to make. I’ve also included a few thoughtful prompts for romanticizing your winter down below.
news & bits
CLOVEN, my collection of poems and collages, dropped quietly into the world at the top of the new year. You can pick up a signed copy in the shop, or you can get ahold of both volumes of THE ANTIQUITIES series of which it is the second volume along with 2024’s GRANATA at a discount. Stay tuned for news on the next volume in that series, HERE BE MONSTERS, which i will be sharing more on as I work on it this summer.
I recently started a new collage and poem series based on the Bluebeard fairytale that I plan to be a small zine/artist book for February amid Valentine’s Day festivities. It will likely be an e-zine for the public and a fun little print edition for Patreon subscribers.
Patreon
Over on Patreon, you can still get access to all the digital exclusive content for only $3, as well as join the bookish bundle tier for $13. This months selections include a signed copy of CLOVEN and a mini-easel calendar for your desk featuring collages made in the past year, plus some postcards and other goodies.
@ the blog
This month. I talk a little about female myths and epics in re: to CLOVEN, the dangers of doomscrolling, merging art and writing, desktop publishing across three decades, creative combustion points, and finally getting to see Phantom of the Opera on stage.
some poetry prompts
for romanticizing wintertime….
Write about the first snowfall as if it’s a long-awaited letter finally arriving, and what message it brings.
Describe the feeling of coming inside from the cold—the shock of warmth, the peeling away of layers, the return of sensation to your fingertips.
Capture the specific quality of silence after fresh snow, as if the world is holding its breath.
Write about winter light—how it slants low and golden through bare branches, making ordinary things look precious.
Describe a warm drink cupped between cold hands as an act of devotion or self-love.
Write about frost on a window as a kind of art, temporary and intimate, meant only for you.
Capture the romance of early darkness—candles lit at 4pm, the coziness of being tucked away while the world outside grows blue.
Describe bare trees not as dead or lonely, but as elegant, honest, stripped down to their essential beauty.
Write about the sound and sensation of walking through snow—the crunch, the muffling, the way you leave evidence of where you’ve been.
Capture the moment of watching your breath become visible in cold air, as if your inner warmth is made tangible and real.