About

I have published three books of poems -- Nests in Air, Reveilles, and The Narrow Circle, as well as several chapbooks of poems and/or translations. In 2018 I was a poet-in-residence at the Tomaž Šalamun Poetry Center in Ljubljana, and I have also held residencies at the Vermont Studio Center and the Millay Colony for the Arts. I occasionally work as an editor and letterpress printer for Convulsive Editions, a press I co-founded in 2011. In addition to my work at Loyola, I teach creative writing at the University of Chicago and in the MFA in Writing program at the School of the Art Institute. I split my service work between my passions for poetry and for environmentally-sustainable, socially-inclusive transportation. In that capacity, I volunteer as an editor and advocate for the Active Transportation Alliance, an organization in Chicago that promotes equitable and sustainable transportation options.

My teaching philosophy has a dual mission: to help students master specific learning content in an inclusive, student-centered classroom, while also engaging them in skills and reflections that will enhance their lives outside of school. As the poet Robert Hass writes, “A poetry that makes fresh and resilient forms extends the possibilities of being alive.” The more we engage with the specifics of a poem’s form, the more we experience a unique, resilient moment of life. Similarly, in my core writing courses, students work to master “fresh and resilient forms” of argument that not only help them succeed in their college courses, but enhance their ability to act as engaged citizens throughout their lives.

Degrees

• BA, Loyola University Chicago
• MFA, University of Iowa
• MA, University of Wisconsin Madison

Awards

• Tomaž Šalamun Prize, Verse Magazine, 2017
• Best of the Net Nominee, for poems published by Matter Monthly, 2016
• Winner, National Poetry Series, 2012
• Winner, Crashaw Prize, Salt Publishing, 2009
• Linda Hull Memorial Poetry Prize, Crazyhorse, 2003