I didn’t submit many poems to print or online journals in 2021. Fortunately, several of the poems I did submit were accepted, and in three instances the editors nominated my poems for a Pushcart Prize. Poems nominated in 2021 that are selected to receive the prize will appear in The Pushcart Prize XLVII: Best of the Small Presses 2023 Edition in December 2022. Keep your fingers crossed that one of mine makes it into the anthology.

While I wait to learn the results of the Pushcart selection process, I can share the poems here and spotlight the outstanding small presses who published my writing.

First, iamb ~ poetry seen and heard, a beautifully curated online journal that includes voice recordings of authors reading their work, published “Own Fault.” This contemplative piece considers the nature of relationships–between two people, between humans and the natural world, and between an individual and the task at hand. Alongside “Own Fault,” Mark Antony Own at iamb also published “Storm,” and republished “Driftwood — Olympic Peninsula,” which first appeared in River Mouth Review.

Next, Orange Blossom Review published “Like Ones We Took.” Editor John David Harding also recorded and posted a video of me reading the poem.

Finally, “This Room” appeared in the anthology Dark Confessions, by Black Bough Poetry. The wonderful publisher at Black Bough, Matthew M. C. Smith, also included “This Room” in an author spotlight, the Silver Branch series, in July 2021, along with several other of my poems.

I am grateful to these three editors for including my work in their publications, and for nominating three of my poems for a Pushcart Prize. Please check out their websites and the most recent editions of their publications for some of the best contemporary poetry available. I am flattered to be in the company of the fine poets whose work they publish.