Published Poems
“Daughter Wild”
Young Ravens Literary Review (July 2019)
“Timetable”
Rogue Agent, 23 (February 2017)
“My Dream Post-Election Day,”
Thank You for Swallowing (January 2017)
“Gunshots and Fireworks are Sort of the Same in the End.,”
The Birds We Piled Loosely, 6 (January 2016)
“Caterpillars”
All We Can Hold (May 2016), online archive pre-anthology
“Exit Strategies,”
great weather for MEDIA’s 2019 anthology (August 2019)
We are in this together: how we want for
a simpler way out:
exit strategies,
a blossom lost in a field
of blossoms…
“Shopping for T-Rex,”
Whale Road Review, 1 (December 2015)
“Domesticity,”
The James Franco Review, 5 (December 2015)
“Before I Turned Away, the Evidence was Exposed.,”
Emerge Literary Journal, (December 2015)
“Where the Antelope Do Not Have Ears,”
Emerge Literary Journal, (December 2015)
“You Fill another Page,”
The Birds We Piled Loosely, 6 (January 2016)
“Babysitting: The Crisis,”
The James Franco Review, 5 (December 2015)
“Memory Stone,”
Rogue Agent, 7 (September 2015)
“Excavation,”
New Mexico Review, 2 (December 2015)
“Passing through My Neighbor’s Backyard,”
New Mexico Review, 2 (December 2015)
“The Healer,”
The Spooklet #5 (October 2015)
“Undress,”
Thank You for Swallowing (September 2015)
“For My Doppelgänger,”
Encore Magazine (June 2015)
“Visiting Rights,”
Analecta (2012)
“Medusa’s Garden,”
IUSB (Let your mind wander), September 2010
“Marital Secrets,”
IUSB (Let your mind wander), September 2010
“Under Supervision,”
IUSB (Let your mind wander), September 2010
“Over Coffee,”
IUSB (Let your mind wander), September 2010
“The Underside of Trees,”
Sleet Magazine, 2.1 (2010), as “McKenzie Lynn Sanders”
“Lost & Found,”
Analecta (2011)
Poetry Notes:
“Daughter Wild” received another nod from Wolverine Farm Letterpress in their 2019 Broadside contest. “Daughter Wild” was included as one of the finalists! Thank you to Wolverine Farm Letterpress, and their 2019 judge, Jennifer Givhan, for the inclusion on such an impressive list. I’m floored by the amount of positive attention “Daughter Wild” has received! July 2019.
“Daughter Wild” also received a nod from great weather for MEDIA for their upcoming 2019 anthology, in addition to publication with Young Ravens Literary Review. Though it will not be able to be included, I greatly appreciate the support of great weather for MEDIA, and the positive attention “Daughter Wild” has received! August 1, 2019.
“Bad Omens” was one poem of nearly 1,000 entries to Vocal Poets’ 2019 Poetry Contest, “Poetry-in-Motion,” in honor of National Poetry Month. One winner, and three runners-up, were selected for this contest. “Bad Omens” was one of the three runners-up poems, which included a small royalty and an absolutely beautiful visual poem representation of an excerpt of the poem. You can see the video of my poem “Bad Omens” by Julianne Waber here, and you can see the announcement of winners (and links to their poems and visualizations) here. April 2019.
“Caterpillars” was accepted for the online archive of the All We Can Hold anthology, leading to its culmination, printing, and release. The finalized anthology is now available here.
“Shopping for T-Rex,” my childhood memory / dinosaur poem, was nominated by Whale Road Review for Best of the Net 2016. Thank you, WRR, for your support and love of this poem!
“For My Doppelgänger” first appeared as a part of the Second Sight/Insight II exhibition at the Kalamazoo Institute of the Arts (KIA), alongside Flo Hatcher’s lithograph, Box with a Sky Window. Displayed January 2015—May 2015 before being picked up and published by Encore Magazine.
“Excavation” also received a nod from Horse Less Press for their December 2015 issue, in addition to publication with New Mexico Review. Though it would not be able to be included, I greatly appreciate the support of Horse Less Press, and the excitement “Excavation” has witnessed, then and since!
My chapbook (or chapbook-length poem), Dear Earth / There Are Birds, received an Honorable Mention for the 2014 Celery City Chapbook Contest in Michigan. I was also invited to read excerpts from the collection in Spring 2015. November 2014.
“Domesticity” received an Honorable Mention at the 2014 Western Michigan University Creative Writing Contest, in the graduate level division of poetry, judged by poet Adam Clay. March 2014. Here are the comments Clay offered for the poem: “In ‘Domesticity’ the poem’s violence is wrapped in surreal images that take on a life all their own, with ‘teeth [as] white scarecrows / after too many fights’ and ‘knives…charading / in children’s clothes.’ Perhaps what makes this poem even more compelling is what’s left unsaid, the violence that even language cannot understand.” There is also a short piece in the Western Herald about the Awards Ceremony, here.
“Lost & Found” was published in the in-house publication, Analecta, and received an Honorable Mention. January 2011.
Past Readings & Events:
In April 2016, I presented on poetry and the workplace in my panel, “Poetry and (Work)Place: Inviting Your Vocation into Your Poetry,” at the 2016 Kalamazoo Poetry Festival, during which I also presented a series of my poems alongside my fellow panelists.
In October 2015, I participated in an Open Mic celebration of Analecta’s open reading period for new submissions. Also reading were David Dodd Lee, Kelcey Ervick, Nancy Botkin, Clayton Michaels, et al.
Upon graduating and having my thesis approved, I was invited to read from an earlier draft of my first full-length collection, The Separation, as a part of the MFA/PhD graduation festival at Western Michigan University. May 2015.
To celebrate National Poetry Month, I was invited to read several of my poems at the Waldo Library at Western Michigan University to jumpstart the campus celebration. April 2015.
Upon receiving an Honorable Mention for Dear Earth / There are Birds, I was invited to read a selection from my chapbook alongside the winners and fellow honorable mentions. March 2015.
In January 2015, I was invited to share my poem, “For My Doppelgänger,” and to explain my ekphrastic process when comparing my poem to Flo Hatcher’s Box with a Sky Window, as a part of the Second Sight/Insight II grand opening at the Kalamazoo Institute of the Arts (KIA).
As a part of the now-defunct Hearthside Readers and Writers series in South Bend, based at Fiddler’s Hearth, I read monthly alongside peers and faculty based in the South Bend-Mishawaka area. 2010-2012
I completed a reading of my earlier work at Taylor University and received an Honorable Mention for my collection of submitted poetry. November 2010.
