What a beautiful night! There were fifteen of us who responded to Cortland's call to participate in his outgoing celebration for his term as Chapel Hill's poet laureate. Omaria Sanchez Pratt (who I read with last summer) and I were the only ones who read fiction. Omaria read a flash piece that really resonated. The poetry offerings were...

My friend and comrade Cortland Gilliam invited me and several others to read at The Cave in Chapel Hill this Tuesday, November 19, in celebration of his two years as Chapel Hill's poet laureate which are unfortunately coming to a close. I've seen Cortland do amazing things as laureate including having the idea for our reading last summer, which...

I set out for Wilson almost two weeks ago and hoped I'd find listeners, community, and revelry or some combination of the three. I think this was the farthest I've traveled for a reading, not counting when I read at an impromptu open mic at AWP in San Antonio back in 2020. The drive was peaceful and surprisingly suburban....

I've been invited to and will read at yet another Noir at the Bar reading at Larema Coffee House in Wilson, NC on October 5 at 7 p.m. This one is organized by Robert Creekmore who was the first reader at the Yonder reading I did back in July. I'm excited to be reading with Rob again. P.M....

On Thursday of last week, I read a piece of my novel manuscript TOKEN at Yonder: Southern Cocktails and Brew in Hillsborough during their Noir at the Bar event. This manuscript has been a work in progress since 2021. I received representation in summer of 2023 and have been working on the novel with my agent since then. The last...

I was invited to read at Noir at the Bar by fellow writer and parent of my grade school classmate Katy Munger and Eryk Pruitt. This reading will take place at Yonder Southern Cocktails & Brew (114 W King St. Hillsborough, NC) at 7 p.m. on July 18. I got to meet Eryk the other week at his...

A week before yesterday, I mounted up in the car I got after my Honda Civic was hit and totaled in December while I was idling behind a garbage truck. I bought my current car with some miles on it and was, honestly, a little worried about taking it all the way to DC. But I'd heard so much...

The reading yesterday was a success. I was joined by Omaria Sanchez Pratt, Cortland Gilliam, and Mtende Roll–each of whom had a unique and compelling aspect to what they read. Omaria's novel about the Greensboro Massacre made me want to know more. Mtende's poetry was uplifting and celebrated blackness and black identity. Cortland's work is always...

I will be reading fiction at Back Lot Garden Spot on Friday, July 14 at 6 p.m. There will be great food AND great art. The reading is entitled "Picking up the Pieces," and will contain poetry and fiction reading showcasing local writers Mtende Roll, Isaac Hughes Green, Omaria Sanchez Pratt, and Chapel Hill's Poet Laureate, Cortland Gilliam. We will...

Last week, I participated in a digital humanities workshop put together by my colleagues at NCCU Dr. Rachelle Gold and Dr. Kathryn Wymer and funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Two PhD students from Duke, Pratishta Bhattarai and Warren Lattimore, conducted trainings during the five day workshop. We were schooled on how to use...

On March 28th, in a month full of birthdays and anniversaries, I set out for Barnes and Noble in New Hope Commons (Durham, NC). But, this wasn't a regular trip to the bookstore. You see, just a few years back, I'd been living with my parents. They'd been worried I wasn't achieving at the highest level I could have and...

I had a productive summer in which I barreled through writing a novel and then immediately burned myself out afterward. I was going through a lot when I got a message that the NC State Friends of the Library wanted me to moderate a conversation with Jason Mott about his career and his new book Hell of a Book....

This Thursday, September 15, I will be a moderator for a discussion with National Book Award winner Jason Mott about his career and novel Hell of a Book. This discussion will be happening at Duke Energy Hall in the James B. Hunt Jr. Library as part of the Friends of the Libraries Fall Reception which begins at 6:00 p.m. ...

Last Tuesday I was invited to something called the 10:40 break in NCCU's Alfonso Elder Student Union. A nice woman from NCCU's Women's Center told me they were having a program honoring my relative Annie Day Shepard who was university founder Dr. James E. Shepard's wife. I agreed to attend, be recognized, and receive a gift as a relative of...

Lately I've noticed a lot of friends shying away from getting vaccinated for Covid-19 because of their distrust of the government and/or medical field. With numbers soaring, it's clear that the only way out of this pandemic is for people to face their fears. While yes, there have been instances of medical malpractice in the past, particularly...

Here's to a semester unlike any I've experienced before! I wasn't quite sure how to write about my first semester at NCCU because it was so unique. The circumstance as well as the student contributions made it very special. A majority of students gave and seemed to be receiving more than they'd gotten and given in other academic settings. Others...

During my second semester in the MFA program at NCSU, which coincided with the beginning of the pandemic, I took a class on Langston Hughes taught by the extremely well read Langston Hughes scholar Dr. Jason Miller. During the class we we picked final presentation topics which had to do with Hughes. Most of us never got to research...

It's been a busy but enjoyable first week of teaching at NCCU. Next month, in-between my classes, I will be participating in a few events both locally in the piedmont area and virtually.

Last week, I signed my offer letter confirming that I will be an adjunct instructor of composition at North Carolina Central University beginning this semester. It has been an interesting and involved process finding the right teaching job. I was worried that I wouldn't get any offers but ended up with a few. I chose NCCU because they offered me...

Today I opened my computer to begin working on my novel-in-progress entitled Token. I opened my e-mail first and found that someone named Kirsten had messaged me on LinkedIn because she'd seen my name in Poets & Writers!

Many of you saw my post about being published in The Georgia Review. I collaborated with a wonderful editor at the review named CJ and she had the incredible idea to submit my story for the 2021 PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers. I never thought I would have my name on PEN America's website...