About

I am a lifelong Michigander and Associate Professor of English and Communication. I consider myself to be a poet of place, and I collect regional poetry while traveling to better understand a poet's connection with their environment. Topics in my work revolve around the natural world, ekphrastic expression, relationships, healing through humor, and growing up in mid-Michigan.

My full-length manuscript Venus of the Midwest was named as a semi-finalist in the 2023 Marystina Santiestevan First Book Prize - Conduit Books & Ephemera and was a finalist for the 2024 Howling Bird Press Poetry Contest.