Hana and her copy of Gulf Coast!

I’m belated as usual, but I’m very happy to share that I had two poems published in the Spring 2023 issue of Agni (one of which is published online here), and one long poem, a retelling of Yé Xiàn, the origin story for Cinderella, in the Winter/Spring 2024 issue of Gulf Coast. Both of these journals are dream publications for me, so I’m really happy these poems found their homes there.

Myself and fellow inclusion interns Teri Vela, Priscilla Wathington, and Rowan Sharp.

I also completed not one, but three residencies at Warren Wilson since the first one in the US summer of 2022, and am currently working on my thesis manuscript. It’s been a life-changing experience so far, and includes some amazing DEIB work as an Inclusion Intern (pictured above). While I’m sad to step down for health reasons, I’m looking forward to producing some exciting new work as well as some critical craft lectures for my final semester.

Again, I’m late to post this, but I’m so happy to say I was able to attend this year’s Tin House Summer Workshop in person after two years of virtual conferences! Thanks to the incredible generosity of the Neilma Sidney Literary Travel Fund, I spent one week at Reed College in Portland, Oregon, studying with the inimitable Paisley Rekdal, former Poet Laureate of Utah and all-round impressive human bean. I was also immensely grateful to meet friends old and new in an invigoratingly progressive space while learning new skills.

I was also lucky enough to begin my studies at the low-residency MFA creative writing program at Warren Wilson College in North Carolina! It’s long been a dream of mine to study at Warren Wilson, whose alumni include Victoria Chang, Reginald Dwayne Betts, and A. Van Jordan, and I was terrifically excited to finally begin in July—and at a residency to remember, no less (bears, fires, fireflies, and covid, oh my!). I’m currently moving into the second half of the semester and I’m really thrilled with my progress so far.

Speaking of long-held dreams, I recently published a poem in wildness, a UK online literary journal offshoot of Platypus Press. I’ve been reading wildness and its stunning poems about desire since I began writing poetry seriously, so it was a real delight to be published there.

I also joined Four Way Review as an associate poetry editor under the ever accomplished Sara Elkamel recently, and it’s so far been a blast! The first issue I worked on was the Summer 2022 issue, and I’m really proud of all the poets who were featured in it.

That’s all for now! More news soon!

Another very belated update on doings of late!

As mentioned in my previous post, I was lucky enough to attend the Palm Beach Poetry Festival online as a Kundiman scholar with Matthew Olzmann and the Tin House Winter Workshop with Leila Chatti. Both experiences were incredible despite the restrictions of the online format — I’m very lucky to still be in touch with classmates and teachers from both cohorts and their amazing talents.

I was also incredibly lucky to be accepted into Warren Wilson College’s low-residency MFA poetry program for their summer intake. Warren Wilson is one of the oldest and most distinguished low-residency programs in the US, and I’m very excited to begin my studies there. I’ve already started preparing for what I’m hoping will be a rigorous two years.

And while I’m in the US I’ll also be attending Tin House Summer Workshop — for the first time in person! I’m really looking forward to studying with Paisley Rekdal, and meeting some wonderful friends for the first time in real life.

Before I head off though, I’ll be performing some poetry at a concert of new music organised by my dear friend Paul Castles! Conceived during lockdown, the concert will feature words, music, and art in response to transition, locality, and the lost intimacies between strangers. The poetry I’ll be performing will include extracts from a song cycle Paul and I have been working on for a few years, Nat/Jessie/Jimmy, as well as some new poems. I’ll also be narrating the lyrics of some of Paul’s work with other collaborators. A casual one-hour event, it should be a lovely night of new music. If you’re in Sydney at the end of May, you can get your tickets here.

Also back on again thanks to things re-opening is The Red Dust, which was postponed a couple of times due to lockdown. This time we’re presenting a smaller, more intimate development version of the show, with direction by Nate Gilkes, music by Nate Gilkes and Dr Nicholas Ng, choreography by Jia-wei Zhu, subtitles by Jing Han at the Institute for Australian and Chinese Arts and Culture (IAC), elders from Chinese Australian Services Society (CASS), and a company of brilliant young people from Marian St Theatre for Young People. The show follows a young Chinese-Australian teen as she searches for her mother in a post-apocalyptic, red dust-covered Blue Mountains, and features poetry, music, dance, and physical theatre. Rehearsals are starting soon and I’m very excited! If you’re in Sydney mid-July, do come along and get your tickets here!

More soon!