Photo by Marc Perlish
Welcome! Thank you for visiting. I appreciate your interest.
University Press of Mississippi published my most recent book Poor Gal: The Cultural History of Little Liza Jane in November 2023 as part of its American Made Music Series. Poor Gal chronicles the extraordinary journey of the “Liza Jane” family of songs, one that touches people from many different sides of the American experience. These songs date back more than 160 years and are irresistibly vital today. In October 2024, Poor Gal received a Special Recognition Award from the ASCAP Foundation in its annual Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Book Awards.
All told, I’m the author of eight books and chapbooks, including Metacarpalism (poems) and non/fiction (stories). Poems, flashes, and stories have appeared in Ploughshares, Prairie Schooner, American Scholar, TriQuarterly, The Iowa Review, Best American Poetry, The Penguin Book of the Sonnet, and many other publications. I’ve received grants and awards from the Maryland State Arts Council, Arts & Humanities Council of Montgomery County (Md.), the Bread Loaf Writers Conference, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation, and Women in Film & Video, among other organizations.
Speaking of film, I’m co-director of a forthcoming documentary that centers on the abovementioned song “Little Liza Jane.” And speaking of song, I was vocalist for the hard-charging 2022 post-punk album States of America released by rock band Joy on Fire. Singles and videos debuted on NPR’s All Songs Considered, Jammerzine, American Pancake, 25YL, and a host of international film festivals. With Joy on Fire and other groups, I have performed at the Black Cat, An Die Musik, John & Peter’s, Metro Gallery, Velvet Lounge, and several other iconic music spaces.
Otherwise, I’m a connoisseur of stout and pancakes. Often I think about John Coltrane, Joy Division, Frédéric Chopin, the poetry of Paul Celan, the prose of Clarice Lispector, and the paintings of Chaim Soutine. I cheer for Swansea City and I do the crossword in ink. I love foxes, and you ain’t half bad yourself, my friend. Reach out. Let’s talk.