Personal essays always scare me as a form because you can't dress up what you're saying as much as in a poem, but I am excited to have my essay "“Some Slightly Connected Thoughts on Crafted Vulnerability, Stage Fright, Beauty, and Gratitude” up in the POWER OF POETRY SERIES at THE POETRY QUESTION. 

Here's a quote from it that feels a little like a summary of some of my past work:
"For nearly a decade I have been writing toward a poetics that helps me feel like I can control my life; by my life, mostly I mean my brain, which has always been a pretty chaotic place. The power of confessional poetry for me has been less about cleaning out my closet and more about organizing the yard sale. There are boxes that go straight to the dumpster. Here’s a thoughtful display of the junk of my life you will see. Look at it neatly arranged in couplets or a sonnet box. You may take it with you for $15 if you promise to leave the premises immediately. "

I am also very excited to have my poem, "The Rapists Seem Hurt by Being Called Their Names in Public" in he latest print issue of THE JOURNAL. There's some other gems in there (Fatimah Asghar, Emily O'Neill, Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib...). Definitely worth getting yourself a copy. They're all fancy and stuff. 

I'm really grateful to have been asked to participate in this series for Sundress in which they ask poets to do an audio recording of a poem that is essential to their bookshelves and then answer a series of questions about the poem. I chose "Long Lines to Stave Off Suicide" by Rachel Zucker from her fantastic book, Museum of Accidents. I'd like to think I said some smart sounding things about it:

https://sundresspublications.wordpress.com/2015/10/01/lyric-essentials-stevie-edwards-reads-long-lines-to-stave-off-suicide-by-rachel-zucker/

Apparently Lindsey dog eared the following pages of Humanly:

4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 23, 25, 27, 31, 33, 34, 35, 39, 40, 42, 43, 44, 55, 60, 62, 65, 67, 68, 75, 76, 79, 81, 82, 88, 92, 93, 94. 109, 113

That's over 1/3 of the pages. It's pretty neat to know a thoughtful reader felt moved by that many pages. I suppose that's really all I wanted with this collection (you know, suitcases of money would be cool, too). 

​Parts of this poem have been Tumbled  (is that the verb for Tumblr?) around 10,000 times. If I had a nickle...

I have a brand spanking new piece, "After the Vigil for the Charleston Church Massacre," up in Rattle's "Poets Respond" series.  While it's a little nerve-wracking to submit such fresh work (the guidelines require the poem to be written in response to events from the past week), I think this series is a great opportunity for bearing witness, and I really encourage others to submit to it. 

I've got a Q&A up at Pine Hills Review. This April I had the pleasure of reading at The College of Saint Rose (where Pine Hills is out of).  Check it out! http://pinehillsreview.strose.edu/stevieedwardsqa/

I kind of have a lit mag crush on The Offing, so I am really excited to have a piece in their micro section: "Notes for Cancelling Class." Also, they have free open submissions this week! Get your work in. 

Excited to be in the "Shedding Skins" spotlight series for Winter Tangerine Review, alongside the likes of Adam Falkner, David Winter, J. Scott Brownlee, and some other fine folks. It's a pretty neat project where they asked for at least two earlier drafts of a poem and for a statement walking through the revisions we made. Not going to lie, having my early drafts published makes me a little nervous, but it is pretty neat to look at earlier drafts from the other contributors. http://www.wintertangerine.com/ss-edwards-recent-convert

Winter Tangerine Review, which I think is one of the most exciting young lit mags out there right now, has published a really generous  review of Humanly:

"Edwards is uncanny in her ability to take the basest of images and convince you to feel it like a thunderstorm or a knife, like a gripping prayer...Even as Humanly quiets the heart with its bold truths, familiar images, and sharp wit, it forces us to want, to make our voices a little louder. To be, like its pages, unflinching and unforgettable."
--Shakthi Shrima

Click hear to read more.

I have an interview up at Words Dance with SaraEve Fermin: http://wordsdance.com/2015/05/the-dance-interview-series-stevie-edwards/

I talk about Humanly, writing process, Michigan, confessional poetics, and some other stuff.

Here's my favorite thing I said:
"After all, what is more surreal than surviving what reason says should have killed you?"