L to R: Trish Hampl, Colleen Coyne (P), Amanda Beck (P), Brian Laidlaw (P), David LeGault (CNF), Josh Ostergaard (CNF), Ying Huang (CNF), Brian Gebhart (F), Heather McPherson (CNF), Edward McPherson (F), Liana Liu (F), Josh Morsell (CNF), Jonah Charney-Sirott, me.

Here we are, the first year MFA candidates with our Reading Across Genres instructor, Trish Hampl. She brought us to the Loft (with which, so many years ago, she was a founding member) for a tour of the facilities, then out for wine and appetizers at Spill the Wine next door.

(U of MN) Writing Retreat: Cry of the Loon, 2008. See more here.

217 Lind Hall: I can't tell you how many classes I had in here as an undergraduate. Now, I'm back, but on the other side of the table. Intro to C.W. 2008.

The Loft Literary Center holds a poetry conference, featuring Martin Espada and Linda Hogan.

Also of interest: a panel on the poetry of witness, with local poets Bao Phi, Jim Moore, Jude Nutter, and Mike Rollins.

This time, it's Whitman: as a part of the Minneapolis Unconvention, a protest against the Republican National Convention, a collection of us are reading parts of Song of Myself outside the art museum on the Minneapolis campus.

Reading at Magers & Quinn:
Shana Youngdahl (chapbook: Donner: A Passing)
+ Eireann Lorsung (music for landing planes by)

Split Rock Arts: The Work and Play of the Poem, with Michael Dennis Browne.
July 2008. MDB was an instructor of mine as an undergrad at the U of MN and will be again in the MFA program; I thought it would be good to return to that just before delving into the seriousness of my new degree. The Cloquet Forestry Center is gorgeous, and there were plenty of wonderful classmates, including Laura Goldin from NYC and Wilt and Jenny, etc. I love these experiences--both to be outdoors and to celebrate poetry every day.

See more from the trip here.