This was so much fun to write, but even funner(er?) to try the amazing pickles, jams and honey from The Pickling Poet! Thank you, Stacey Harwood-Lehman, for thinking of me!

A Peck of Pickles and Poetry [review of "The Pickling Poet" by Jennifer L. Knox]

As a poet and cook, the pickle/poetry connection is obvious to me. A poem preserves a moment. No matter what emotion of that moment (wonder, surprise, grief, love, etc.), in its preserved poem form, we can turn it over in our hands and watch the light pass through it.

I'm so proud of my students! They hit it out of the park!

LAS students serve as readers for Bicultural Fellowship

Growing up, Kartika Budhwar struggled to find literature that represented her "working-class, bilingual, and culturally fractured" experiences, she said. Now she writes her own stories as a graduate student in Iowa State's MFA program for Creative Writing and Environment (CWE).

Collin and I won last summer's Ames Library pub crawl. I got to say my favorite line all night: "Pardon me, I don't normally look this way—I've been Christmas shopping." Collin sweated through that acetate smoking jacket. Perhaps something cooler this year..."Lord of the Flies"? All we'll need is a conch shell and tattered British school boy uniforms.

Here's a little interview I just did with Brainerd Carey for WYBC Yale Radio! Thank you for having me on, Brainerd!

Jennifer L. Knox

Jennifer L. Knox is the author of four books of poems. Her work has appeared four times in the Best American Poetry series, as well as in The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, and American Poetry Review last summer.

I'm thrilled that a new essay (and an ooooooold picture) are up the Washington Post!

I'm honored be named the 2018 Bill Pelz Arts Advocacy Award winner by the Ames Community Arts Council. "The award is for that person who generates enthusiasm for Ames arts events by taking every opportunity to promote and encourage participation at any and all levels: as an audience member, as a performer or as a behind-the-scenes volunteer." Thank you, Jim Coppoc, for the nomination and ACAC for spotlighting area arts and artists!

The 2018 ceremony will be Sunday, April 22, 1:30 p.m. at Octagon Center for the Arts. t's free and open to the public. Afterwards, let's go sing some karaoke or something!

"Bill Pelz was one of Ames’ most enthusiastic arts advocates.  During his tenure as Mayor of Ames from 1974-1975, he hosted the first fund raising event for ACTORS to obtain its building on Abraham Drive.  As mayor, Bill created the Ames Community Arts Council.  Today there are six board members and six representatives of member organizations.  Originally this body acted as an advisory group to the city council for funding arts organizations with revenue sharing funds available from the federal government.  Then and now ACAC serves as a coordinating and advocacy organization for the arts in Ames."

The Sunken Eyes of the Doughboy // An Interview with Poet Jennifer L. Knox

Jennifer L. Knox is a trapeze poet toeing the line between absurdism and realism with buckets of humor. She unwinds with wild words. Her four books of poetry are full of debauchery enthusiasts, loosened flannel, and half-gulped bottles of liquid relax.

BirdMan from Jenni Morello on Vimeo.

"How do you trim a parrots beak?" I asked Brian on my first trip. 

"I wouldn't recommend it unless their diets are deficient." 

"Really?" 

"No way—I've had one drop dead in my hand from the stress of it and I'm very, very good at it."

I'm in great company in the new issue of Spork. Thank you, Richard, for giving a fine home to five insane poems.