In the late 1900s, a group of five NYC poets who had been meeting regularly to discuss their own work decided to found a new poetry journal.

Barrow Street was the result.

Our goal was to publish a wide range of poetry—stylistically and geographically—as well as poets up and down the spectrum from well-known and widely published to newcomers whose first publication might appear in Barrow Street. We determined to treat each poet and submission with the respect we hoped our own work would receive. Barrow Street was an immediate success and is still being published today, 20 years later, a testament to that vision.

Since then I have taken on a variety of editing projects.

At Pomona College, I was Managing Editor of The Emily Dickinson Journal, the foremost scholarly publication about Emily Dickinson. Working on it, I learned the nitty-gritty of academic publishing while exploring more deeply a poet whose work I have loved since high school.

Later, I co-edited with Kim Roberts the “DC Places Issue” of Beltway Poetry Quarterly. These poems went on to be published again in Full Moon on K Street, the first anthology of poems about Washington DC by DC area poets. Here is my introduction to the issue.

When Margaret B. Ingraham invited me to edit with her a poetry anthology for the 40th Anniversary of VCCA, I was thrilled to honor an artists colony which has given me such productive residencies. Entering the Real World: VCCA Poets on Mount San Angelo brings together previously published poems by more than 60 VCCA Fellows which refer to, are written about, or were inspired by residences at VCCA. I am proud of this collection, and the pleasure it gives to the entire VCCA community.

Since 2017, I have been Series Editor of the Washington Prize, The Word Works’ longest-running poetry book contest and imprint. The first volume I shepherded from selection to publication was Susan Lewis’ electrifying collection of prose poems, Zoom. The 2018 Washington Prize winner was Nils Michals’ brilliant Gembox. Since then I have been privileged to edit Annie Kim’s Eros, Unbroken, our 2019 Washington Prize winner which went on to win the Virginia Book Award in Poetry; Meg Kearney's All Morning the Crows, the 2020 Washington Prize winner and Silver-Medalist for the Forward Review Indies Book Award for Poetry, among other awards; and Sharon Suzuki-Martinez's The Loneliest Whale Blues, which won the 2021 Washington Prize—all stellar collections. Most recently, I have been fortunate to edit The Knife Thrower's Girl by Naomi Mulvihill, the 2022 Washington Prize winner. This latest prize-winning collection will debut in March 2023 at AWP in Seattle and is available through the Word Works website or Small Press Distribution (SPD).

 We are currently accepting submissions for the 2023 prize until March 15, 2023 through the Word Works website: https://wordworksbooks.org/submissions/the-washington-prize/. Our next winner will be announced in Fall 2023 and published in 2024. We look forward to reading your work!

During all these projects, I have also advised and consulted with many poets on their manuscripts, many of which have gone on to be published or win prizes. Working one on one with a fellow poet to shape a body of work for publication is a true joy. If you are interested in learning more about this, please contact me.