A dear friend, Catherine Baab-Muguira, has just published her debut work of nonfiction last month, and it’s a winner. The Millions graciously gave us space to talk about Poe For Your Problems, which was a total joy, and featured nowhere near the requisite number of actual Edgar Allan Poe ghost stories. Next time!

This summer I was grateful to get to sit down with Brett McCracken to talk about his new book, The Wisdom Pyramid (Crossway). Two articles have come out of that conversation: a review of his book, as well as a longer transcript of our conversation, are now available at byFaith magazine online.

Even for those who don’t count themselves churchgoers, Brett engages heavily with contemporary sociological research on the ills and perils of digital overindulgence — well worth perusing for his insights there alone.

This one is a true thrill — Lithub has an essay written after my tenure as an enumerator for the 2020 Census, an exercise that, as I argue in the piece, is riven with flaws yet still harboring immense potential for our democracy. Thanks as always to the editors.

What a joy it is to join poets David Havird, Tiana Nobile, and Karisma Price for this month’s Poetry Buffet, hosted by Gina Ferrara. Readings are still held via Zoom for the time being; visit the Facebook event page for the link. The reading begins at 2pm on Saturday, October 2 — come one, come all.

Was humbled to learn yesterday that my collection “The Singing River” was a finalist for the 2020 Raz-Shumaker Prize at Prairie Schooner, one of the most distinguished publications and presses in the country. I’m grateful for this vote of confidence, and am so looking forward to Mónica Gomery’s new book when it appears. To all the poets out there: Read. Write. Persist!