Delighted to say that the St Joe Bricks article is now live at 64 Parishes magazine — my thanks again to the editors and to all those who aided in the research. We hope to add additional photos from the brickyard that didn’t make it into the print version, so check back if you’re interested and I’ll post an update if and when that happens.

What a joy to serve once more as a judge for the Mississippi state finals of the 2023 Poetry Out Loud competition, held this year at Mississippi Public Broadcasting on Thursday, March 9. The contest is open to the public and always features amazing poems — if you’re in the area, drop by!

I could not be more delighted: next month, 64 Parishes magazine will be hosting a publication party to celebrate the release of its spring issue, and I’ll be joining editor Erin Greenwald for a public conversation about an article in that issue exploring the history of the St Joe Brick Works in Pearl River, LA. Best of all, brickmaker Chris Schneider of the Schneider family will be joining us for the conversation as well, and bringing historic artifacts from the brickyard for display.

The party is free and open to the public, from 6-8pm on Thursday, March 9, at the Maritime Museum Louisiana in Madisonville, LA. More info on the event Facebook page — I’ve been told to come hungry (and thirsty)!

As part of their recent focus on micro-poetry, as they prepare for the publication of their much-awaited Netsuke series, Tilted House has a very short (though not quite micro micro) poem up on their digital magazine. My thanks to the editors, who are also raising funding for a new batch of publications — details here.

And in case you’re wondering, yes, this happened.

I’m delighted to report that with the airing of our interview with Bill Bleyer, Crime Capsule has reached its 50th episode — a wonderful milestone we celebrated with our first-ever book giveaway on-air. The last 18 months have been an amazing journey, and I couldn’t be more grateful Arcadia, Evergreen, and the Crime Capsule team for getting us this far. Part 1 of the interview can be found here, with even more episodes — and hopefully another 50 — to follow.