As a poet, writer, independent book editor, and teacher, I work to engender resonant words.
My third book of poems, Live in Suspense, was published in July 2023 from Trio House Press. My previous book of poems, Clay, was chosen by Michael Waters as winner of the Louise Bogan Award and published in 2013, also by Trio House Press. It was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award. My first book, Theory of Devolution, published in 2002 by the University of Illinois Press, was selected by Mark Doty for the National Poetry Series and was a finalist for the Lambda Literary and Publishing Triangle awards.
With Jim Elledge, I edited the anthology Who’s Yer Daddy?: Gay Writers Celebrate Their Mentors and Forerunners, from University of Wisconsin Press, which won the Lambda Literary Award for best anthology. With Philip Clark, I edited Persistent Voices: Poetry by Writers Lost to AIDS, from Alyson Books. I completed the book The Crisis of Desire: AIDS and the Fate of Gay Brotherhood for its author, my friend the late Robin Hardy, which was published by Houghton Mifflin and the University of Minnesota Press.
I have received residencies from the Anderson Center, Jentel Arts, the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center, Monson Arts, Ragdale, the Santa Fe Art Institute, the Saltonstall Foundation, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation.
In my work as an independent book editor, I focus on editing and developing narrative-driven books, from literary fiction and thrillers to memoir, history, and public and political affairs. I’ve edited books by Pulitzer prize-winners and recipients of the National Book Award. I work directly with writers on developing and editing their book projects, and I work with publishers and literary agents as well.
As a culture worker, I cofounded the Publishing Triangle, the association of LGBTQ writers and publishing professionals; I’ve served on the board of the Lambda Literary Foundation; and I am the literary co-executor of the estate of Paul Monette, whose fiction I published when I was a senior editor at Crown Publishers. At writers conferences and MFA programs, I have led a seminar called From Writer to Author, focusing on how our commitment to literary citizenship can support and advance our literary vocations and do good work in the world.
As a teacher, since 2007 I have taught poetry, nonfiction, and publishing in the MFA creative writing program of the City College of New York and advised students on their poetry, fiction, and nonfiction MFA theses. I have also taught courses at Rutgers and NYU.
I received my MFA from the Iowa Writers Workshop, my MA in nonfiction from the University of Iowa and my A.B. in English/Creative Writing from Princeton University. I live in New York City with my husband, Clay Williams.