Steel acting as 'oracle' at Madison public library

Writing & Storytelling

Writing was an important part of my professional life as a graduate student & instructional technology consultant. I used to be a regular participant in storytelling nights in Madison, Wisconsin.

Writing about Open Education

While working as an instructional technology consultant at UW-Madison, I became increasingly involved in digital publishing, especially in relation to open educational resources and openly licensed textbooks. I published several articles on Medium (and my blog) connected to this work at UW-Madison:

Academic/Creative Writing

In February 2016, I wrote a short essay for CHE‘s Edge Effects blog about the history of radio broadcasting and the Wisconsin idea.

In May 2015, I wrote a short essay for CHE’s Edge Effects blog on Lorine Niedecker’s ecopoetics.

In 2012, published “Hollowing the Stalks,” a story about my grandparents in a special issue of EOAGH devoted to writing about dementia edited by Susan Schultz.

In 2012, I published two media projects that I had made dealing with silence, noise, poetics, formal constraints, chance, and the work of John Cage in the journal Enculturation.

In 2011, Lynn Keller and I traveled to Chicago to talk about poetry with Ed Roberson. The resulting interview was published in Contemporary Literature | pdf.

In 2010, I published an interview with the poet Mark Nowak in Contemporary Literature | pdf.

Storytelling

When we lived in Madison some friends of ours hosted regular storytelling nights whose format was based on the engaging, extemporaneous style made famous by the Moth. Laurel and I loved attending these events and often participated as storytellers. A few of the stories I told at public events were recorded (thank you Kevin Gibbons!).

Feast for the Beast

A story about a tiger attack at a zoo fundraiser and my first foray into ‘beautifying’ water towers with spray paint.

Feats for tha Beast artwork
18 year old me, in front of the water tower in question

Grimethorpe

A story about a being a Mormon missionary in the northeast of England and visiting an economically depressed mining village.

20 year old me, leaning against a burned out car on a council estate in the Northeast of England.

Touching Someone and Being Touched (with Laurel)

A two-part story that Laurel and I told about falling in love with one another. Each of us told our version of the same story while the other person was out of the room, so the audience was able to hear back to back versions but we didn’t hear each other’s stories until we listened to the recording afterward.

The Boise Public Library!

How the Boise Public Library became a LIBRARY! 

There are No Coincidences

A short impromptu ghost story from my teen years in Boise.