My poem “Jessica Lights the Candles,” written while I was doing scholarly research on The Merchant of Venice and informed by the play, is now available to read here in Empyrean Magazine online. You can also find […]

I’m delighted and honored to be awarded the 2023 Virgil Thomson Fellowship by the Society for American Music for “Analyzing Rosa Rio’s Accompaniments for Silent Film,” which is a part of my larger book project t […]

A History of the Island by Eugene Vodolazkin. 4/5
In preparation for this novel, I read the author’s previous epic work, Laurus. As some reviewers have already mentioned, this is a continuation of that novel, and […]

Writing About and With Music: An All-Genre Generative Workshop

After reading a few poems about music, we’ll spend time listening to several different works and writing as we listen.

INSTRUCTOR: Kendra P […]

I’m honored to have my poem “Driving Away From the Mountains” included in Mother of the Earth, a poetry anthology published by Woman Scream, an initiative of UN Women: Generation Equality, which works “in 12 […]

The Fairy Bargains of Prospect Hill by Rowenna Miller.3/5
You know, from the very first pages, what the bargains are going to do, and who’s going to have to pay for them. So you spend the first 60% of the book […]

Without Children by Peggy O’Donnell Heffington. 4/5
This is a well-researched and interesting read about the many reasons people–particularly ciswomen and some transmen–do not have children–economic, physical, […]

I’m teaching two workshops for Writespace Houston in March on Zoom. Come join me!

Writing About and With Music
Saturday, March 4, 9:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. CST on Zoom
Ekphrasis (eck-FRAY-ses) is writing about a p […]

Kirkus is featuring Protectress in its Jan 1, 2023 issue! (On the same page as Stephen King!) Order your copy here.

Apparently I missed posting a number of NetGalley reviews written in 2021 for books being published in 2022. Apologies!

The Gravity of Existence by Christina Sng. 5/5
An absolutely brilliant collection of tiny […]

I’m delighted to have three poems–“She Calls It a Fairy Tree,” “Replenish,” and “Ghost Jam”–in Woodlands, a new poetry anthology featuring poems from 49 writers on forests, the woods, the mysteries of nature, […]

I was looking over some documents and PR things for some upcoming events and realized that the Preston in my name was missing from some of them. This happens all the time and I guess I get it–I do use just […]

My January is off to a fast start. Here’s where I’ll be and what I’ll be doing.

First, I’m headed to Chattanooga, TN for the premieres of Waters Rising, my new opera with composer Tim Hinck, commissioned […]

For the winter solstice, one of the greatest pieces of Arthurian poetry ever written: “Winter Solstice, Camelot Station,” by John M. Ford.

5/5, in no particular order
Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H
The Secrets of Hartwood Hall by Katie Lumsden
The Strange by Nathan Ballingrud
The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Brammer
The Essential Peter S. […]

I’m teaching two Writespace Houston workshops in January. These are both on Zoom, so anyone anywhere with an internet connection can participate. Writespace also offers scholarships; apply here! All levels of […]

White Cat, Black Dog by Kelly Link. 4/5
I liked a lot of these tales, some of which I’ve encountered before, and was honestly kind of bored by others. I enjoyed The White Cat’s Divorce–which I also read as an a […]

Sense of Self, my opera with composer Lisa Neher, is now free to watch here on YouTube. This video premiere was created by Opera Elect, a wonderful small company that did a stellar job bringing this work to life […]

Protectress just got reviewed by Kirkus! Here’s what they had to say:

In this ingenious novella-length prose poem by Leonard, Medusa finds herself at the epicenter of a modern-day feminist power […]