Local Honey | Midwest: Miracle Whip

I’m delighted to announce that my essay “Miracle Whip” has just been published in Local Honey | Midwest. Last summer, I responded to a submission call from Local Honey | Midwest requesting pandemic inspired essays. Local Honey | Midwest is an online literary magazine for midwest writers. I’m not from the midwest, but my mom was born in Rochester, Minnesota, and my essay is partially about my grieving her death, so I guess I snuck in by association!

Just to add legitimacy, here is a picture of my grandfather and mom in Rochester back in the late 1930’s.

My essay details the difficulty I had with the sense of taste after my mom’s death, specifically how I could not manage to recreate the way she cooked. I write about how the shuttering of the buffet-style restaurant, Souplantation, triggered similar feelings of grief.

I talk a bit about the controversial condiment “Miracle Whip,” which was a staple in mom’s cooking. I realize that Miracle Whip is on par with the “Does pineapple belong on pizza debate” (for the record, a resounding yes- it’s delicious.) Yet, I hope that wherever your opinions on Miracle Whip or pineapple on pizza fall, you’ll give my essay a read. Thank you!

Cordella Magazine- "Belonging"

I’m thrilled to announce that my poem, “Belonging” was recently published in Cordella Magazine’s Field Notes. Please check it out here: Belonging.

I wrote “Belonging” several years ago, in Rick Bursky’s poetry course through the UCLA Extension Writer’s Program. It was a great class, really my first time writing poetry. Bursky was supportive and a wonderful instructor.

As a bizarre, “Only in Los Angeles” side-note, Francis Bean Cobain was one of my classmates. She didn’t call attention to herself, yet it was very clear to everyone that we had a semi-celebrity in our presence. The even more strange thing is, she is someone with whom I’ve always felt a bit of a connection, as two California kids who both lost their fathers to suicide when we were too young to remember them. I was sixteen when Kurt Cobain died, and I’ve always kept Frances Bean in my mind. Losing a parent, let alone to suicide, is a beyond shitty club that no one wants to be a member.

I finished at UCLA Extension in 2016, but didn’t start sending out my work for publication until Covid hit. It was very exciting when Cordella Magazine, a wonderful lit mag that supports women, picked up “Belonging” for its Field Notes section.

“Belonging” is loosely inspired by my former brother-in-law (first marriage), who was a landscape designer. He had a demanding client with a very fancy, expensive koi pond. Oddly enough, my sister-in-law from my second marriage is also a landscape designer. It’s definitely wonderful to have family members who create beauty in the world. I can’t remember the direct assignment for this particular poem, but I remember focusing on language and line breaks.

I’m simply very excited to see my work out in the world and I hope that you will check-it out.