“Paying Attention to the Silver Lining”
in This I Believe II: More Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women
Starred Review. Allison and Gediman’s newest omnibus highlights 75 more essays from the archives of the successful NPR program, a contemporary version of Edward Murrow’s classic radio show. Culled from writers both legendary and previously unfamiliar… each micro-essay stuns with its singular beauty, lucidity, and humility. Icons like Helen Prejean, Studs Terkel and Elie Wiesel find estimable company in heretofore unknown writers who distill their individual truths with affecting sincerity and admirable aptitude. —Publishers Weekly
“Choice”
in Room to Grow: Twenty-two writers encounter the pleasures and paradoxes of raising young children
“The writing and the experiences are rich enough that one can even recommend the book to nonparent friends.” —Kirkus Reviews
“From This September Day” and “Reunion at the Vietnam Women’s Memorial Dedication”
in The Other Side of Sorrow: Poets Speak Out About Conflict, War, and Peace
Independent Publishers Book Award
“Losing Face”
in About Face: Women Write about What They See When They Look in the Mirror
“Twenty-five female writers had one assignment: Look at yourself in the mirror, then reflect on what you see. The resulting essays are as beautiful and unique as each author.” —Shape magazine
“One Afternoon”
in A Coastal Companion: A Year in the Gulf of Maine, from Cape Cod to Canada
Silver Award—Association for Communication Excellence
“Stalled”
in The Long Meanwhile: Stories of Arrival and Departure
“The collection includes stories by well-known writers such as Alice McDermott and Lydia Davis as well as talented newcomers such as Anthony Varallo and Ellen Papazian MacBain. It also puts on rich display a wide variety of writing styles, from tender realism to disturbing metafiction. A real treat for language lovers.” —Joanne Wilkinson
“Turning”
in The Essential Hip Mama
“Hip Mama explores the real stuff of parenting with plenty of love and humanity.” —Utne Reader
A Mother’s Gift: An Inspiring Collection of This I Believe Essays Celebrating Motherhood
Macmillan Audiobook, introduction by Liane Hansen
“Skinn(mm)ing in Seven Cycles”
in A Dangerous New World: Maine Voices on the Climate Crisis (2020)
“Maine encompasses all the ecosystems—from seafloor to alpine peak—that are being scoured by the corrosive force of climate change. And this book is a reminder that people who love these places and communities will not surrender them easily.” —Bill McKibben, author of Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out?
“Springtime” & “Naming Begun”
in Enough! Poems of Resistance & Protest (2021)
“A powerful, prevalent, and unflinching collection of political protest poetry by Maine poets in response to systemic racism and economic injustice. These poems take a knee, a breath; they witness and name truths; they protest loud and clear, yet hold moments of silence between the pages. They amplify a nation in mourning while rising in defense of human rights and civil liberty. —Richard Blanco, Presidential Inaugural Poet
“Mapping” & “Motion”
POEMS in The Plague Papers (link above to read) (2021)
“In this anthology, the only one of its kind to my knowledge, we have asked writers to choose individual items from these collections, and to tell us about them in poetry or prose. The works are listed alphabetically by the names of the museums in which the objects are located. Like other forms of Ekphrasis, the resulting works may interpret the work in question, imagine its creation, comment on the difference between the work online and in person, or spin a narrative about it, but with the aid of the link included with each piece, readers can immediately visit the museums and see for themselves what all the fuss is about. This book will introduce them to institutions they may explore for themselves online and perhaps, after the danger has passed, in person.” —Robbi Nester, Editor
“Gratitude Bank”
ESSAY in Cabildo Quarterly (link above to read) (2020)
Exploring the earliest days of the pandemic of 2020. EXCERPT: “The last time I had seen her, she was stoned-oblivious, tipping over, hanging outside Dunkin Donuts downtown, but not oblivious enough to not recognize me as someone she vaguely remembered, and so we passed a few words. This is not the first time a shout-out recognition has happened on the outside with someone I met when he or she was an inmate at the local jail and I would explore life with them through the lens of children’s books. I know, it sounds impossible and crazy, but ask any of them, it’s a door opening into a deep interior of our shared lives.”
“Cachexia of Time”
PROSE POEM in Solstice Literary Journal (link above to read) (2019)
Finalist for the Stephen Dunn Poetry Prize, judged by Reginald Dwayne Betts
“My Ocean as the Blind Man Sees It”
Broadcast on Maine Public, selected by Maine Poet Laureate Stuart Kestenbaum (link above to read)
“My life partner, who recently passed, was blind from birth. When we came to each other, later in life, I had never known a blind person, and so I found myself, a very visual person, attempting to process what it was for him to not see. Until, of course, I soon realized he saw more than most sighted people. This is the only poem I wrote about him when he was alive.” — Annaliese Jakimides
“Isolation Assignment”
in Wait: Poems from the Pandemic (2021)
“What lives in these poems is not so much testimony as transfiguring vision —what the pandemic felt like from the inside. Wait is an invaluable book that brings us, as the pandemic has brought us in its mix of grief, vulnerability, and isolation, face-to-face with what it is to be human.” —Baron Wormser, Poet Laureate of Maine 2000–2005.
“I Tell Henry the Plate Is Red”
Essay about my Henry published in Breaking Bread: Essays from New England on Food, Hunger, and Family (Beacon Press), recipient of two Maine Literary Awards: the John Cole Award for Maine Nonfiction and the Best Anthology of 2022.