I’m so proud to share that my prose poem, “The Master,” from Only Flying, has been published in Osho News! This piece is about the most beautiful dream I ever had, a dream whose essence lingered over my waking life for weeks, a fragrance of roses drifting in from the windows of the beyond. Read it here: “The Master”
The inspiration and community at the Castle Rock Writers’ Conference on Saturday was delicious! I went with M.R. Hyde, Maddie Van Batum, and Lisa Macedo from my amazing writers’ group, the Nearby Universe. Poetry track presenters included brice maiurro (ecopoetics) and Poet Laureate Marissa Forbes (historical poetry), who were both fantastic. The icing on the cake was a book swap: Only Flying and Pen and Pulse for Marissa’s exquisite, eye-opening collections, Surviving Peter Pan and Brief and Bleeding Margins. Score! I also walked out with two new poems in my pocket, and my fingers crossed for getting a cool indie bookstore to carry Only Flying. Fiction/creative nonfiction workshops were courtesy of the Gemini Writers’ Studio, and there was a panel on publishing for everyone. Thank you, PPSC, for sponsoring our attendance — we learned so much and had so much fun. Photos courtesy of Castle Rock Writers.
For the lover of Only Flying who wishes they could wear my beautiful book after reading it, I’m stoked to share that the fabulous Unsolicited Press has created an author store just for me! T-shirts, a tank, a holographic sticker and a few NSFW shirts too (I’m gonna have to start doing “Jump Magic Pants” at readings again). Thank you Unsolicited Press! Everybody, check out these and lots of other Only Flying swag HERE.
I was honored to read and talk with two fantastic authors last night on Literary Nights, a reading series from Unsolicited Press hosted by Rosalia Scalia, author of Under the Radar. Raki Kopernik read from No One’s Leaving, her piercingly tender and true new novel just released yesterday. I read “Once Upon a Time I Died” from Only Flying as well as previously unreleased work from both of my collections forthcoming from Unsolicited Press: Exodus with Red Delicious, due in 2026, and I Drink From an Ear: Real Ghazals, to be released in 2027. What an awesome night! Thank you, Rosalia, Raki, and Unsolicited Press!
Brook Bhagat 