Katerina Canyon

I am writing this from Jakarta, only a few hours after landing, with that strange airport feeling still in my body. The trip has crossed time zones, cities, weather, memory, and grief. About 24 hours ago, I was sitting in the Minneapolis airport waiting for my flight to Incheon. I was tired. I was between places. I was thinking about Minneapolis, a city I mostly knew through television until history forced me to know it differently. That is where this poem came from. Airports

Some poems arrive like a wave. They do not ask permission. They strike the body first, then leave their meaning behind like salt on the skin. Today’s 30/30 Project poem, “Message in a Bottle,” is one of those poems. It begins at the ocean’s edge, with tar between toes and the body moving through water, sand, kelp, and sound. By the end, the speaker has turned a scream into a note, placed it inside a bottle, and given it to the waves. This poem was written in response to a don

Some writing days arrive like a knock at the door. Others arrive like a reflection you were not expecting to see. Today’s poem for Tupelo Press’s 30/30 Project is called “Mirror.” The title felt simple at first, almost too simple. Then the poem began to ask what mirrors usually ask when we are willing to stand still: What are you looking at? What are you avoiding? What has changed while you were busy calling yourself the same? I’m sharing the poem below, along with a note of

I’ve had a year filled with creativity and challenges. I just completed my second book since Surviving Home, and now I’m facing the next hurdle—finding publishers for my work. This, of course, is easier said than done. I often struggle to find the time for submissions because I’m always writing—if I’m not writing stories, I’m writing content for the Peace Economy Project . For those who aren’t aware, I serve as the Executive Director of the Peace Economy Project, an organizat

I have anxiety, and it’s playing a game with my head right now. So what do I do about it? I start writing. Usually, I don’t know why I’m...

James Evert Jones, Eileen Carole, and I are in the process of starting a new online poetry and arts journal, and we are looking for...

Six Ways to Fight Writer's Block It is one of my favorite times of the year, and I've got nothing! I should not say I have nothing. I...

Yesterday, at work with Casey Family Programs, we had an icebreaker before our meeting, which was to give a shoutout to a woman we each...

Quite a few people have asked me about the dedication in my new book, Surviving Home, which says, "To Mozell, the screaming boy in the...

This week in The Canyon Poets Zoom poetry reading, we wrote and shared pantoum poems. Pantoums are poems that are found Malayan...