Today was the big start to my fourth residency. We had our first craft lecture this morning (which was absolutely amazing and I am really blown away by it), and then this afternoon, we had our initial workshop meeting, and it also was amazing. I got some incredible feedback on a poem that I’ve been working on for my thesis, and we had some truly edifying discussions about poetry in general. I really love the group of writers I’m getting to know this residency. Poets are my people, ya’ll.

I’m starting to compile a list of books and poets I want to read so that I can continue widening my experience with different forms and styles of poetry. As a genre, poetry is so incredibly diverse, it can be hard to keep track of where I am inside of it all, and while I love Goodreads and use it often, it really doesn’t work as a mode of keeping track of my to-read lists. I’m hoping this list of works and writers I’m starting this semester will allow me to be a little more organized in my continued study of poetry and other genres.

I’m also starting a list of presses, literary journals, and publishing houses that are responsible for publishing the books I’m reading. This is more to give me some idea of where I might be able to submit my work to when the time comes, but it’s also to help me organize which presses publish poetry so that, when I have a finished manuscript (if there even is such a thing), I’ll already have a list of potential places to send it. Now that I’m in my last semester, I want to both focus on where I am now as a writer as well as invest in habits that will continue to aid me in my long-term creative endeavors. Any work I do now will help me later. A former teacher of mine referred to this as “being kind to my future self.”

Residency can be really tiring, but they’re also motivating and inspiring and incredibly educational. I’m excited to continue learning tomorrow.