Ringing Out the Old Year & Looking Forward to Singing in 2026!

The path to publication for a book is usually long and winding, or at least it has been for me, and I know I’m not alone. I first started to send out a version of my first book, Uncertain Acrobats, in 2015. It was accepted by CavanKerry Press after having sent it elsewhere approximately 60 times, and additional years passed between acceptance of the manuscript and publication in 2021. My second collection, Singing from the Deep End, also luckily found a home with CavanKerry, and it will be released on February 3, 2026. Years of rethinking the title, the order and structure, which poems to include and which to cut, and meticulous line editing – often with the help of writing friends and mentors – led to the last year of working with the CavanKerry team of managing editor, content editor, copy editor, proofreader, book designer, marketing director, and social media coordinator to bring the book to its beautiful finished form and start to share it with the world.

And all of that leads me to this winter, when I have received my author copies, the final publications of poems from the book are appearing in journals, and I’m getting ready to take this show on the road in virtual and in-person spaces to read from and talk about Singing from the Deep End. So, before 2026 and those engagements arrive, I wanted to take a moment to remember the journey and give thanks to those who helped make this book a reality – the amazing CKP team I mentioned, my incredible writing groups who read and respond to my work and share this writing life, the editors of journals that first published some of the book’s poems, and, of course, to those who inspired the poems themselves, especially my mother Marcia Hart, my children Monica Hunter-Hart and Max Olander, and in remembrance of my dear friend Jerica Mazzaferro. The book is dedicated to those four folks, but so many other friends and family and poets have shaped and supported this work along the way. Gratitude to my wonderful communities and the ways they lift me up!

CavanKerry Press social media maven Tamara Al-Qaisi-Coleman created a book trailer for Singing from the Deep End, featuring the poem “What Heidi Knew” and advanced praise from poet Kirun Kapur. Check that out here:

Four poems from Singing from the Deep End were published in the Winter/Spring 2026 print issue of Poetry Northwest, as an “In-Progress” feature, which also includes an author’s note about the project and composition. I’m kind of beside myself about this publication, which arrived gift-like in my mailbox on Christmas Eve! I’m glad I got the chance to honor my CKP content editor Baron Wormser there, and I extend deep gratitude to PNW editors Keetje Kuipers and Gabi Graceffo and the PNW team for including my work in such a special spread.

I’m also thrilled that Yellow Arrow Journal published my poem “The Last” from Singing from the Deep End in their “Kairos” print issue. Additionally, they selected me for their 79th “.Writers.on.Writing.” feature, up this month on their website. This monthly interview series is designed to help readers “Get to know our authors, the foundation and heart of Yellow Arrow Journal, and what writing means to them.”

Thank you to everyone who has ordered Singing from the Deep End already from CavanKerry Press. Books should be winging their way to you at the end of January, and preorders are still going here, if you’d like to get a copy. I’m so grateful for your support, and I hope to see you at an upcoming reading – my next post will have details about those, and you can see the preview list in the “Readings & Events” tab. Happy New Year!