Hello, Kansas! But Wait, It's Complicated --- Nevada Anyone?

So this happened and it's a little bit complicated. First of all, when I wrote that Kansas was the only state left uncolored on my Poetry Map, a good deal of unexpected support came my way. One grammar school friend now lives in Kansas and she promised to do whatever she could from there. My first high school boyfriend volunteered the sleuthing abilities of his mom, now living in Kansas, to hunt down journals where I could submit poems, and finally, a fellow poet wrote to me and suggested I send poems to the undergraduate journal that he advises at a Kansas University.

Wow. All of this was so unexpected and made me really, really happy.

What I realized here was that I'd created a kind of treasure hunt and there were friends, old and new, who were happy to join in. From one random idea of sending my poems out to different states as a kind of publishing game, comes a whole community a few decades later.

So the good news? Just last week I had three poems accepted by Chiron Review published out of St. John, KS. Michael Hathaway, a local librarian,  has been publishing Chiron Review for over 30 years, his website is more welcoming than most and I am happy to have my work published in a beautiful print journal. Thank you, Michael!

And the bad news? I still need one more state. In my enthusiasm to finish the map, I used Witness as my journal publication for Nevada when they were actually located in Michigan at the time they took my work. Although Witness is now publishing out of Nevada, they weren't when they published me. A technicality? Perhaps. But since this project really only matters to me, I'd rather be honest with myself. Plus, if the Guinness Book of World Records does contact me, I want all my states (and one district) in working order.

So now I am on the lookout for my last state --- if you are associated with any publication in Nevada (any journal, newspaper, or magazine would be great) please let me know. Or if you know of a cool publication...I promise this is my last ask.

So here I go, one more time.

Hello, Nevada!