was Poet Laureate of Louisiana, 2013-2015. Her poems have appeared in journals and chapbooks nationwide and in three collections from LSU Press--most recently, Why the House Is Made of Gingerbread. She won the Louisiana Literature Prize for poetry in 2003, the L.E. Phillabaum Poetry Award for 2010, and the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters 2010 Award in Poetry. She teaches poetry writing in Louisiana during the school year and directs an artists and writers retreat center in New Mexico during the summer months. She is editor of the Barataria Poetry Series from LSU Press.