essays (mostly)

The Pinch, Issue 46.2, Fall 2026
• “Nonverbal Communication,” a 1000-word essay about two bad rides down the same mountainside. Finalist for The Pinch’s Page Prize in Nonfiction (announcement here).

EPOCH, Issue 73.2, Fall 2026
• “Homework,” a 1500-word essay about the time I was in middle school and interviewed my tough neighbor, Mrs. Stern, about the hardest moments in her life. It did not go well. This piece was a finalist in the Writers’ Union of Canada’s Short Prose Competition.

Copper Nickel, Issue 42, Spring 2026
• Two short pieces: “Root Canal” and “Time Zones.”

Subtropics, Issue 38, Fall-Winter 2025
• “One Frame More,” a 4000-word essay about a mystery from my childhood and why I don’t have a dog.

Yolk Literary Journal, Volume 5.1, Dec. 2025
• The Elements,” a 3000-word essay that meditates on water, air, earth, and fire—these are the elements behind a troublemaking toilet, misbehaving airline passengers, a dog thief, and rockets overhead. It asks the question, What does it mean to be a good neighbor?

Another Chicago Magazine, Nov. 2025
• “The Butcher’s Son,” a 5400-word essay that centers on the one time my father lost his cool. It poses the question, Do nice guys get what they deserve?

Prairie Fire, Volume 46.3, Fall 2025
• “Extinction Event of a Personal Nature,” a 4400-word essay on apocalypses, home baked cookies, sub-par parenting, an island teeming with Mikes, and space aliens.

JMWW, May 2025
• “Odometers,” a 2000-word essay on twenty-first century fatherhood.

Longreads, Mar. 2025
• “Tattoos,” a 2200-word exploration of the ways memory, history, and identity are inscribed—on skin, in silence, and through generations. In the Apr. 1 issue of The Audacity, Roxane Gay wrote, “This was a beautiful essay on tattoos that are not chosen and how they shape our lives.”

The Normal School, Nov. 2024
• “The Third-Best Clown in New York,” a 4400-word essay on experiences with my former roommate, a professional clown.

The Masters Review, June 2024
• “Don’t Smile,” a 4000-word essay on my first year of teaching.

The Dalhousie Review, Issue 103.3
• “House Fire,” a 4200-word short story based on my novel Junior Slump.

Jabberwock Review, Issue 44.2, Winter/Spring 2024
• “Invitations,” a 3000-word essay on Nixon’s grudge with my father. It was mentioned as a Notable Essay in The Best American Essays 2025.