Publications

Essays

“Sing It Loud,” Creative Nonfiction

“What if we allowed ourselves to be deeply, vulnerably seen? What if we weren’t afraid to show our failure, to want something badly, to love with everything we’ve got? The potential exists within the grasp of the writer to influence the way we as humans connect to each other, and to ourselves.”

“First Light,” Decor Maine

“I have sliced the bow of a kayak through waves as high as my shoulder. I have drifted with friends outside a concert venue, brought to tears by moonlight and song. I have passed my feet through the shallows at night and seen phosphorescent plankton blink on and off like so many stars. Maybe home is as simple as this: a place that brings you alive.”

“How to Sleep in an Airport,” Hippocampus

“They bring you the world, and together you try and put it into words. My mother’s accent is like music to me, wrote Britney from Peru. This world cannot guarantee you a damn thing, wrote Mary from Jamaica. The best description of home you’ve read was by a boy from Iraq named Ahmed: The stars I saw, I kept them in my head.”

“Long Live the King,” Ultiworld

“If you were to come in off the street, you’d have felt the heat hovering over the packed crowd. You’d have seen us all there, in ears and feathers and animal print onesies, dancing to Madonna, to Gloria Estefan, to Avril Lavigne; dancing on the tables, dancing on the bar, hugging each other, crying into our whiskies. But there was something underneath it all. We knew we had just lost a man who loved to play, and that felt significant.”

More Essays

“Valley of the Bulls“, Winner of the 2019 Waterman Fund “Humor in the Wild” Essay Contest, Appalachia, Winter 2019/Spring 2020
“The Office of the Mayor of Miessi,” SLICE Issue 23: Flight, Fall ’18/Winter ’19
“Still Life,” Stonecoast Review Issue 9, Fall 2018
“Unseen Canyon,” Camas, Summer 2018 “Rivers” Issue

Magazines

Backcountry

Open Mountain
As she looks back on her road to the Freeride World Tour, Jackie Paaso carves out space for women in skiing

Maine Magazine

Women of the River
The women of Maine’s whitewater who are making the state’s waterways a place for everyone

Mountains into Horizons
An adaptive sports program makes skiing accessible to all

Telling What Matters
A new poetry anthology from The Telling Room elevates the next generation

Just Don’t Fall
Rippleffect’s Toby Arnold empowers people to push past their limits through ice climbing and outdoor adventure

The Next White Blaze
After completing the Appalachian Trail, Briana DeSanctis is chasing the transcendent feeling of thru-hiking across America.

Just Do It
From organizing a summer camp in middle school to hiking the Appalachian Trail, Chloë Rowse has charted her own path, and encourages girls to do the same

Decor Maine

The Full, Unchecked Self
A renowned Maine artist explores his wilder side, the power of collaboration, and why Charlie Hewitt will never get tired of being Charlie Hewitt

Saving the Sentinel
The people working to extend Fort Gorges’ lease on life and its place in Portland history

The Material Has More to Give You
Benjamin Spalding celebrates the life of objects—and humans—with a fresh approach to sculpture

Forests Inside Us
Jordan Kendall Parks uses natural materials to create art connecting land and people

The Click That Says Yes
Artist Kathleen Florance follows her intuition to address the challenges of our time

Pecha Kucha Speaker, Midcoast Maine, 2019

Creative Projects

The Sky Where you Are
- An opera libretto commissioned by An Opera Theater that sheds light on advocacy and domestic violence. World premiere: October 2020, Decameron Opera Coalition, Tales from a Safe Distance. Added to the Library of Congress in 2021.
Home of Air
- Nonfiction poetry collection featured in Surface First Tilts West, visual artist Jordan Kendall Parks’ interactive outdoor art installation on Little Chebeague Island in Casco Bay, Maine.
Not an Apology: A Martin Luther King, Jr. Fellows Anthology
- Editor

Jenny O'Connell

Publications