This week, the award-winning print literary journal upstreet published my list essay “The Thirteen Mythological Ways I Almost Died.” The essay strings together dangerous and frequently retold moments from my life, from near-death experiences in infancy to my suicide attempts and other brushes with suicidal ideation to car accidents and near-misses. Along the way, I grapple with the precarity of life and the narrative of death.

I am deeply grateful to my former classmate in the WVU MFA, Kasey Shaw, and upstreet Creative Nonfiction Editor, Mackenzie Epping, for their tremendous help with revising and editing this piece. Thanks also to upstreet Editor-in-Chief, Vivian Dorsel, and her entire team for their selection and support.

Copies of this print-only publication can be ordered at the upstreet website, but are also available at brick-and-mortar Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million locations. Buying the magazine at the bookstore both supports the ongoing distribution of upstreet and the existence of in-person bookstores. As it’s been a lifelong dream of mine to walk into a bookstore and see my words for sale, I can’t wait to visit a local Barnes & Noble myself in the coming days!

I hope the following preview will whet your appetite for this gripping, harrowing, and ultimately contemplative read: