Ryan Walker

Pick flowers, not fights/wars.

A spring(ish) mood board. Take what you need…

I❤️NY. And bread. And friends.

Proud alumnus! ❤️

March Madness at Bluegrass Writers Studio: We’re a Top MFA Creative Writing Program for the 8th Straight Year!

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#23 Best Online MFA at OnlineMastersDegrees.org
#30 Best Online Master’s at OnlineMasters.com

And more to come!

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I wouldn’t say I’m camera shy, but this is about as serious as I get. I’m forever grateful to for capturing my vision for updated head shots, and - most importantly - for these 🔥 outtakes.

“Remember what it took for you to be here.”

How apropos to have found this reminder when it was nearly washed away by acid rain and street traffic. How quickly we forget what it took to be HERE in the hustle of this beautiful, cruel world. How quickly we dismiss that more than one thing can be true - too quickly swept away by the beauty or too quickly pulled under by the cruelty. How gentle a reminder to remember, to remember, to remember…

LFG
Prepping to thrive in 2026.

I set some personal development time aside today to attend the open house event. I generated a new idea for a piece during Jamey Dunham’s writing “Poetry and Creative Writing for Emotional Wellness” presentation with the working title, “My therapist told me to write this down…” I enjoyed listening to fellow Flights Literary Journal contributors read from the current issue, and had the opportunity to read my poem for the group. Forever grateful to be part of the Sinclair College community.

Felt worthy enough to share. Trust the process.

Today, I received the 2025 edition of Flights Literary Magazine which includes my poem Americano and Seventeen, one of four companion essays to the poem. Every publication is an honor, but holding your work in print is a moment to savor.

Americano and the four companion essays are four scenes of self-discovery over 32 years. Code switching is something I love to explore in my writing, and Seventeen is about language as a great connector. As the speaker learns a new language, they tap into a deeper part of themselves.

This chaotic song about fish swimming for God will always be special to me and the boy who so delicately trilled his “R”s. Thank you to Department of English and the Flights team, including , , and .morean, for seeing these pieces and giving them a home.

📕Cover art by

On the eve of the official release, I finished Zone Rouge by . What a masterful debut to celebrate. The myth of Sisyphus and the history of The Battle of Verdun anchor this story’s narrative, but Plunkett’s storytelling make each page fresh, raising new questions and ideas for the reader.

When I’m reading, I love a sentence I can hang onto - the kind of sentence that strikes on first read, then lingers through reverberation. Plunkett’s language doesn’t disappoint in this regard: “We spend our lives watching paint dry while the building might explode at any moment.” This novel manages to strike over and over again.

Plunkett doesn’t over complicate the language, but drives the story across well strung ideas and imagery like styrofoam cups that fail to decompose and ants marching: “carpe diem motherf**kers!” I found myself dog-earing pages and underlining beautiful, horrifying sentences like this one: “If a démineur is killed retrieving a shell that was fired with malicious intent a century ago, during a war he wasn’t alive for let alone a combatant, should he be included in the final casualty count for the battle?” While Zone Rouge is a study in the lingering effects of war, what resonated with me was the critical analysis of the human condition. There are several characters in Zone Rouge, but Ferrand Martin’s story is the primary arc. One can’t help but to see themselves in some element of this carefully constructed character. I know I certainly did.

This book made me pause more than once to reflect on my own mortality; “Here stood a man / For a moment / for eternity.”

Despite the Sisyphean theme, there is an uncanny urgency and timeliness to Zone Rouge. Perhaps that is precisely Plunkett’s point.

Zone Rouge is a 2025 must read from . If you haven’t already pre-ordered, pick up a copy from you favorite independent bookseller starting tomorrow, September 2nd. While was lucky enough to receive an ARC, I purchased my hardback copy through my favorite independent bookshop .

This poem has served as a catalyst for so much offspring. Each set of stanzas (5, 17, 25, 37) has a companion essay. “Seventeen,” the companion essay to the third and fourth stanzas will be featured in this year’s edition of Sinclair’s literary journal Flights. Together, the poem and four companion essays are my chapbook Americano. I love this piece, the memory fragments which created it, and everything it has spawned. I hope you’ll take a moment to sip… ☕️

https://www.assignmentmag.com/micromag

Last night, I read a new essay titled “Mesopredator” for . It’s about q***r bodies, the Midwest, politics, and raccoons. What a way to kick off the day after Pride month alongside a brilliant group of readers: .abromowitz & Jenny Fran Davis. We march on, as we always do.

Sleeve styling courtesy of , and first 📸 by .