On the Block with Domi J. Shoemaker
b'Domi J. Shoemaker is the creator and curator of the legendary Burnt Tonguereading series in Portland, Oregon which features some of the best writers in the region and highlights Tom Spanbauer\'s Dangerous Writing groups. Domi recently received their MFA from Pacifica University and is also an integral part of the creative team for Lidia Yuknavitch\'s Corporeal Writing workshops. Domi is also a gender-fluid, differently-abled, ball of wonder and spark and bite. They do not fit easily into any one box. Domi forces us to look as much at ourselves as we do at them for the answers to who we are and who we can bein a world that is often obsessed with forcing us into categories it can easily understand, manipulate and control. Mostly, Domi loves to write. And Domi loves it when you write. As long as it is honest. And good. They celebrate the craft as much as they do the transparency. Domi believes that writing holds the power to help us reinvent ourselves in ways that give us the control, give us the dignity, give us the reigns of our own becoming. We are so proud to know them. In this conversation, we talk about pronouns, Lidia the badass, "throwing like a boy," and about how Joseph Campbell gave them a template for exploring their own emerging self.'