Selected WorkS
Poems
“The woman who cut and painted my toenails”
Poem-a-Day, Academy of American Poets
“Gate”
Tin House
“Reader, When I bite it’s true”
“State Lines,” San Francisco Chronicle
“Foundling”
Poem-a-Day, Academy of American Poets
An excerpt of “Let Me Let Me Let Me”
American Book Review
“On ‘Auto-Tune’”
“In Their Own Words,” Poetry Society of America
“I’m More the Drunken Slut Kind of Feminist, or A Treatise on Political Philosophy at the Apex of American Empire”
Granta
operas
Gilded
with Tucker Fuller
A charming, successful venture capitalist--the type who transforms cities through development, disruption, and gentrification--finds himself bored in his moneyed bubble. When he meets a cabaret singer who prioritizes passion, pleasure, and freedom, he falls hard for him. Gilded: An Opera interrogates the eras-old conflict between systemic economic forces, and the impact of those forces on our most personal and intimate relationships.
Inspired by relocating the wandering Lieder of the Romantic era to a contemporary urban setting, Gilded, a romance for two tenors, marks the first operatic collaboration between Tucker Fuller and Megan Levad Beisner. Its sexy, politically-current story is told by a soprano-alto-baritone trio, a chamber orchestra, and tenors in each of the romantic leads: rapacious investor, and irrepressible artist.
Kept
with Kristin Kuster
A passionate young woman, alone in the world, falls into trouble. A world-weary lighthouse keeper takes her in, despite her secrecy--and his distrust. Kept: A Ghost Story recounts their eerie, enthralling tale of desire, jealousy, and the silence and shame that lead to their undoing.
A stripped-down Gothic Romance, Kept marks the first operatic collaboration between acclaimed composer Kristin Kuster, whose music has been hailed by The New York Times as “commanding” and “invitingly tart,” and Megan Levad, whose poetry has been praised by critics as “exquisite,” “very smart,” and “invigoratingly original.” Kept’s stark, sensual story is told by a chorus, six trumpets, a percussionist, and a tenor who plays both the tormented keeper and his ghostly bride.
Events
August 20-21, 2022 / Tuolomne Meadows Poetry Festival /
Parsons Memorial Lodge, Yosemite National Park
September 11, 2019, 7:00 pm / Indelible in the Hippocampus US Tour / Shelly Oria with Sally Franson, Megan Levad, Shannon Gibney, and V.V. Ganeshananthan
Open Book Building at the Target Performance Hall (in collaboration with Milkweed Books), Minneapolis, MN
August 2, 2019, 8:00 pm / When There Are Nine / Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music
Civic Auditorium, Santa Cruz, CA
Thursday, October 18, 2018, 9:00am / Creative Writing Studies Conference / “Crafting Possibilities: A Revision Workshop,” with Julie Babcock
Montreat Conference Center, Asheville, NC
Tuesday, October 16, 2018, 7:00pm / Reading with Franny Choi
Literati Bookstore, Ann Arbor, MI
Sunday, April 8, 2018, 2:00pm / Reading with Rodney Koeneke and Sandra Simonds
Powell's City of Books, Portland, OR
Saturday, April 7, 2018, 7:00pm / Reading with Rebecca Hoogs
Open Books, Seattle, WA
Saturday, March 10, 2018, 3-4:15pm / AWP Conference / "Can, Shouldn't, Could: Ethics in the Poetry Workshop," with Samiya Bashir, Dan Lau, Joshua Robbins, and Jeffrey Schultz
Grand Salon C, Marriott Waterside, Second Floor, Tampa, FL