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MFA Film Production UCLA
BA in Theatre UCSC LAUSD Teacher of the Year Exploring the Arts Award (s) Arts Activate Los Angeles Fellow Fund for Teachers Fellowships (2) - South East Asia and New Orleans Earthwatch Fellowships (2) - Brazil Bananal Island and California Sol Hirsch Award - American Weather Association (my favorite award - we received a professional weather station) This is just a sample. When I was a teacher I got almost every award I applied for with the exception of Teacher at Sea. Now that I am not teaching I don't seem to be getting any awards. I have an essay/poem that will be published by The Los Angeles Press. I'm not certain of the exact publication date (oh it's out now). Here's a link to my piece The Sun is Out. It's a print journal and this is Volume 10. I'm really thrilled and honored. This piece is unusual in that I read it aloud before real people while revising it. I was super nervous each time I read but I think that was very helpful. I guess that's what stand up comedians do. I could feel the audience responding and could sense what worked. Of course, writing is different than performing but I would like to read excerpts from my novel aloud. The first time I tried to do that I stopped in the middle unable to continue but I think I am becoming less nervous.
I took an online workshop organized by Catherine Segurson of Catamaran with Dorianne Laux. I submitted the poem I wrote during the workshop to The New Verse News and it was accepted and published within days. Some kind of record for me but as Dorianne said drolly, "Who doesn't like poems about whales?" I was embarrassed because my voice broke reading it. I went online to get tips on what to do if you become emotional speaking in public and the advice was not to. Is that good advice? The article went on to say if you become emotional it makes people uncomfortable. I guess that is something you aren't supposed to do. Taking a break from teaching film and creative writing in East Los Angeles to write full time. Each time I get a poem published that journal becomes my new favorite journal. So now I am in love with Kelp Journal. I love that they published two of my poems but l also love this journal and all that they do to try to help the health of our oceans. I'm also super appreciative of the photos and art that are sometimes paired with my poetry. I had a poem published by Red Flag Poetry Express, which sends out postcards of poems paired with artwork, and the watercolor paired with my little poem was so perfect and beautiful. A poem was recently published in Closed Eye Open, You should check out the journal. The photography featured in this journal is really cool in addition to all the great stories and poems. Other poems exist out in the world in Tiny Seed Literary Journal (they plant a tree for every poem submitted), Nixes Mate Review, Neologism Poetry Journal, Red Flag Poetry Express, antinarrative journal, Right Hand Pointing/One Sentence Poems, Ekphrastic Review, Contemporary Haibun among others. I finished writing People Who Love You and it went from being a novella to a novel.
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I have a little chapbook out GIRL/FOOL with Bottlecap Press. It's all short prose poems. I actually love this book. It seems weird to say that about your own work but the poems in this little chapbook are among my favorite. Many of these poems began life as three pages and were whittled down to less than fifteen words. Here is a link that has a description of the chapbook. https://bottlecap.press/products/girl_fool Now I am all about chapbooks. I've assembled one of short found poems about out the cruelty of these times - from newspaper articles. The poems seem to write themselves. I know people are against "doomscrolling" but I'm trying to keep track of what I learn and the little poems are a way to remember. So this collection of found poems (well, 6 poems from it) is going to be published by Rinky Dink Press! The micro-chapbook is called "Prayer Wheel" and will debut at AWP March 2026. I'm so honored and happy about this. I love their little books so much. See you in Baltimore in 2026. Finally, I'm returning to my novel "The Lost Films." Taking a class this weekend on French autofiction to reinspire myself. This book was inspired in part by an unexpected podcast by Caveh Zahedi and his (imperfect) but flattering memory of me in film school. You can hear it here. 365 Stories I Want To Tell You Before We Both Die - The Perfectionist |