As a creative writing facilitator, I aim to foster belonging through explorations of identity and community, memory and emotion, relationships and transitions, and envisioning healthier futures on personal, interpersonal and societal levels. My intention is that participants in my workshops feel seen, heard, know they matter, and take away writing as a life-long tool that can foster clarity of thought and emotion, strong communication, healing self-expression, and interpersonal connection.
I love introducing participants to mentor texts by renowned authors, and fostering critical thinking skills together by exploring the meaning of poems. Some of my favorite poets to bring into classrooms are Aracelis Girmay, Ross Gay, Joy Harjo, Lucille Clifton, Renée Watson, and Wang Ping. I introduce key elements of craft throughout my residencies, including descriptive and figurative language fundamentals, and various poetic forms. I am also confident in focusing on structural writing skills like grammar and syntax, if those are important to the particular learning goals of a group. My workshop series always end with a sharing circle, community showcase, book publication party, or other way to create a sense of accomplishment, celebration, and closure.
Most of my teaching work has taken place in New York City, and I have come to know my city in such an intimate and unique way, through the poetry of its children— from Harlem to the South Bronx, from Jackson Heights to Astoria, from Brownsville to Bensonhurst, from the Lower East Side and Chinatown to Washington Heights. Doing arts work in perhaps the most diverse public school system in the world, it comes with the territory to build a teaching practice with nurturing belonging at the forefront of my pedagogy. I have developed a trauma-informed approach to my work, an anti-racist approach to my work, and a culturally competent approach that gives students the space to explore and express their unique cultural identities, and the issues that they care about. One of my routine practices is taking time to get to know the community I’ll be working with, which means both speaking in advance with community stakeholders, and spending time with/surveying my participants before fully developing a program plan. This allows me to shape projects that will meet the needs and desires of the community. I am particularly passionate about my work with newcomers and multilingual learners, and developing approaches to meet their holistic needs. I also love to incorporate multidisciplinary approaches into my teaching practice, integrating in particular visual arts and expressive movement.
I love when art-making becomes a vehicle to practice all different kinds of courage— emotional, intellectual, imaginative, and creative. I believe that when a supportive space is created that encourages healthy risk-taking, and it meets that courageous risk-taking with affirmation, it creates the grounds for profound healing and growth.
When I was a young person, spaces for creative expression, in particular a beloved writing camp I attended, were crucial sites of belonging for me, shaping me into the writer I am now. In a world where isolation has become a societal mental health issue, I am here to create spaces that foster connection through the power of the written word.
Contact [email protected], or use the "connect" form to be in touch about bringing my teaching artist work to your community.
Shout Out Poems, Writing Our Way Through Series, Teachers & Writers Magazine, April 2020
Lost + Found, 2021 with support from City Arts Corps
“Lost & Found” was a community arts project that explored the human journey of losing connection, faith, trust, or joy-- and then finding it again— as it related to our personal and collective experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Taking place in the early fall of 2021, the project functioned as a “summer harvest,” a chance for New Yorkers to reflect through writing on their personal experiences of losing and finding vitality within this unprecedented context. The project included both a creative writing workshop and an opportunity for drop-in engagement through contributing reflections to a collaborative canvas in Prospect Park, Brooklyn.