In one sentence—how would you describe your approach to teaching?

We are all poets here because we are showing up for poetry, and I teach accordingly – I’m just as interested in what questions and ideas people come into the classroom with as I am excited to share my knowledge, perspective, and resources.

What does a typical class with you look like?

In a typical class we read poems aloud together; then we discuss as a group what the poems are asking us to think about, how they are making us feel, what we notice about the form and content’s relationship, and chat about whatever else comes up as we get into it. After we read and talk, I like to introduce a prompt and invite everyone to spend some time writing. I always offer space to share some of what you wrote or what came up for you emotionally and creatively as you were writing near the end of workshop.

What do you hope students will take away from classes with you?

I want people to walk away feeling inspired, motivated, expanded, and joyful. My goals are to empower students to take more creative risks, to approach poetry with more curiosity and confidence as a reader and writer, and to leave feeling more excited to read, revise, write, and generate new ideas.

What is your approach to critique/feedback?

I approach feedback from a supportive, constructive, and holistic perspective. I enjoy seeing the potential in everyone’s poetry. With the writer’s intentions in mind, I like to focus on what is working well within the poem as well as what can be worked on to better serve what the poem is trying to do and communicate – and to go into the why for both. By holistic, I mean feedback goes beyond the line level, exploring the overall goals of the poet/poem, the form/structure chosen and how it relates to the content, and providing guiding questions for writer to consider in their revisions.

Who were your favorite teachers of poetry (and why)?

When I was studying writing in my undergrad program, Christine Kitano reshaped and opened up, in my mind, what poetry can look like — introducing me to and encouraging experimental forms — and taught in the context of the immense impact and role poetry has culturally and politically. Poetry workshops led by Emily Brandt, Jennifer S. Cheng, Suzanne Highland, and Cea have been favorites too because they each had immersive, inspiring approaches to poetry writing like somatic ritual, memory work, sensory experiences.

Why do you teach?

Because I love writing and teaching means sharing that love. Creating a space where people can have fun with poetry, learn more about the art and about themselves through the process, and form a community – all of this, and more, is why I teach.

Is there anything else you'd like to share with potential students about studying with you?

As a workshop facilitator, I want to be more of a resource and guide — I don’t like hierarchies in teaching. Through learning from each other and engaging with each other’s ideas and questions, we build and expand definitions and interpretations together. Our workshop space is a community, not a competition. I also recognize, through my teaching, that poetry is political. Art is how we engage with the world around us — it doesn’t exist in a vacuum, so our conversations and ideas don’t either. We listen to, respect, and engage with each other’s voices, perspectives, space, time, identities, questions, and ideas with empathy.