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

We are all writers here because we are showing up for writing, 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 aloud together; then we discuss as a group what the writing is asking us to think about, how it’s 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 and essay 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 creative writing. With the writer’s intentions in mind, I like to focus on what is working well within the project as well as what can be worked on to better serve what the writing 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 writing/writer, 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 and why?

Through workshops and teachers, my idea of what poetry and essay can look like was reshaped and opened up — introducing me to and encouraging experimental forms — and contextualized the immense impact and role writing has culturally and politically. Workshops led by Chelsea Hodson, Gina Nutt, Katie Marks, Emily Brandt, Jennifer S. Cheng, Suzanne Highland, Christine Kitano, and C have been favorites too because they each had immersive, inspiring approaches to writing like somatic ritual, memory work, sensory experiences, and personal and societal reflection.

Why do you teach?

Because I love writing and teaching means sharing that love. Creating a space where people can have fun with writing, 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 creative writing 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.