It seems to me that we are all poets. The fact that we dream indicates that poetry is a core language of ours - for both are the territory of image. If poetry isn't the right starting point for you as a writer, you can still learn about your internal language by writing. Even just writing for five minutes, you may find something clarified or revealed. From personal to relational to professional, writing can play many roles in your life, and depending on who you are as an individual, it may play different roles throughout a lifetime, as can listening and reading - two of our most expansive tools. I am fortunate to explore such things in my work as an instructor.

Born and raised in Arvada, Colorado, I now hold a literature-extensive MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, a BFA in Theatre and a BA in English from Stephens College, a 1025-hour CMT from the Rocky Mountain Institute of Healing Arts, and a CMLDT from Klose. Additionally, numerous publications have supported my poetry and other works, and The Poetry Foundation selected ten of my poems as a 2011 Ruth Lilly Fellowship finalist.

Since 2008, I've taught at three universities – including CSU since 2012, courses I've taught here include: World Drama, Reading Without Borders, Introduction to Poetry, Intermediate Creative Writing: Poetry, College Composition, Self/Community in American Culture, Twentieth Century Fiction, and Study of Literature. I've also taken part in CSU's community literacy outreach program SpeakOut! and UAF's rural and indigenous student services writing center.

Recently, I have been featured as a poetry reader, workshop leader, or panelist with Telluride Institute: For Place and Planet, Western Colorado Writers Forum, “Rabbit Holes” for KAFM Radio and WCWF, Karen Chamberlain Poetry Festival, CSU’s Master Teacher Initiative Program, Xi Draconis Books, Lithic Bookstore and Press, 100,000 Poets for Change, CALYX, and Poets' Co-op, and, distantly, I have enjoyed several leading roles in a small number of local theatres, a 2000 title of young “Best Actress in Colorado” from the International Thespian Society, and a 2014 CSU Alumni Association Best Teacher Award nomination.

Nearly two decades of experience as a massage therapist, including lymph and craniosacral therapy, seven years as a successful small business owner, being a mom, being raised by an environmentalist in a large, working class, active Coloradan family, and lived experiences in Northern India, Nepal, Ireland, Netherlands, Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Thailand, Mexico (Northern to Southern borders), Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, Morocco, England, Canada, Czechia, Austria, Switzerland, and twenty-nine USA states are all notable contributors toward offering students a collective context and outlook.

As an author, I'm perhaps most known for my poems exploring how body meets earth - overlaps, connections, bridges. I predominantly write poetry because image, space, and line breaks expand language. Although no current student is able to be a client of my healing practice, all are invited to read my poetry to share in some of my passions - like wholeness, embodiment, and environmentalism. Despite a deep interest in oneness, I celebrate diversity as a natural and vital energy of life, and I celebrate people of all identities. Identity is often nuanced, layered, and changing, and I value exploring culture, history, language, and big questions with others. Life and the complexities and challenges of this world certainly have much to teach us.

Thank you for visiting, please remember the invitation to write, and reach out if you'd like.

she/her/hers pronouns