Writer, Prof, Mom – Reads my signature and these are all professions that I apply myself to with everything I’ve got. These are listed in the order that I became these things but the one spot switched up based on need. I grew up in a small fishing town on the east coast quite far from the world of publishing, universities, poetry and theatre that now is my second home.  But what I did have were epic struggles, storytellers and comedians (family, friends and elders ) who used comedy and laughter as a kind of survival vest.

Although I write and teach about very serious things such as discrimination, racism, intergenerational trauma, and climate grief, I do often find that they things come out on the page via comedy.  Perhaps it provides that spark of home that we need to imagine change.  As the inimitable Oscar Wilde said: “Some things are too important to be taken seriously.  Art is one of those things.”  I feel the same way about parenting and teaching.  These are some of the most gravely important jobs we have to help these next generations face the 21 Century problems coming at us.  My children and my students need to find that spark of hope in order to make change.  I see my role as both both mentor/mentee as we co-create the future with joy and love… even with all these uncertainties.

When I discovered the world of the arts, learning, books and live performance I took what I had learned from them forward. I began writing and performing spoken word poetry, acting in plays, writing plays, and also studying and now teaching. There is a bizarre thing going around out there that universities are “out of touch” or “ivory towers” and while they have certainly excluded folx on the base of race/ ethnicity, class, gender/sexuality, social standing etc. that is changing for the better. I never forget that universities can also be glorious places of thinking, learning, change, rebellion, discovery, connection, beauty and innovation. 

 And so every day whether in the classroom, the rehearsal hall, a literary reading or a meeting, I try to hold this balance.  As a queer member of a two mom bi-racial family, a neurodivergent person, and a first-generation university attendee, I know what it is like to be othered, so do all I can to make my classroom both a brave space and a safe space for every student, collaborator or colleague. In my arts practice, I strive every day to bring the true spirit of openness and collaboration to the table. Be a good human, I tell myself, bring your best ideas. See what happens.