EDUCATION

• Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing – literary nonfiction
  Antioch University, Los Angeles, June 2006
• Bachelor of Arts in theatre
  Vermont College, Montpelier, VT, June 1986
• Additional academic studies

  Wesleyan University (CT) and University of Rochester (NY). Dean's list. Recipient of American Field Service International Scholarship to live and study in Japan (1973-74). Speak fluent Japanese.

• Literary nonfiction training

  Tom Jenks and Carol Edgarian (San Francisco); Lis Harris and Jonathan Schell (2002 Wesleyan Writers Conference, CT); Barbara Nelson (Arizona State University); Laraine Herring and Tracy Trefethen (Phoenix, AZ).

  Founding member of Red Thread Writing Collaborative with Anne Canright (CA), Anne Liu Kellor (WA), Khadijah Queen (FL), and Christin Taylor (CA).

LITERARY NONFICTION

• "Afterlife" – Hunger Mountain – February 2010 – http://www.hungermtn.org/afterlife/
• Nagasaki (book-length manuscript to be completed in 2011)
• The Handmaiden of Christ (book-length manuscript in progress)

PLAYS

• Homeward. Commissioned and produced by Mesa Youtheatre – Mesa, AZ
• Tales of Tolleson: A Living History. Commissioned and produced by the City of Tolleson, AZ
• Child of Hiroshima. A fictional account of the 1955 Hiroshima Maidens Project
• Anna Lives! Presented in homeless and protective shelters and prisons in Maricopa County, AZ, and for the Violence Against Women Task Force of the Governor's Office for Women

WRITING AWARDS AND HONORS

• 2009 Hunger Mountain Creative Nonfiction Essay Prize (runner-up)

  One winner and two runners-up were selected out of nearly 200 submissions. Robin Hemley, judge.

• 2009 Money for Women/Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, Inc.

  Recipient of grant to support the completion of Nagasaki.

• 2008 Individual Artist Project Grant — Arizona Commission on the Arts

  In this competitive grant category for individual artists, received monetary award for artistic merit to complete the book, Nagasaki.

• 2008 Bill Desmond Writing Award

  Received monetary award, distributed through the Arizona Commission for the Arts, for best nonfiction writing application in the Individual Artist Project Grant Category.

• 2006 to present – Arizona Commission on the Arts Roster Artist in Creative Writing

  Biannual juried roster of professional artists in all disciplines to perform, present, and teach across Arizona.

• 2006 Commencement Speaker

  Selected by MFA faculty to speak on behalf of graduating students at the Antioch University MFA in Creative Writing commencement ceremonies.

• 2004 Eloise Klein Healy Scholarship Recipient

  Antioch University/Los Angeles MFA in Creative Writing Program.

• 2003 Writers Voice Writing Competition (Regional) – Phoenix, AZ

  Second Place/Nonfiction for The Handmaiden of Christ.

• 1995 Project Grant – Arizona Commission on the Arts – for Tales of Tolleson
• 1993 Zoni Award for Best Youth Theatre Production – for Homeward
• 1993 Project Grant – Arizona Commission on the Arts – for Homeward
• 1992 Project Grant – Arizona Commission on the Arts – for Anna Lives!
• 1988 Larry Neal Writers' Awards – Washington, D.C. Finalist for Child of Hiroshima

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT GRANTS AND AWARDS

• 2010 Professional Development Grant – Arizona Commission on the Arts

  To attend the 2010 Association of Writers and Writers Program (AWP) conference in Denver.

• 2008 Creative Capital Program Recipient

  One of 24 artists across Arizona invited to participate in an intensive strategic planning, marketing, and fundraising program for individual artists.

• 2008 Professional Development Grant – Arizona Commission on the Arts

  To attend the 2008 Association of Writers and Writers Program (AWP) conference in New York City.

• 2003 Professional Development Grant – Arizona Commission on the Arts

  To attend Fiction/Nonfiction Intensive with Tom Jenks and Carol Edgarian in San Francisco.

• 2002 Professional Development Grant – Arizona Commission on the Arts

  To attend Wesleyan Writers Conference in Middletown, CT.

PUBLIC READINGS

• Courting Risk IV, Forza Coffee Company – Westminster, CO, April 2010
• Courting Risk I, Macaulay Honors College – New York, NY, January 2008
• Red Thread Writers Collective, Tempe Public Library – Tempe, AZ, March 2007

CREATIVE WRITING INSTRUCTOR

• Creative Writing Program Director, Federal Correctional Institution,
  Phoenix, AZ, August 2009 to present

  Design and conduct year-round creative writing workshops for incarcerated women, funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.

• Individual Writing Mentor, Fall 2007 to present

  Design workshops and assignments to help adult students meet personal writing goals. Provide extensive written feedback and line editing, and meet weekly with students to review their submitted work.

• Creative Writing Workshop Leader, Lonestar Day Resource Center, Phoenix AZ,
  August 2007 to June 2009

  Designed curriculum and conducted weekly creative writing workshops for homeless adults at the Human Services Campus in downtown Phoenix.

• Instructor, Writing Life Stories, Arizona State University - Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing, Fall 2007

  Created and taught eight-week class in creative nonfiction and personal narrative for beginning and advanced adult writers.

• Workshop Leader, Writing Life Stories, Adobe Mountain School, Phoenix, AZ,
  Spring 2007

  Designed curriculum for and conducted twelve-week writing workshop series for incarcerated youth as part of Essential Theatre's Artist-in-Residence program with the Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections.

• Judge, State of Arizona Poetry Out Loud semifinal competition, Spring 2008

  Judged the semifinals of Arizona's 2008 Poetry Out Loud poetry recitation competition, featuring the winners from participating high schools across the state.

• Student Coach: Poetry Out Loud, La Joya Community High School, Tolleson, AZ,
  Spring 2007

  Coached high school students in the understanding and recitation of poetry in preparation for their local and statewide competitions.

• Instructor, Reading Your Work Aloud, Writers Voice Workshop Series, Phoenix, AZ,
  Fall 2003

  Created and conducted five-hour training for professional and semi-professional writers in personal presentation styles for reading their works before public audiences.

THEATRE DIRECTOR, PERFORMER, AND INSTRUCTOR

• Founder and Artistic Director, Essential Theatre, Tempe, AZ, 1990 to present

  Direct a professional, multicultural ensemble of interdisciplinary artists that presents interactive, improvisational performances to honor the lives of marginalized people across Arizona. Audiences include: at-risk, paroled, and incarcerated youth; homeless adults and children; developmentally disabled adults; refugees; and public school children. Additionally, Essential Theatre serves statewide and national conferences, non-profit agencies, small businesses, and large corporations. Also direct original works created and performed by participants based on their writings; design curricula for theatre and social change projects, and conduct interactive, improvisational theatre workshops and long-term residencies for these communities. Since its inception, Essential Theatre has served over 200,000 people.
  
  Essential Theatre received the 2001 Award of Excellence from the Arizona Theatre Alliance, and was named Hero of the Week in the Arizona Republic's 1996 Saving Arizona's Children Series.

INTERDISCIPLINARY ARTS PROGRAM DIRECTOR

• Director, Artist in Residence Program, Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections,
  1992 to 2007

  Designed, implemented, and provided program oversight for more than 100 artist-in- residence programs in visual arts, theatre, dance, creative writing, and folk arts for incarcerated youth in four secure facilities across Arizona. The Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections awarded this program 2004 Outstanding Contractor of the Year.