est.
chicago, il
poet
educator
Award-winning poet with nearly twenty years of creative writing and English classroom teaching experience at middle school, high school, and university levels. Dedicated to the ways in which creative thinking, technical writing skills, public speaking, and language arts can empower students in and outside of the classroom. Effective use of inclusive, differentiated instruction in diverse settings and countries. Author of The Blue Line Home, a recipient of the Write Bloody Manuscript Competition Honorable Mention, published on EM Press, 2014. Holds an M.F.A. in creative writing with a concentration in poetry and an M.A. in English with a concentration in literature from Indiana University. Accomplished performance poet with appearances on NPR, WGN, and HBO, five-time member of Chicago’s National Poetry Slam team, and an invited guest poet to performances, readings, workshops, and festivals in Germany, Austria, Slovenia, and Switzerland.
Education
• Indiana University (Bloomington, IN) 2016-2019
• M.F.A. in creative writing with a concentration in poetry (Spring 2019)
• Indiana University (Bloomington, IN) 2016-2019M.A. in English with a concentration in literature (Spring 2019)
• Columbia College (Chicago, IL) 2015
• Dean’s List Commendation, B.A. in Poetry
Teaching and Writing Experience
Indiana University Associate Instructor:
• W103: Introduction to Creative Writing, 2016-2018
• W131: Composition – Reading, Writing, & Rhetoric, 2017-2018
• J101: Introduction to College Composition, summer 2018, summer 2019
• W203: Poetry, Your Voice in the Storm, 2019
• Brown County High School / Center for Rural Engagement – Writer-In-Residence, 2018-2019
Indiana Review Volume 39, Number 1, Poetry Reader, 2017
Oak Park Education Foundation Teaching Artist, 2015-2017
Gwendolyn Brooks Middle School Poetry Residency, 2015-2017
Columbia Poetry Review, No. 29, Editorial Staff, 2015
Latin Middle School Writer’s Day Workshop Facilitator, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015
Urban Sandbox Open Mic Founder/Curator, 2003-2015
Riverside Brookfield High School Poetry Workshop Facilitator, 2009, 2015
Oak Park River Forest High School Spoken Word Club Co-Sponsor, 2000-2013
John F. Kennedy Middle School Poetry Club Workshop Facilitator, 2012
KUD Kentaver Youth Poetry Workshop Facilitator – Ljubljana, Slovenia, 2010
Lincoln Elementary School Poetry Residency, Oak Park, IL, 2009
Other Professional Experience
Student Support & Registration Representative, Indiana University – Advance College Project, 2019-Present
Office Administrative Assistant / IU Department of Comparative Literature, 2016-2019
Web Design and Digital Media Consultant, DSP Services – 2013-2018
Director of Digital Media, Illinois Council on Long Term Care – 2009-2013
Media Researcher, Cision, Inc – 2009-2010
Manager/Office Operations, Funky Buddha Lounge – 2003-2009
Substanz 23rd Anniversary Show, Munich, Germany, 2019
Stadttheater, Landsberg, Germany, 2019
Roxie, Ulm, Germany, 2019
The Writer in Southeast Asia, Indiana, India, Nepal, 2018
Earl J.S. Ho Creative Writing Teaching Award, 2018
Slam 2.0 Lausanne, Switzerland, 2014
Society of Midland Authors, Cliff Dwellers Club, 2014
“Top 5 Chicago Slam Poets” New City Magazine, 2013
Write Bloody Press Manuscript Competition Honorable Mention, 2013
German National Poetry Slam, Heidelberg, Germany, 2012
Ten x Ten Project Guest Curator, 2012
Poetry Slam 25th Anniversary Show, Chicago, IL, 2011
German National Poetry Slam, Hamburg, Germany, 2011
WGN Morning News airing, Of This Red Blood, 2011
Zurich Poetry Slam Festival, Zurich, Switzerland, 2010
North American Drama Therapy Association Conference Keynote Address, 2010
Mlade Rime Festival, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 2010
ABC Brecht Festival, Augsburg, Germany, 2008
Munich Literature Haus, 2008
Borders Books National Open Door Poetry Program, 2007
WBEZ Chicago Public Radio, 2007
Russell Simmons Presents: Def Poetry on HBO, 2005
Chicago Poetry Slam Champion, 2003, 2004, 2005
Gwendolyn Brooks Open Mic Poetry Award Recipient, 2002
Selected publications
The Golden Shovel Anthology: New Poems Honoring Gwendolyn Brooks, Ed. Peter Kahn, Patricia Smith, University of Arkansas Press, Anthology, Spring 2017
Habitat Literary Magazine, “When God invented Chicago, he sh**,” “Tell the Band to Start Warming Up,” “Chicago,” and “It was when and only when.” Online and Print, Spring 2017
South Side Weekly, “DuSable Remembers His Wife, Kittihawa” and “Jazz Hops a Railcar to Chicago.” Online and Print, Summer 2015
The View From Here: Stories About Chicago Neighborhoods, Ed. JH Palmer, Chicago Center for Literature and Photography, Anthology, Fall 2015
Learn Then Burn 2: This Time it’s Personal, Ed. Derrick Brown, Tim Stafford, Write Bloody Press, Winter 2015
The Blue Line Home, EM-Press, 2014
Learn Then Burn: A Modern Poetry Anthology for the Classroom, Ed. Derrick Brown, Tim Stafford, Write Bloody Press, Anthology, Spring 2010
Poems From the Big Muddy, Ed. Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz, Jeremy Richards, Scott Woods, The Wordsmith Press, Anthology, Fall 2005
Columbia Poetry Review, No. 16, “Chrysanthemums.” Print Journal, Spring 2003
University Readings and Performances
Indiana University, April 2019
Missouri University of Science & Technology, March 2009, 2012
Dominican University, January 2011
Arkansas Tech University, March 2009
California State University-Chico, February 2009
Colorado Mesa University, January 2009
Colorado School of the Mines, April 2009
Colorado State University-Fort Collins, April 2009
Colorado State University-Pueblo, January 2009
Eastern Illinois University, March 2009
Embry Riddle Aeronautical-Prescott, Arizona, February 2009
Henderson State University, April 2009
Indiana University South Bend, November 2009
Iona College, April 2009
Iowa State University, January 2009
Johnson & Wales University, January 2009
Knox College, March 2009
Maryville University of Saint Louis, November 2009
Missouri Southern State University, April 2009
Montana State University-Northern, February 2009
Muskingum University, February 2009
Penn State Berks, March 2009
Rutgers University, November 2009
Stevenson University, October 2009
Texas Tech University, February 2009
The College of Idaho, March 2009
University of Akron, April 2009
University of Central Missouri, October 2009
University of Connecticut, November 2009
University of Michigan-Flint, February 2009
University of St. Francis, January 2009
University of Texas San Antonio, November 2009
Utah State University, February 2009
Slippery Rock University, December 2008
THANK YOU
I'LL GET BACK TO YOU ASap
Contact me with any questions, comments, interviews, press, or to book me for a performance, reading, workshop, lecture or other commissions.
