About

I’m a white, genderqueer & trans writer who grew up in the Midwest, but calls the Pacific Northwest (specifically Portland, Oregon) home — the land of the Cowlitz, Multnomah, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Tumwater, Tualatin Kalapuya, Wasco, Molalla, bands of Chinook, and other indigenous nations. I write creative nonfiction, interactive fiction, prose, and poetry, as well as facilitate writing workshops. I am particularly proud to have co-facilitated workshops for The T-Word, a trans writers collective in Brighton, UK. We grew out of a workshop that Travis Alabanza hosted as part of Brighton’s 2018 City Reads reading initiative project. We enjoyed that experience so much that we decided to keep writing together and invite others to join us. When I returned to the Portland, I started a similar group here.

I graduated from Master of Creative Writing program at University of Brighton in 2018. Prior to this, I completed a Master’s in Linguistics and Composition Theory and TESOL certificate at the University of Nebraska Omaha immediately on the heels of a Bachelor’s in British Literature.

All that studying of English from nearly every angle has given me superpowers in copywriting & editing, as well as social media management. I worked with the writers and creative team at Fusebox Games in London editing choice-based narrative video game scripts for two years. We created engaging stories that feature authentic LGBTQ+ characters and demonstrate how consent can be very sexy. I’ve also worked with MindOut in Brighton, UK; Revolution Hall & Just Movement in PDX; and Thunder Island Brewing Co. in Cascade Locks, OR to develop social media campaigns, create custom blog posts, and improve their website content. Most recently I’ve been working as the Director of Members and Donors (but wearing many hats, including doing our communications, in-house graphic design, and website maintenance), as well as doing a number of freelance projects.

There are a number of other ways I’ve helped writers fine-tune their stories, from writing workshops with youth on the houseless continuum in Portland, OR to teaching at the college level. It has been my honor to be a teacher of ESL at Portland English Language Academy and a college English teacher at the University of Nebraska Omaha, where I also worked in the writing center.

In what sometimes feels like past lives, I played two years of roller derby, was a karaoke DJ in a Midwestern lesbian bar, and had the honor of being a caretaker for a pair of turkeys, a goose, eight ducks, six chickens, two goats and an alpaca while living on a cooperative land project. I’ve watched a tornado touch down from my back yard, gone cliff diving in Kentucky, and was sent to Europe by myself when I was twelve (this isn’t like two truths and a lie–it’s all true).

When I’m not writing, reading or playing games, I am likely spying on birds, bike camping, or hanging in my hammock after a day of hiking as my chronic illness allows.