EDUCATION
PhD Literature and Creative Writing, University of Houston, 2018
MFA Program for Writers, Warren Wilson College, 2013
BA School for Interdisciplinary Arts, Hampshire College, 2002
PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS
2018-2024 Assistant Professor, Department of English, Villanova University
PUBLICATIONS
Journal Publications
2023 “See-Through Girls,” Callaloo
2022 “Flashé Sur Moi,” The Common
2021 “Nests: An Interview with Kevin McIlvoy,” Gulf Coast
2021 “Lamaze,” nonfiction, Meridians
2020. “Razors and Blossoms,” nonfiction, Matters of Feminist Practice
2019 “Dream Power,” nonfiction, On Site: 50 Years of Public Art of the University of Houston System
2019 “One in the Family,” fiction, Houston Noir
2018 “Instigating the Future: Cross-Pollinations of Race and Translation, nonfiction roundtable, Gulf Coast
2018 “Since I Was a Girl,” nonfiction, Ninth Letter
2016 “More of the World This Way,” fiction, Black Warrior Review
2016 “Writing without Shelter,” nonfiction, Journal of Creative Writing Studies
2016 “Translated Texts as Erotic Texts,” nonfiction & translation, Copper Nickel
2016 “A Dark and Simple Place,” nonfiction, Indiana Review
2015 “Brutal Business: Coming of Age in 1970s Houston”: Review of Thomas McNeely’s Ghost Horse. Gulf Coast
2015 “Effort and Generosity Combined,” nonfiction, Poets & Writers
2015 “Tent City,” fiction, Tidal Basin Review
Manuscripts in Preparation
See Through Girls, fiction
Inter-Ocean, nonfiction
Web-Based Publications
2020 Review: Shipwreck of Hopes, The Margaret Fuller Society Newsletter
2018 “The Worst That Can Happen: Trevor’s Promise of High Drama in ‘Events at Drimaghleen,’” Nimrod Blog
2018 “Listening to Annie,” Nimrod Blog
2018 “Something I learned from Working with Young Writers,” Nimrod Blog
2018 “On Fuller and Bourgeois,” The Margaret Fuller Society Newsletter
2018 “The Love of a Typewriter,” Nimrod Blog
2015 Review of Diana Whitney’s Wanting It, Gulf Coast Online
2015 “In Their Own Voices: A Writers of Color Workshop in Houston,” Poets & Writers Blog
Co-Edited Journals
2016 Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature & Fine Arts, 29.1
Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature & Fine Arts, 28.2
Gulf Coast Online
2015 Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature & Fine Arts, 28.1
Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature & Fine Arts, 27.2
Gulf Coast Online
2014 Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature & Fine Arts, 27.1
Gulf Coast Online
AWARDS and HONORS
2022 Diversity Teaching Award, Villanova University
2022 Pushcart Prize Nomination
2020 Elizabeth Alexander Creative Writing Award, Meridians Journal
2019 Larry Levis Post Graduate Stipend, M.F.A. Program for Writers at Warren Wilson
2017 Inprint Marion Barthelme Prize in Creative Writing, Houston
2016 Best American Essays 2016, Notable Essay
2016 Hedgebrook Writer in Residence, Whidbey Island
2015 Inprint Marion Barthelme Gulf Coast Prize, Houston
2013 Kimbilio Center for African American Fiction, Taos
GRANTS and FELLOWSHIPS
Small Research Grant, Villanova University, 2022
Residency Fellow, M.F.A. Program for Writers at Warren Wilson, 2021
CLAS Professional Development Program for Black Faculty, Villanova University, 2020
Elizabeth George Foundation, 2018
CLASS Dissertation Completion Fellowship, University of Houston, 2017-2018
Kimbilio Center for African American Fiction, Taos, 2013-2018
C. Glen Cambor Inprint Fellowship, Houston, 2013-2018
Houston Endowment, Gulf Coast Journal, 2016-2018
Endowment for African-American Literature & Creative Writing, University of Houston, 2013-2016
The Brown Foundation, Gulf Coast Journal, 2016-2017
National Endowment for the Arts, Gulf Coast Journal, 2016-2017
The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts, Gulf Coast Journal, 2015-2016
Houston Arts Alliance, Gulf Coast Journal, 2015-2016
Texas Commission on the Arts, Gulf Coast Journal, 2015-2016
Archival Research Fellowship, University of Houston, Summer 2015
UH Presidential Fellowship, University of Houston, 2013-2015
Arturo Schomburg Scholarship, Hampshire College, 1999-2002
CONFERENCE PARTICIPATION
Panels Organized
2022 The Best Apology Is Changed Behavior: An Editorial Call to Action, Association of Writers and Writing Programs, Philadelphia, PA, March 23-26.
2021 How Do We Get Free? Association of Writers and Writing Programs, Kansas City, Missouri, March 3-6.
2017 Instigating the Future: Cross-Pollinations of Race and Translation, ALTA, October 5-7, Minneapolis
2016 Inheriting the Future: Cross-Pollinations of Race and Translation,” ALTA, October 6-8, Oakland
2015 Art Writing Beyond Genre, Texas Contemporary Art Festival, October 4,Houston
Papers Presented
2021 Writing and Thinking toward a New Radical Liberation, Association of Writers and Writing Programs, Kansas City, Missouri, March 3-6.
2020 Women of Color: Writing for BLM and Social Justice, Nimrod International Journal Virtual Conference, Tulsa, OK, November 14.
2020 Writing and Teaching Toward a New Radical Liberation, Association of Writers and Writing Programs, San Antonio, TX. (Canceled due to COVID)
2018 Thinking Fuller: The Ethics of Transcendental Translation, Transcendentalist Intersections: Literature, Philosophy, Religion, University of Heidelberg, July 26-29, Heidelberg
2016 Transnational Voices: Heteroglossia and Language Dominance in Woman in the Nineteenth Century, American Literature Association, May 25-29, San Francisco
2016 Diversifying MFA Programs, a Case Study, Association of Writers and Writing Programs, March 30-April 2, Los Angeles
2015 Culturally Responsive Craft, Association of Writers and Writing Programs Conference, April 8-11, Minneapolis
2014 Where the Hell Are We? Using Setting to Your Advantage, Boldface Conference for Emerging Writers, May 19-23, Houston
Campus Talks
2021 David L. Paletz Creative Writing Guest Series, Duke University, March 29.
2020 Virtual Forum with Black Faculty, July 2020 Residency, Warren Wilson College, July 9.
2018 Breaking Our Silence: Translating Language into Power, Empower Women’s Leadership Conference, March 2, University of Houston
2013 Aboutness: Distinguishing between Situational and Psychological Subject Matter,” Kimbilio Center for African American Fiction, July 21-27, Taos
Workshops Led
2016 Fiction Workshop, Writefest Conference for Emerging Writers, February 22-26, Houston
2014 Fiction Workshop, Boldface Conference for Emerging Writers, May 19-23, Houston
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Villanova University, Sole Instructor
1842: Perspectives in Literature: Editing and Publishing (fall 2020)
Adaptation: Film as Literature (spring 2019, spring 2020, spring 2021, spring 2023)
The Art of Translation (undergraduate, spring 2020) (graduate, fall 2020, fall 2023)
Introduction to Creative Nonfiction (fall 2018, fall 2019, fall 2021)
Editing and Literary Publishing (fall 2018, fall 2019, fall 2021, fall 2022, fall 2023)
Writing of the Short Story (fall 2019)
Villanova University, Co-Taught
Authors on and Off the Page: Literary Festival (spring 2019, spring 2021, spring 2023)
University of Houston, Sole Instructor
Beginning Creative Writing – Fiction (fall 2016)
First Year Writing II – Hybrid (fall 2016, spring 2017)
University of Houston, Online Facilitator
First-Year Writing I – (fall 2013)
First-Year Writing II – (fall 2013, spring 2014)
Writespace, Sole Instructor
Writers of Color Workshop – Hybrid (spring 2015, spring 2016, fall 2016, fall 2017, spring 2018)
Revision – (summer 2016, summer 2017)
Story Structure – Fiction (winter 2017, winter 2018)
Building Emotional Content – Fiction & Nonfiction (fall 2015, fall 2016, winter 2018)
Young Writers Workshop – Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry (summer 2015)
Setting – Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry (fall 2014)
SERVICE
BIPOC University-wide Writing Group, Villanova University, 2020-2024
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, Villanova University, 2019-2024
Enrollments Committee, Villanova University, 2019-2024
Careers in Publishing: A Villanova Alumni Panel, Villanova University, 2019
See Your Name in Print Panel, Villanova University, 2019
Cultural Studies Committee, Villanova University, 2018-2024
Fulbright Campus Committee, Villanova University, 2019
Neville Award Selection Committee, Villanova University, 2019
Toni Morrison: Great American Novelist, Villanova University, 2019
Villanova Undergraduate Research Fellowship, 2019
George D. Murphy Creative Writing Award, Villanova University, 2019-2024
Honors Thesis Tutor, Villanova University, 2018-2019, 2019-2020
Independent Study Advisor, Villanova University, spring 2020
Guest Lecture, “The Ethics and Politics of Translation,” Villanova University, 2018-2023
English Department Research Committee, University of Houston, 2017-2018
Provost’s Prize for Creative Writing, University of Houston, 2016-2018
English Department Research Committee, University of Houston, 2017-2018
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
Contributing Editor, Copper Nickel, 2022-present
Editorial Board, The Unsung Masters Series, 2018-present
Board Member, Margaret Fuller Society, 2016-2019
Advisory Board Member, Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature & Fine Arts, 2018-present
Advisory Board Member, The Houston Flood Museum, 2018-present
Board Member, Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature & Fine Arts, 2016-2018
Artist Advisory Board, DiverseWorks, 2016-2018
Writer-in-Residence, Writers in the Schools, 2016-2018
Committee Member, Association of Writers & Writing Programs Inclusion Initiative, 2016-2018
Diversity Task Force, Warren Wilson Program for Writers, 2013-2015
Class Gift Fundraiser, Warren Wilson Program for Writers, 2013
EDITORIAL EXPERIENCE
Nimrod International Journal of Prose and Poetry
Editorial Board, Fiction Reader (spring 2017-present)
Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts
Board of Directors, Institutional Liaison (summer 2016-2018)
Editor-in-Chief (summer 2014-spring 2016)
Assistant Fiction Editor (fall 2013-spring 2014)
NONACADEMIC WORK
The Lawrenceville School, Lawrenceville, NJ
2006-2011 Associate Director of College Counseling
Smith College, Northampton, MA
2004-2006 Assistant Director of Admissions and Multicultural Recruitment
2002-2004 Admissions Counselor
TEACHING AREAS
Creative Writing (fiction and nonfiction)
Editing
Contemporary Literature
Composition and First-Year Writing
Translation Studies
LANGUAGES
French – Fluent
Old English – Good
Spanish – Can read with dictionary
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
American Literary Translators Association
Association of Writers and Writing Programs
Margaret Fuller Society