curriculum vitae
COMMUNITY BUILDING
Co-director, Blue Stoop, Philadelphia, PA
May 2024 - Present
Helming a small literary arts nonprofit serving the greater Philadelphia area through classes, workshops, events, and opportunities.
Founder, Collective Lit, Philadelphia, PA
May 2019 - Present
Weekly drop-in co-working group for writers seeking community and accountability. Concurrent with weekly newsletter and monthly book club.
Workshop Facilitator, Arthur Ross Gallery, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
February 2019
Contracted to facilitate 30-person four-part open-genre creative writing workshop in conjunction with existing art installation.
Private Writing Tutor, Philadelphia, PA
March 2018 - July 2018
Developed creative writing syllabus tailored to the student’s interests. Student went on to perform for “The Moth” podcast.
West Philly Queer & Trans Storytelling Workshop, Philadelphia, PA
October 2017 - March 2018
Co-organizer of a free storytelling workshop for queer and trans locals. Scheduled and promoted meetings, developed curriculum, and facilitated critique.
Workshop Facilitator, Keshet, Oakland, CA
May 2017
Developed and delivered identity-appropriate curriculum for one-off creative writing workshop for trans Jewish adults.
Bay Area Trans Writers Workshop, Oakland, CA
February 2015 - June 2017
Organizer and co-facilitator of writing workshop by and for trans people. Created administrative systems and curriculum, sourced and managed funding, organized performances and publications.
CREATIVE WORKS
Professional writing
Ghost writing: Brena Jean (activist) website bio (2022)
Article: “Game pieces in the culture war” (Penn Today, 2021)
Article: “Becoming human” (Penn Today, 2020)
Article: “To Singapore and back again” (Penn Today, 2020)
Literary publications
Novella (co-authored): "Spark Bird" Thirty West (2024)
Short fiction: "Suspension Points" Cleaver Magazine, Issue 45 (2024)
Short non-fiction: "The Care and Keeping of Roomba" Philadelphia Stories: Summer issue (2023)
Zine: "Combine Sugar and Water" Scorch (Self published, 2022)
Poem: “Summer in Philadelphia is the only season worth writing about” The Wells Street Journal (University of Westminster, 2018)
Book: “Dead Dad Club” (Nomadic Press, 2017)
Poem: “Summer Body” “Trans Homo… Gasp!” Anthology (Transgress Press, 2017)
Short non-fiction: “Ghost Planet” Bat City Review: Issue 12 (University of Texas at Austin, 2016)
Poem: “The son swallows the key” What the Fresh Hell: Volume 1 (18th Street Press, 2015)
Zine: “Ash & Bone” (Self-published, 2013)
Short fiction: “Strange girls” Dead Animal Handbook: Anthology (The New Sh!t Show, 2013)
Zine: “In defense of giving up on a new city” (Self-published, 2012)
Zine: “Neither” (Self-published, 2012)
Visual arts
Installation: The Lavender People Project (Lansdowne, PA, 2021)
Video: “Rx (pt.1)” and “Rx (pt.2),” TransScreen (Amsterdam, Netherlands, 2011)
Video: “Wet Dream for Joe Montez,” Open Your Golden Gates (touring, Germany, 2011)
Video: “Rx (pt. 1),” Tr*nnyfest (San Francisco, CA, 2010)
Video: “Bathhouse Poetics,” Chronotopia (San Francisco, CA, 2010)
Photography: “Production stills,” EROS gallery (San Francisco, CA, 2010)
Printmaking: “Little Prints,” National Queer Arts Festival (San Francisco, CA, 2010)
Photography: “Transmasculinities,” EROS gallery (San Francisco, CA, 2009)
SELECTED APPEARANCES
Featured reader at Be About it Press book release for Natasha Dennerstein in Philadelphia (2024)
Featured reader for Spark Bird book release in Philadelphia (2024)
Featured reader at Novels in Progress reading series in Philadelphia (2024)
Host, curator, and performer for About Time: Trans Writers on Temporality (2024)
Curator and featured reader at WXPN's October LIVE at the Writers House (2023)
Host and co-curator of Delco Writers Read in Swarthmore (2022)
Featured reader at Personal Velocity reading series in Philadelphia (2022)
Featured reader at Two Rivers reading series in Philadelphia (2022)
Host and curator of Lit@Open Sound in Lansdowne, PA (2021)
Interviewee on Queer Words podcast (2019)
Featured reader at Dead Dad Club: A Father’s Day Reading in Seattle (2017)
Interviewee on Waves Breaking podcast (2017)
Featured reader at Fruitvale Fridays in Oakland (2017)
Featured reader at Perfectly Queer reading at Dog Eared Books in San Francisco (2017)
Featured reader at Voz Sin Tinta in San Francisco (2017)
Featured reader at Poetry & Martinis in San Francisco (2017)
Performer at The Hundy at E.M. Wolfman in Oakland (2016)
Performer at Oakland Book Festival Marathon Reading in Oakland (2016)
Host and performer for Trans Voices series at Strut in San Francisco (2016)
Performer and prizewinner for Literary Death Match in San Francisco (2016)
Featured reader at Not Your Bro for Litquake in San Francisco (2015)
Host and performer for Gender Outlaws reading at NPS Oakland (2014)
Featured reader at the San Francisco Queer Open Mic in San Francisco (2014)
Featured reader at The News reading at SOMArts in San Francisco (2013)
Featured reader at Lyrics & Dirges in Berkeley (2012)
AWARDS
LGBTQ Anthology finalist for “Trans Homo… Gasp!” Lambda Literary Awards (2018)
Awarded $1000 grant for Bay Area Trans Writers Workshop from the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (2016)
Creative Nonfiction Prize nomination, Mills College (2011)
Mary Merritt Henry Poetry Prize winner, Mills College (2010, 2008)
Mary Merritt Henry Poetry Prize nomination, Mills College (2009)
William Hearst Scholarship, Mills College (2007-2011)
Presidential Scholarship, Mills College (2007-2011)
RESIDENCIES & FELLOWSHIPS
Fiction fellow, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (2022)
Nonfiction fellow, Lambda Literary Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices (2012)
MEDIA MENTIONS
"The Ultimate Guide to Queer Literature in Philadelphia" (Philadelphia Magazine, July 4, 2024)
"BUILDING A CITY OF WRITERLY LOVE" (The Philadelphia Citizen, May 22, 2024)
"If you’re a poet or writer looking for connection in Philly, check these monthly events" (Billy Penn, October 5, 2023)
"Tender Cuckold: Jackie Ess On ‘Darryl’ and Community" (Observer, June 9, 2021)
“Building a Habit is as Easy as Sitting and Writing at the Kelly Writers House” (Write Now Philly, February 24, 2020)
EDUCATION
UX Writing Academy Training Program | Virtual
Certificate completed November '22
Internship: Sessions.us
San Francisco State University | San Francisco, CA
M.A. in Women and Gender Studies, C’14
Thesis: “Exceeding the Self: Affective Embodiments on Queer Trans Tumblr”
Mills College | Oakland, CA
B.A. in Queer Studies (minor in Studio Art), C’11
Thesis: “Seducing the Golem: Evidence, Metaphor, and the Erotics of Trans* Embodiment”