Areas of Expertise
- Native American studies, Indigenous futurism, contemporary literature, creative writing including fiction and creative nonfiction
Education
- B.A. in English and communications, St. John Fisher College
- MFA in creative writing, Chatham University
- M.A. in literature, Pennsylvania State University
- Ph.D. in literature, Arizona State University
Professional Experience
I am an educator, coach and consultant with over 15 years in education. I am of Seneca descent, from what is Seneca and Haudenosaunee territory, and currently reside on Narragansett land. I have collaborated with universities, museums, media companies, shelters and arts organizations to build strategic plans infusing inclusive practices across all policies and procedures. I use my community's Good Mind as a framework for dialogues and my guiding principles derive from that Good Mind with peace, equity, relationality and connection at the heart of my philosophies. My work focuses on my community's histories and experiences. I am a fiction and screenplay writer, essayist, photographer and a coach and consultant. I have work appearing in The Florida Review, Arkana, Yellow Medicine Review, Transmotion, Presumed Incompetent (second edition) and other spaces. My short story collection, "Living Along the Borderlines" (2019), out with Feminist Press, was a finalist for the Louise Meriwether first book prize. I have drafted a screenplay adaptation of my story, "The Long Goodbye," from that collection. My first novel and essay collection are both finished and I am at work on a new dystopian novel.
Selected Publications
"Living on the Borderlines," Feminist Press, 2019
"Healing from Micro Aggressions, Abuse, and Racial Battle Fatigue, the Good Mind in Action" for Presumed Incompetent II: Race, Class, Power, and Resistance of Women in Academia. Second Edition. Editors: Yolanda Flores Niemann, Gabriella Gutierrez y Muhs, and Carmen G. Gonzalez. Utah State University Press, April 2020
"There is No Question of American Indian Genocide." Genocide, Absence, and Erasure of American Indian Presence. University of Kent, England. Transmotion (winter 2018 special issue)