My teaching, writing, community and consulting work form a tapestry stitched together by a continuous thread I have followed all my life related to notions of home and family, intimacy and connection, art and beauty, social inequalities, social justice, and social change. Learn more about my latest book Welcome to Wherever We Are: A Memoir of Family, Caregiving, and Redemption.
Writing with Heart
Though I was never formally trained in writing creative nonfiction, it is what I am most drawn to. So, in 2000, while I was working on my dissertation, I followed my passion and began studying memoir in earnest. I have taken many writing workshops including ones through: The Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts, Grub Street Writers in Boston, Massachusetts, The Blue Hills Writing Institute (formerly in Milton, MA), Union Institute and University in Montpelier, Vermont, and The Sun Magazine Writers’ Conference.

I call what I do sociological memoir in that I draw on sociology which I know, love and trust to reveal structural underpinnings and patterns, and I draw on memoir to both illustrate memories and as a vehicle to interpret them. The analytical and interpretive properties of both—sociology and memoir—are quite similar. Sociology provides the conceptual, theoretical, and practical tools and vocabulary to explore the social forces that shape, support, complicate and constrain individuals’ choices and actions. Both sociology and memoir offer opportunities to analyze individuals’ relationships with social institutions and to question, reflect on, and put the pieces of our own lives together again.
Books
I am also working on several book projects throughout the year.
Book Chapters
Here’s a selection of anthologies to which I have contributed:
Journal Articles
Here is a brief listing of the journal articles I have worked on.
Poetry Collections
Here is a brief listing of the collections of poetry in which I have been featured:
Learn more about my teaching, writing, community and consulting work. For further details about my work, availability and inquiry, you can connect with me on social media or feel free to also contact me online.