writer + educator

I was born in Tokyo

and moved with my family to the United States when I seven. I spent most of my childhood through college years in rural northeastern Ohio. I earned my MFA in Creative Writing at the University Maryland, where I developed my love for teaching as a poetry workshop instructor at the Jimenez-Porter Writers House. After then landing a job as the coordinator of readings and special events at NYU Creative Writing Program, I discovered my writing home and heart, Kundiman. With the support of this incredible community of Asian American writers, I published my first book of poetry, A Nuclear Family (UpSet Press). That same year I launched a new career as a middle school English teacher for children with language-based learning disabilities.

And never looked back.