I was asked this summer to write a piece by the wonderful Franny Choi. I liked this project because it allowed me to reflect on my life and world in a way that is very different from prose. It’s interesting passing middle age as a TWOC, and occasionally lonely as heck. I wanted to share […]
This November, I am proud to be presenting at Open by Riot Laughter—archiving the resistance, divestment & transcendence of gender It’s a workshop by Winter Tangerine for trans/gender non-conforming writers. I am super excited! My talk will be called: “Where Are You Pointing That Flash?” and will discussing we position ourselves relative to our work. My lecture will […]
This past Spring, I returned to my MFA Program to read and answer questions. This was one of the most meaningful readings of my life. After leaving Cornell, my life did not exactly follow the path I would have guessed. But I somehow kept writing. And, as it always has, writing sustained me. I am […]
This past October, I had the pleasure of addressing the Southern Buddhist Conference. I was asked to talk about my experiences as a transgender person who also has roots in the Buddhist church. As I get older, I find my ties to my past become not stronger, but more evident. As the world washes away […]
I am looking forward to this reading because it was so improbable. I was a judge for a literary contest, and after our panel presentation at the AWP, Tobi Harper from Quill/Red Hen, asked if I wanted to read at the Pasadena Litfest. Sometimes, things click, and all the hard work pays off, and people […]
So last Thursday, I visited Pasadena to speak at PCC as the Visiting API Scholar. Thank you to Kirsten Ogden and Mikage Kuroki for their warmth and hospitality. Whenever I combine API and queer experiences, I notice such an outpouring of sharing and support from people who find themselves juggling identities from one community to […]
Hi All, This isn’t a usual post. Might you bear with? See, I need to set something right. This has been bothering since this article came out. I am very grateful to Brown for inviting me, and I had an excellent time there. But sometimes, a misquote or misrepresentation can really hurt people. In this […]
in some ways because it was an unsent letter to my mother, in other ways because it was handwritten, but, yeah, family stuff. one of the most rewarding things about getting older is that one has time to rethink and reconcile with one’s past. it’s not about making up with one’s parents or family. with […]
I was asked by Iris Mahan and Danielle Barnhart if I might contribute to Women of Resistance–Poems for a New Feminism last year. I was working on my novel (the same one, yes the same one I’m finishing now), but I wrote a poem, “January, After El Niño,” that just came out easily. It wasn’t an […]
I got this in the mail recently: “MEANWHILE ELSEWHERE just won the American Library Association Stonewall Book Awards Barbara Gittings Literature Award!!! This is a mouthful but I think it’s basically is the top LGBTQ fiction/poetry award they give out. Which means: THIS IS HUGE. And as a result your work will probably end up […]