THE LONG(ER) STORY
A Kansas native, I began writing poetry as an undergraduate at Hutchinson Community College, where I studied English. My love of poetry grew as I completed my BA in Creative Writing and Literature at Kansas State University, but it was in graduate school at the University of Kansas that I fell in love with the essay and haven't looked back. I have published poems in Inscape, Touchstone, Kiosk, and Flint Hills Review, and an essay, "I Know Where the Water Goes," in South Loop Review.
While in Lawrence, I was an editorial assistant for KU's Cottonwood literary magazine, a graduate teacher of Nonfiction Writing and Composition at KU, and a rare book seller at The Dusty Bookshelf in Lawrence. I was also a member of the Bathtub Writers Collective, with which I organized writers exchanges with area MFA programs in order to create a network of young Midwest writers through a reciprocal reading series, encouraged students in the Lawrence schools to engage with literature and write creatively through the Writers in the Schools program, and presented on a panel at the 2010 AWP Conference titled “Bathtub Kansas Writers’ Collective: A Community of Writers,” which discussed the need for and benefits of establishing a community of writers that extends beyond the limits of the University. Furthermore, I worked to raise awareness of literature through community initiatives, including posting poetry on city buses and showcasing writing as a public art by typing for hours on the sidewalk through Dueling Typewriters.
For three years, I was the Assistant Director of the Hub City Writers Project in Spartanburg, South Carolina, where I was an editor, writer, bookseller, bookkeeper, marketer, event planner, etc. I edited books including the IPPY Award winning The Patron Saint of Dreams by Phillip Gerard and Middlewood Journal: Drawing Inspiration from Nature by Helen Correll, designed the poetry collection Voodoo for the Other Woman by Angela Kelly, and co-founded the state-wide Expecting Goodness Short Film Festival. For a time, I was the online community builder for HUB-BUB, which overflowed into an offline passion for community building. I explored the Carolinas in width and height on my days off.
I returned to my hometown of Hutchinson, Kansas, in May 2013, where I am now the Program Officer at the Hutchinson Community Foundation, in charge of grantmaking and community initiatives. I help match donors and resources to needs in the community, and I have a hand and/or foot in early childhood initiatives, healthy eating and active living, family economic success, and placemaking.
I got married on November 22, 2013 to my best friend and became a bonus mom to four-year-old Jack. We live in the most adorable cottage. I'm a lucky, lucky girl.
