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  Earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls.
• Received her BA in English Language/Literature.
• Studied poetry at Sarah Lawrence.

In what field did you work prior to coming to SLC?

I was a Financial Officer in Philanthropic Advisory at the U.S. Trust Company of New York; prior to that I worked at the American Red Cross in Greater New York. Right after I graduated UNI, I was in AmeriCorps *VISTA in Chicago.

Why did you choose Sarah Lawrence for graduate school? Why Writing?

I chose Sarah Lawrence College because I wanted to devote my time to writing; to being a part of a community of writers. I feel that SLC emphasized that. I visited the College one weekend afternoon and, walking around the campus, I just knew that this was where I wanted to study.

As an undergrad, I took a number of writing workshops and was involved in the campus literary journal. I loved these classes. I had the opportunity to study with Bob Ward, Annie Finch, and Vince Gotera, who all really shaped my love of language and the musicality of poetry.

Can you speak to the intellectual rigor of the program?

The craft classes I took with Stephen Dobyns and Kurt Brown helped me to gain an even closer look into the reading and writing of poetry. They were challenging and demanding classes that helped me explore poetry from many different angles. My background was one that was fairly committed to formal verse and I felt lucky to have that as a starting point. In my workshops, I learned how to read poetry closely, how to give each line, each word, each space even attention; how to address the poem in its parts as well as its entirety.

Can you speak to the interdisciplinary nature of the Writing program?

As my elective, I took a theatre class with Shirley Kaplan – Painter’s Theatre. It was a liberating class. Since I was a writer, Shirley supported that and challenged me to work with my poetry on a theatrical level. I don’t mean it was performance poetry, but transforming a poem into a theatrical piece. My classmates, all Theatre students, were incredibly talented and it was a real pleasure being with them.

How do you think Sarah Lawrence’s approach to this field and to graduate studies in general is different?

I believe in SLC’s emphasis on learning the craft of writing. I think of the graduate Writing program as first and foremost a studio program devoted to giving people the opportunity to write. Period. By virtue of putting people together who all have that same opportunity, this community of writers is born. I know that other programs emphasize the practical or academic nature of writing, but I wasn’t looking for that. I felt that I had spent my undergraduate years working on that. SLC offered me the chance to delve into writing in ways that I would have never guessed six years ago.

How did your program and experience balance/integrate theory and practice?

The craft classes are a terrific opportunity to talk about how poems are put together. In these classes, the reading is not just the reading of poetry, but also the examination and discussion of essays on the craft.

Where were your internships? What type of skills/knowledge did you acquire through your internships?

I interned at the International Center for the Disabled (ICD) in Manhattan with Cathy Appel. It was an amazing experience. I worked one-on-one with students there talking about their poetry and stories. I also helped the students and staff put together a literary journal of their work that they had started a couple of years before. At the end of the year with them, the other SLC graduate student intern, Christine Baer, and I hosted a reading and reception at ICD. It was an outstanding group of students, completely dedicated to writing and supporting each other.

What kinds of writing/reading opportunities did you take part in on-campus?

I took part in Lumina both years I was a student. The first year, I was on the production staff and the second year, I was the Managing Editor. I attended the Reading Series events and also attended the Graduate Student Readings and Jeffrey McDaniel’s 6x6 readings. I am very proud of having founded the Poetry Festival. It was a thrilling challenge. It’s been exciting to see it continue these past years! It was also fun helping to support the Summer Seminar for Adult Writers: the students who attend are incredibly devoted to writing and in the brief time they are here, really do become a part of the SLC experience.

What kinds of writing/reading opportunities did you take part in off-campus?

I’ve attended the readings at Cornelia Street Café, The Ear Inn, and others. I started a reading series in my own neighborhood in Manhattan but admit that I have not had time to keep it up. We had a number of terrific readings over the year we ran it, and it is something I’d like to return to.

How did the courses and/or faculty help shape your experience as a student?

The faculty was incredibly supportive with all of my endeavors. When I was in class with them, I really felt they paid close attention to the work and outside of class were always available for my extra-curricular advice-seeking activities.

Were there specific courses or faculty that you especially liked?

That is a tough question. I learned so much from all of my instructors and respect all of them as teachers as well as writers, but I would say that the class that I enjoyed the most was my workshop with Kate Knapp Johnson. She was so thoughtful in a workshop with so many different voices that it made a big impact on me. I learned how to read poetry that I don’t normally read; challenged my own ideas on what constitutes a poem and in so doing, I hope, heightened my own writing.

What do you consider the strongest attribute of the Writing program?

The time it gives you to write, write, write. I’d never experienced that before. It was such an amazing time to have this complete focus on my writing.

What is the graduate community like? How involved were you in campus life?

I was pretty involved in campus life. I knew and had good friends in a few of the other departments through my graduate assistant positions in Student Activities and Financial Aid as well as through Graduate Student Senate and the Theatre class. I was really impressed with the other departments’ achievements and the intellectual and creative curiosity that existed campus-wide.

What was your perception of diversity within the program and the graduate community?

I think the College does a good job at trying to attract a diverse population; across racial, gender, sexual orientation, age and geographic lines. I really thought one of the strongest aspects of the Writing program was to have a strong cross-section of ages in the program. It was great to have all of the different levels of experience and perspectives.

What career/field have you pursued since graduating?

I didn’t have any idea what I was going to do after graduation. I had kept myself pretty busy throughout the year so that I didn’t really have a chance to think about it seriously. I had applied for a couple of fellowships that I didn’t get and had been offered a teaching position that I didn’t take. I realized that teaching wasn’t what I wanted to do and to then teach merely as a fall-back seemed cowardly, especially since I have so much respect for those that do it well. I ended up getting a job at the 92nd Street Y, which was a wonderful place to be, but left there to return to Sarah Lawrence to help create the office of Special Programs where we offer evening and weekend classes in the fall and spring to adults and high school students as well as residential programs in the summer.