I am a writer of essays, fiction, criticism, cultural analyses, and pop culture content, and once competed as a slam poet at the national level in the US. Trained as an urban and cultural sociologist (PhD), I have presented my research in the US, the UK, Portugal, Brazil, Sweden, and Chile, and have also edited and translated the work of other writers, researchers, and artists from around the world. My work has received large-scale funding from Stockholm University (Sweden) and Creatives Rebuild New York (US). And my reviews, recommendations, and recaps of Korean TV shows and movies appear weekly at Dramabeans. Currently, I'm knee-deep in my first novel.

Extended bio:

Born and raised in rural, upstate New York, my adult experience has been defined by betweenness — sliding between rural and urban, but also between continents, cities, cultures, and socio-economic classes. Continual movement shaped my identity, and my creative and intellectual work is in turn shaped by the lenses of migration, mobility, displacement, and other forms of outsider status.

Outsider identity also led me to sociology, where I earned a BA (Cornell), MA (Columbia), and PhD (Stockholm) and traveled the Western world studying urban architectures and cultures. My fieldwork in Santiago, Chile, resulted in The Social Roles of Buildings: An Account of Materiality and Meaning in Urban Outcomes (2017), and inspired me to combine academic and artistic practices. I have written articles on urban "between spaces" (stoops in Harlem; patios in Santiago), as well as personal essays on residing between urban places. 

In addition to my independent practice, I have worked as a legal assistant at an NYC construction union, a research assistant at two NYC hospitals, and a researcher for two Santiago start-ups. I've also been an assorted array of kitchen, hotel, and retail staff (including an “essential worker” in the heat of 2020’s global pandemic).

I am currently based in New York and Chile, writing an urban novel centered on themes of identity, immigration, trauma, and violence, set between two post-colonial cities.