For my community development consultancy, please visit Ability Analysis.
Passionate about my hometown, I love exploring and sharing our creative scene.
I had the privilege of sitting on the jury of the Ontario Art Council's Deaf and Disability Arts juries in 2017 and 2018 as well as its Arts Service Projects jury in 2020.
I am also an Associate Member of the League of Canadian Poets and a member of Qu'ART - Ottawa Queer Arts Collective.
Q: How long have you been in Ottawa, and what first brought you here?
Originally American, I came to Canada when I was 3. When I was in my 20s, I thought about moving to a larger city, and then came to appreciate the connections of friends, and the threads the city has had throughout my life.
Q: How did you first get involved in writing, and subsequently, the writing community here?
My parents always encouraged reading and the arts. Eventually, I decided to try my own hand at poetry - and I find it's like a muscle; the more one trains, the more one learns. I went to Canterbury High School for Literary Arts, took some time away from writing in my university years to explore other details in life, and then slowly came back home to poetry after university, when I connected with our local community.
Q: How did being in such a community of writers shift your thinking about writing, if at all?
I think it was more in phases. In high school, as part of Literary Arts, I came to appreciate how we all take our time and twists and turns to find our voices. I believe deeply in being kind, not critical, and offering others new perspectives on exploring ideas, while being open to feedback.
Q: What do you see happening here that you don’t see anywhere else? What does Ottawa provide, or allow?
There's a generosity of spirit that, while it exists elsewhere, I find is more prevalent here in Ottawa. New voices are encouraged. If people step away from writing, for whatever reason, they're always welcomed back.
Q: Have any of your projects responded directly to your engagements here? How have the city and its community, if at all, changed the way you approached your work?
I really appreciate Bywords.ca for providing a forum to share work, but more importantly, to read the work of others, and make connections.
Q: What are you working on now?
I am considering a manuscript of reflections on vulnerability and COVID-19 as a person with a disability. I'm making more efforts to read works by others, and to allow myself the joy of their works.
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