About Me
I'm a poet who's made my living as a professional writer and teacher of writing since 1986. Check out my CV, portfolio, and links.
Gaudeamus Igitur
After knocking about the country as a reporter for several years, I finally finished my B.A. in English and Creative Writing (history minor) at Georgia State University in Atlanta. I did this while working full-time as a CNN newswriter during the Gulf War--I'd grown up immersed in the news busines in New Orleans. I left the network (just before the AOL-TIme Warner merger) to devote myself to studying and writing poetry full-time. I earned my Master of Fine Arts from the Creative Writing Workshop at the University of New Orleans (following a detour through the low-res program at Warren Wilson). I'm now finishing my Ph.D. in creative writing at Georgia State (primary, poetry; secondary, fiction), with a healthy dose of literature, language, and Latin American studies courses outside of my basic program requirements.
I've led creative writing workshops for at-risk students in Atlanta Public Schools, HIV-positive adults, prep-school kids in Georgia and Louisiana, New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts' summer program, and elsewhere. For the past decade, I also have taught English composition, remedial English, ESL, world literatures, creative writing, and business writing for university and adult education students.
Along the way, I've won some awards; chief among these, a number of academic and conference scholarships and fellowships, a Hambidge Center for the Arts and Sciences Teaching Fellowship, and Best Poet in New Orleans for the year 2000, according to the readers of Gambit Weekly (#2 was Andrei Codrescu; #3 was John Sinclair).
I love anything having to do with boats, the water, marine life, and sustainable coastal living. I'm an avid scuba diver, fish- and bird-watcher, and have been known to clean up entire stretches of waterways on my own.
I write freelance work on the side, as time and opportunities present themselves. Editorial queries are always welcome.