Community Building

Most recently, the Poetics of Pleasure with Kelsey Street Press, soon to be an ongoing series that dives deep into the 5 or 53 senses, pleasure and neuro-wellness, pleasure as pain relief or in the face of suffering, platonic sensual pleasure, solo and partnered sexual pleasure, pleasure in the work of activism, and more.

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I started off teaching creative writing to at-risk youth, but since then have gone on to offer classes at camps for blind kids, hospitals, recovery centers for women, and museums. Using fiction, poetry. and memoir exercises combined with creative movement and sensory exercises. we explore ways to heal body shame, build body awareness, and live more freely in bodies that have experienced illness, trauma, or transition. I often lead workshops at university conferences or teach as a guest speaker at colleges with a focus on disability rights, disability culture and arts, and the intersection of disability and sexuality studies. Some of these include the University of Arizona, Tucson; Naropa College; and the University of CA, Santa Cruz.  To find a complete list of places where I have offered classes and talks, click on my CV.

In my own St. Petersburg, FL neighborhood, I have held Saturday workshops at The Morean Center for the Arts like: 

Pursuing the New Erotic 

What is erotic writing? Some people hate the term, it is too flowery or over-the-top. But really, what is it, or what could it be? Is it Harlequin romance? 50 Shades of Grey? Good ole Anais Nin and Henry Miller? An Audrre Lorde treatise? Is it a tongue-in-cheek arthouse screenplay like Deep Throat? What is it, especially now, in 2019, post- Women's March and #MeToo, the legalization of gay marriage and the fight for the recognition or trans folx and folx outside the gender binary?...

Writing as BodyWork 

What kind of reading and writing makes you more aware of your own body’s story--the very visceral story of your blood and guts...

Creative Writing & Intimacy

Does one’s capacity for intimacy make one a better writer? How do the literary arts help us to become more intimate with self and other, to bridge body and mind? Intimacy can take many forms...

This spring, I created, in collaboration with the St. Pete League of Women Voters and the Empowering Pinellas Youth Council, a two-part virtual (due to Covid) panel discussion for Florida disability advocates. It was inspired by Netflix's release of the acclaimed 2020 disability rights documentary, Crip Camp. 

If you are interested in hiring me to teach a class, lead an interactive workshop, or facilitate a conversation for your group, please be in touch. We can discuss and I will create something unique to your needs.  Sliding scale available for disability groups that do not have an operating budget.