“The world is so empty if one thinks only of mountains, rivers & cities; but to know someone who thinks & feels with us, & who, though distant, is close to us in spirit, this makes the earth for us an inhabited garden.”
― Goethe
Prizes
James D. Phelan Literary Award
National Federation of State Poetry Societies Award
The National League of American Pen Women National Poetry Award
Poetry on the Move Prize
Santa Clara County Poetry Prize
Grants & Scholarships
West Chester Univ. Poetry Conference Scholarship Award, program director: Dana Gioia
WC&C Scholarship Award
Donor Circle for the Arts Grant, Silicon Valley Community Foundation
Service to the Profession
California Arts Council grant review panelist
Writer-in-Residence of the East Side Voices Project, a series of creative writing workshops designed for high school students in which immigrant heritage and culture is preserved through the elevation of speaking, interviewing and writing skills. Sponsored by: San Jose State University Master of Fine Arts Creative Writing Program, San Jose, CA. Funded by: The Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Donor Circle for the Arts, Mountain View, CA.
Publisher & Editor-in-Chief of Orchard Valley Review, the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Program at San Jose State University, San Jose, CA.
Editor & Designer of The Paths We Take: Many Stories One Journey, a collection of poetry, fiction and essays. Sponsored by: The Mission High School Peer Resources Center, San Francisco, CA. Funded by: The Youth Leader Institute’s Student Action Fund (SAF) & The Walter S. Johnson Foundation.
Editor & Designer of Powerful Whispers Breaking Barriers, a collection of poetry, fiction and essays. Sponsored by: The Peer Resource Group at McAteer High School through the Understanding Cesar Chavez through Literacy and Action Project, San Francisco, CA. Funded by: The Government Service and Volunteerism Fund (GOSERV).
