In 2021, I graduated with an MFA degree in Creative Writing from the Rainier Writing Workshop, a three-year low-residency MFA program at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington. In that program, I completed two manuscripts tied to my exploration into how my grandmother and her two sisters survived the Armenian Genocide. My critical paper explores how authors write into silence, the private silence of untold stories and the public silence of suppressed stories. In my creative thesis, a hybrid memoir, family photographs, primary documents, and historical fact intersect with memories and speculation to create a personal story within the larger public archive.
I’m currently expanding my creative thesis from an academic artifact into a book-length work.
Writing a book is a long slog, so I also write essays for the personal satisfaction and because it’s good practice to actually finish and polish a piece of writing and then, perhaps, send it out into the world. There are links to a few of my published essays here.
In addition to the book and essays, I write a monthly blog about the work of writing; wonderings inspired by books, podcasts, articles, anything really; and the nature I see out my windows.
I live in the Pacific Northwest with my husband and our Tortico dog-cat. I buy way more books than I’ll ever have the time to read. After yoga, walking in the forest is my favorite form of exercise.
