EDUCATION
2018: VONA fellow, memoir workshop with Bich Minh “Beth” Nguyen
2017: PhD, English & creative writing, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
2010: MA, English & creative writing, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
2004: BA, individualized study, New York University
2003: Summer, political science & language, University of the Western Cape, South Africa
2000: Summer, screenwriting, University of Southern California
1999: Summer, creative writing, University of Cambridge
AWARDS / SCHOLARSHIPS
2019: StoryQuarterly‘s Fourth Annual Nonfiction Prize (first runner-up)
2017: 2017-2018 COG Page to Screen Award (winner)
2014: J. Watumull Scholarship for the Study of India
2014: John Young Scholarship in the Arts
2013–2014: Jagdish P. Sharma Memorial Scholarship
2010: Myrle Clark Award for Creative Writing
READINGS / EVENTS / PRESENTATIONS
- October 2019: “Beyond the Page: Podcasting and Body Transformations to Reach New Audiences” (workshop colead with Jocelyn Kapumealani Ng), Words@Mānoa, Honolulu
- October 2019: “Grandpa Was a Skin Diver” (unpublished), Mixing Innovative Arts Tenth Anniversary Reading, Honolulu
- August 2019: It’s Lit M.I.A Takeover (cohosted with Jocelyn Kapumealani Ng), Honolulu
- May 2019: “Deep Research for World-Building in Narrative Nonfiction: Writing Workshop and Q&A with Author Gilbert King” (interviewer moderator), Hawaiʻi Book and Music Festival, Honolulu
- March 2019: “True Story: Revolutionary Creative Nonfiction,” Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP), Portland
- November 2018: “Little Red BMW” (unpublished), Every Voice Matters: Poetry, Prose, and Inclusion, Honolulu
- March 2018: It’s Lit M.I.A. Takeover (cohosted with Jocelyn Kapumealani Ng), Honolulu
- March 2018: “What Waits on Beadon Street: Fighting Diaspora’s Erasing Impulses,” Roundtable on South Asian American, Association of Asian American Studies, San Francisco (paper accepted)
- April 2017: Kundiman reading, Mixing Innovative Arts, Honolulu
- April 2016: “What Waits at Beadon Street,” Crossing Genres, Crossing Seas: Writing the South Asian Diaspora (panel), Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP), Los Angeles
- August 2016: “This Part of the Body” and “Un-love Letter” (unpublished), Mixing Innovative Arts Seventh Anniversary Reading, Honolulu
- May 2016: “Love Letter to Kurseong,” The 2016 Ian MacMillan Writing Awards, Honolulu
- April 2015: “Where the Water Is” (excerpt) & “From Bani Roy’s Recipes for Excellent Bengali Meals” (unpublished), Mana Wahine Reading, Honolulu
- April 2015: “In Bones We Carry” (with Donovan Kūhiō Colleps; unpublished) & “When the Mouth Closes,” Decolonial Solidarities, Honolulu
- April 2015: “How We Define Our Stories, How Our Stories Define Us: A Pre-1965 India-to-U.S. Immigration Story,” Decolonial Futures in South Asia and Beyond, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Center for South Asian Studies, 32nd Annual Symposium (HI)
- February 2014: “Finding Family in the Archives: Storytelling in Delhi, Kurseong, and Kolkata,” cosponsored by the Center for South Asian Studies and the Center for Biographical Research (HI)
- August 2014: “Where the Water Is” (excerpt), Mixing Innovative Arts, Honolulu
February 2014: “Stroke” (unpublished) and “The Last Thing Left” (unpublished) The New Oceania Literary Series featuring Sudesh Mishra, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (HI) - October 2013: “Eat the Garden” (unpublished) A Pacific Poetry Feast, Kokua Market (HI)
- September 2013: “Clamoring for Whiteness or Struggling for Survival?: A Pre-1965 India-to-US Immigration Story,” Second Annual Asians in the Americas Symposium, Pepperdine University (CA)
- May 2013: BYOW: Build Your Own Workshop, Mixing Innovative Arts (HI)
- April 2011: “Told You So,” M.I.A. Art & Literary Series, Fresh Cafe (HI)
- April 2010: “What Babas Are For,” Fathers’ Day: Readings in Creative Writing, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (HI)
- October 2009: “Walls,” The Mānoa Experience, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (HI)
- 2003: “Reconcile,” INI NYC (NY)
- 2001: “Reconcile,” Da Poetry Lounge (CA)
TEACHING
- August 2018–Present: English Teacher, Punahou Academy (HI)–Courses taught: English 2, English 3/4: Magical Realism, English 3: American Literature–Dream and Disillusion; Courses to be taught: English 2: Visual Storytelling (Interdisciplinary Studio Art and English Class), English 3/4: Writing with Clarity and Grace (Creative Nonfiction and Composition)
- August 2012–August 2016: Instructor, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (HI)—Courses taught: ENG 100: Composition, ENG 200: Advanced Composition, ENG 273: Introduction to Fiction, ENG 273: Introduction to Memoir, ENG 311: Autobiographical Writing–Memoir, ENG 313: Types of Creative Writing: Truth and Lies in Storytelling–Fiction and Creative Nonfiction
- September 2013–July 2016: Creative Writing Instructor, Kāhala Nui Continuing Care Retirement Community (HI)—Courses taught: Memoir
- January 2011–May 2012: Lecturer, St. Joseph’s College (NY)—Courses taught: Community Health and Human Services 403: Liberal Arts, General Studies 402: Critical Thinking for Professionals
- December 2010–February 2011: Tutor, Champion Learning Center (NY)
- September 2008–May 2010: Teaching Assistant/Graduate Assistant/Mentor, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (HI)
- September 2008–May 2009: Tutor, Juku Tutorial Institute (HI)
- January–June 2006: Aide to Instructor, The Mercy Center (NY)
EDITING / WRITING
- August 2016–August 2018: Managing Editor, Biography: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly, The Center for Biographical Research
- May 2013–May 2015: Editor in Chief, Hawai‘i Review (HI)
- May 2009–May 2011: General Editor, Vice-Versa (HI)
- February 2011–July 2012: Grants Coordinator, GEMS: Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (NY)
- March–April 2011: Copy Editor, ICAP: International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Programs (NY)
- October 2008–May 2010: Editor, Kahuaomānoa Press (HI)
August 2009–May 2010: Grace K.J. Abernethy Apprentice, Mānoa: A Pacific Journal of International Writing (HI) - October 2009–May 2010: Copy Editor, Biography: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly (HI)
- November 2008–August 2009: Editor, The Center on the Family (HI)
- January 2005–August 2008: Associate Editor, The Feminist Press at CUNY (NY)
- September 2005–August 2008: Managing Editor, WSQ: Women’s Studies Quarterly (NY)
OTHER
- November 2016–Present: Podcast/Radio Cohost, It’s Lit with PhDJ
- August–November 2018: Radio DJ, Central Pacific Time
- November 2016–August 2018: Radio DJ, KTUH Honolulu
- November 2012–July 2013: Student Coordinator, Words in the World Symposium (HI)
- September 2012: Volunteer Coordinator, Audre Lorde Legacy Festival (HI)
- May–November 2004: Assistant Organizer, Global Women’s Gathering (NY)
- May–November 2004: Coproducer, Mariposa Film (NY)
- May–August 2002: Reporter, Core Media Group/Sierra Madre Weekly (CA)
