I am a third generation Chinese American who writes about the intersection of memory, family, culture, language, identity, and history. My essays have been published in Fourth Genre, Short Reads, and Best American Travel Writing, among other places, and have been twice nominated for a Pushcart Prize. In 2022, I was honored to be named an Oregon Literary Fellow in Creative Nonfiction.

I knew I wanted to write as soon as I could read, and I began developing my creative writing practice (writing even when I wasn’t taking classes) when I discovered Shut Up and Write groups in 2012. When I shifted careers to freelance health writing and editing, I promised myself that I’d protect time in my week for writing, a promise I’ve kept even as I met my now-spouse, married, and our family expanded to four. Below, you’ll find the “output” of my creative career, although I believe the greatest gift has been the steady companionship of creativity in my life.

PUBLICATIONS

Houdini, Mom Egg Review, forthcoming.

Toss Of The Dice and Tread, Significant Beings, 2024.

Categorically So, Short Reads, 2024.

Red Egg And Ginger, Silk Road Review, 2024.

Unwritten, Beyond the Margins, 2024.

Beauty, The Maine Review, 2023. Nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

The Space Between Heartbeats, The Masters Review, 2023.

This Particular Solitude, Literary Mama, 2022.

Tributary, Best American Travel Writing 2019.

Tributary, Fourth Genre, 2018. Nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

Eighty-Eight, Blue Mesa Review issue 37, 2018.

The Dumpling Shop, 1001 Journal, 2017.

Slow Ascent, Oregon Humanities, 2016.

Knowing Grandma, Seamwork Magazine, 2015.

Coming Up For Air, The Drum Literary Magazine, 2011.

 

AWARDS, FELLOWSHIPS, RESIDENCIES

AWARDS AND FELLOWSHIPS

Make | Build | Learn grant, Regional Arts and Culture Council, 2021.

Creative Nonfiction Fellowship, Oregon Literary Arts, 2022.

 

JURIED ARTIST RESIDENCIES

Caldera, 2018.

Hypatia-in-the-Woods, 2022.

Kimmel Harding Nelson, 2023.

Nancy Ludmerer Fellowship for Flash Nonfiction, The Porches Writing Retreat, 2026.

My writing practice has ebbed and flowed as my life has changed, expanding (in focus and in presence) when I needed to make sense of new parenthood amid a global pandemic, contracting as my children grew more active and asked more of me. Through it all, I have crafted a definition of consistency and a creative practice that works for me. If you are a creative person looking to build or enhance your creative practice, I offer coaching and classes. Please reach out! I’d love to work with you.