THE ASSIGNMENT WAS SIMPLE–a reflection about our seniors’ changing relationship with the Spanish major–which made for one of my best weeks as a teacher. Not necessarily because of my own classroom performance, but because of what the students’ writing revealed about their development. I spent a couple of days checking my computer every ten […]
Mile 10
AS I RUN THROUGH THE WOODS in Hell, Michigan, I am conscious of only three things: The horizontal blue ribbons marking the trail, My beautiful, brand-new sparkling engagement ring, And the fact that, aside from my lime-green running shoes, I am completely naked. It is the first time I’ve ever really thanked god that I […]
Tiny Fire: The Eastside Years
1 MOTHER CHASING ME THROUGH the apartment parking lot, pregnant. Her belly, round like a basketball, my sister in it. Me looking back and running, finger pointing at my mother, her stern eyes, wet with anger, the small me laughing out loud, Kassandra cursing me from the womb, years later I would put her in […]
The Art Of Resemblance In Nonfiction
When I walked into the apartment of memoirist Alan Kaufman in Lower Nob Hill around 2011, I noticed paintings covering his walls. I’d already read his nearly 500-page memoir, Drunken Angel. The book chronicles how he became a writer and drunk (and how he recovered from alcoholism). There was nothing about him being a painter. How could he […]
The Deep End
TUCKED MY HAIR UNDER my daisy-covered swim cap until my scalp stretched so tight my face hurt. Mom said I had to wear a rubber swim cap because girl hair clogged pool drains. In beginner swim class, mostly I held on to the side in the shallow end, kicked and blew bubbles for a pretty […]
English Only?
IT WAS AUTUMN in suburban Richmond. Cheerful, acute voices overwhelmed the muted sounds of falling leaves. “Córrele Guillermo,” yelled Elena to her toddler. “Te tengo aquí unas galletitas.” Just next to her, a round, middle-aged face surfaced from behind a USA Today. With deepening, fresh wrinkles, he glanced and gruntled, “In this park we only […]
A Colorful Sound In Chicago
SOMETIMES I DON’T WEAR MY GLASSES or my contacts because I’m sick of seeing all the beautiful people in my city. They make me feel green as I listen to their silky shirts lick their skin and the hollow, yet echoing sound from a woman’s shoes. Five days out of seven I am on this […]
Dealing With The Killing Squads
DURING THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE of 1915, one of the many ways a woman could die at the hands of the killing squads was by the game of swords. The killing squads were bands of ex-convicts, released from prison or recruited by the Ottoman government for the purpose of massacring Armenians. The game of swords involved […]
My First Boyfriend, Leslie
I KNEW LESLIE AS A QUIET BOY who sat in the last row of my fourth grade class at Fammatre Elementary in San Jose, California. The following fall, on the first day of fifth grade, Leslie came to school wearing a pink-flowered sundress. Leslie’s slicked brown hair waved in boy fashion behind her ears, and […]
Spelunking
I FALL DEEP INTO OBLIVION – into something that’s too big to hold me. The history is too big, my color is all wrong and even while I hold the sides I can’t see my hands. Somewhere, there’s a rope. I know it’s there because it’s around my waste. I start to climb. The rocks […]
Changing Hands
ON A RECENT TRIP back to Phoenix, I went to Changing Hands Bookstore. I’d made a point to stop by every time I came to the area, to see the place and take in what are, for me, positive associations. I frequented the store when I started my time in the English program at Arizona […]
An Account Of The Invisible Memoirs Reading
“IT WAS GREAT TO see students stepping up and helping out,” writer Jane Hawley said of Kimberly Navarro, the host for “Reading the Invisible Memoirs,” a fundraiser and event for Random Writers Workshop and the release of the anthology, “Invisible Memoirs: Lionhearted.” What would I have done without Kimberly as emcee on Friday the 13th? […]
Storytellers To Recount Experiences At Memoir Event
FOR THE SECOND TIME, Invisible Memoirs has selected a Bakersfield author’s story as its centerpiece, even naming the California-wide anthology after a local memoir. Why I am I excited about this? As the workshop instructor and initial editor of everyone’s submissions, I’m just so happy all of my students’ hard work paid off. Twelve local […]