A working writer's paper trail.

Education

• Ph.D., Computational Neuroscience — University of Massachusetts
• M.A., Professional Writing — University of Southern California
• Additional study: Academy for New Musical Theatre; Moving Arts Playwriting Lab

Honors & awards

• Mayor's Poetry Program, 2026 — poem hung at Boston City Hall
• Inductee, International Educators Hall of Fame, 2015 (with family)
• Finalist, Independent Book Publishers Perennial Seller Award, 2017
• Semifinalist, Fineline Competition, Mid-American Review, 2015
• Semifinalist, Mary Ballard Poetry Chapbook Prize, 2014
• Semifinalist, Atlanta Review International Poetry Competition, 1996
• Member, Los Angeles 1998 National Poetry Slam team — 3rd place nationally

Books

• The Swallow and the Nightingale — visionary fiction, Strong Voices Publishing, 2014
• The Sanctuary of Artemis: A Collection of Contextual Poetry — Tebot Bach, 2011
• From Whence Comes Love (ghostwriter) — memoir, RI Publishing, 2013

Selected poetry & short fiction

• “Keeping the Ground,” Poetry Super Highway, Yom HaShoah Poetry Issue, 2024
• “What Light Is” & “March 18, 2011,” in Tiny Moments Vol II, Bronze Birds Books, 2024
• “Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett” & “My Mother's Hands,” ONTHEBUS, 2018
• “The Evolutionary Record,” Soul-Lit, 2015
• “Hard K Sounds,” Spectrum 3, 2016 · Moon Tide Press Poet of the Month, 2014
• “I Love Popcorn,” in Don't Blame the Ugly Mug, Tebot Bach, 2011
• “Keeping the Ground,” in Blood to Remember (ed. Charles Fishman), Time Being Books, 2007
• “Abracadabra,” Rattle, 1998
• “A Matter of Time,” short story, Common Lives/Lesbian Lives, 1992

Plus over 100 poems and creative non-fiction pieces published in journals and anthologies including The Southern California Anthology, Spillway, poeticdiversity, and numerous others.

Selected creative non-fiction & essays

• “Destiny,” in LOVE NOTES From the Soul, Mayacamas Press, 2024
• “Finding My Authentic Self,” in Side-Eye on the Apocalypse, Common Forces Press, 2021
• “The Difference,” Fired Up Magazine, Climate Change and Consciousness edition, 2019
• “And Just Who is the Supermodel?” Spirit of Change Magazine, 2015
• “Contextual Poetry,” The Hummingbird Review, 2012
• Ongoing Earth Etude essays for Mayan Tikvah and Congregation Beth El, 2017–2025

Plays & musicals

Twelve plays and musicals produced or staged since 2002 — full list on the Plays & Films page. Highlights:

• We Did It For You! Women's Journey Through History — touring since 2010; filmed 2022
• At Seven, children's musical — Toledo Repertoire Theatre, 2006–2008
• The Only Thing Greek About Me Is My Name, one-woman show — Santa Monica Playhouse and others
• Primed for Love — Eclectic Theatre Company, The OUT Theatre, Laguna Woods Theatre Guild

Scientific books & papers (selected)

• The Grasping Hand, with C. MacKenzie — North-Holland: Elsevier, 1994
• Dextrous Robot Hands (ed.), with S. Venkataraman — Springer-Verlag, 1990
• Computer Architecture, 3rd ed., with C. Foster — Van Nostrand-Reinhold, 1985
• “Human Prehension and Dextrous Robot Hands,” International Journal of Robotics Research, 1997
• “Neural Network Models for Selecting Hand Shapes,” in Hand and Brain, Academic Press, 1996

Teaching, service & affiliations

• Creative writing instructor since 2005; college professor and adult-education instructor
• Leadership team, Jewish Climate Action Network
• Green Sanctuary Committee & Social Justice Incubator/Anti-Racism Team, First Parish UU Medfield
• Board member, Rainbow Lifelong Learning Institute
• Former host, Expresso Yourself Coffeehouse, Medfield, MA
• Member, Northeast Storytelling (NEST), Jewish Storytelling Coalition, AAUW