“What comes across the drift is a tropical landscape of sensuous memories rooted in sorrow, but rescued by enduring love. Dynamite disguised as sampaguita!”
Education
Master of Fine Arts, Poetics & Writing, 1996. New College of California, San Francisco, CA.
Bachelor of Arts, Psychology, 1990. San Jose State University, San Jose, CA.
Work Experience
Highlights
Arts Programs and Grants Consultant, 2021 - present
Tutor, Reading Partners Silicon Valley, January 2023 - present
Arts Program Manager, City of San Jose Office of Cultural Affairs, 1996 – 2021.
Workshop Teacher, Fly Pinays Leadership Summit, March 2017.
Tutor, San Jose Public Library’s Partners in Reading program, January 2015 – 2016.
Workshop Teacher and Facilitator, Santa Clara County Poet Laureate POETree Project (numerous locations in Santa Clara County), January 2016 – December 2017.
Workshop Teacher, poetry workshops for adults & teens, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library, April 2015.
Guest Poet, Ellis Elementary School, April 2015.
Participating Author, San Jose Public Library’s Local Author Faire, November 2014.
Guest Poet, Carolyn Clark Elementary School, March 2014.
Administrator, “Hawak Kamay: Poems for the Philippines after Haiyan” a disaster-relief project started by California Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera, November 2013.
Guest Artist, SomArts Cultural Center’s “Feast of Words,” May 2011.
Guest Artist/Teacher, El Paso Community College, April 2009.
Guest Artist, University of Texas at El Paso, April 2009.
Guest Poet & Chaperone, for fifty students from High School for Public Service (Brooklyn, NY) to attend the Geraldine Dodge Poetry Festival in Waterloo, NJ, 2008.
Judge, East Side Union High School District’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Student Writing/Art/Multimedia Contest, 2007.
Participant, Community of Writers Poetry Workshop, 2006 and 2003.
Screening Judge, Growing Up Asian in America Writing Contest, 2006, 2004, and 2001.
Guest Artist/Teacher, Manikrudo Poetry & Performance Workshops at CSU Long Beach,
under the direction of Juan Felipe Herrera, 1998. Other guest artists/teachers were Li-Young Lee, Victor Hernandez Cruz, Genny Lim, Margarita Luna Robles, and Monica Palacios.
Guest Artist/Teacher, Manikrudo Poetry & Performance Workshops at CSU Long Beach, under the direction of Juan Felipe Herrera, 1996. Other guest artists/teachers were June Jordan, Li-Young Lee, Philip Levine, Gerald Stern, Margarita Luna Robles, and Allison Hedge-Coke.
Workshop Teacher, poetry workshops for Bay Area middle & high school students, 1994–2004.
Partial List of Readings, Performances & Poetry Projects
Upcoming, April 27, 2023: San Jose Museum of Art Poetry Invitational
Upcoming, April 20, 2023: SVCreates Town Hall at the School of Arts and Culture at Mexican Heritage Plaza.
Upcoming: March 22, 2023: San Jose State University’s Hidden Life of Water at Hammer Theatre Center.
February 25, 2023: Makata: Poetry of the Filipino Diaspora, More Mas Marami Fest at Convergence Arts Center.
September 24, 2022: The Sound and Social Justice Collective at Art Boutiki.
July 16, 2022: 2022 Marcus Festival: Claiming Space at Montalvo Arts Center.
August 14, 2022: San Jose Jazz Festival performance with The Right Starter Project at the Montgomery Theater.
April 23, 2022: Legacy of Poetry at San Jose State University with Craig Santos Perez and MK Chavez.
April 16, 2022: Bay Area Poet Laureates: Work in Words with 2021 Oakland Youth Poet Laureate Myra Estrada. Santa Clara Public Library.
March 6, 2022: Colour Me Gold with Yosimar Reyes and Deandre Brackensick at the School of Arts & Culture at Mexican Heritage Plaza.
November 20, 2021: Los Delicados 25th Anniversary Floricanto at MACLA San Jose.
September 11, 2021: San Jose Poetry Festival at Poetry Lounge
April 16, 2021: Legacy of Poetry at San Jose State University
April 5, 2021: Quiet Lightening’s Better Ancestors.
November 28, 2021: A Little T.L.C. literacy event at the School of Arts and Culture at Mexican Heritage Plaza.
October 22, 2021: A Taste of History “Recovery and Reconnection” at DeAnza College
October 17, 2021: LitQuake – Philippine American Writers and Artists at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.
March 16, 2021: Why To These Rocks: 50 Years of Poetry from the Community of Writers.
September 11, 2020: San Jose Poetry Festival with Juan Felipe Herrera and Janice Lobo Sapigao
April 28, 2019: LitLumpiaFest3 at the School of Arts and Culture at Mexican Heritage Plaza.
April 11, 2019: Poetry Flash reading with Sally Ashton at Moe’s Books, Berkeley, CA.
April 5, 2018: SFJAZZ Poetry Festival with Al Young, Brittany Biala, Jimmy Biala, and Copus Multimedia at SFJAZZ Center, San Francisco, CA.
October 20, 2017: San Jose Poetry Festival at History Park, San Jose, CA.
October 15, 2017: All Womxn’s Showcase at Forager, San Jose, CA.
August 27, 2017: More Good Talk – Santa Clara County Poets Laureate at Cafe Stritch, San Jose CA.
July 23, 2017: LitLumpiaFest2 at the School of Arts and Culture at Mexican Heritage Plaza
June 13, 2017: Well-RED at Works San Jose, spring mother tongue book launch reading
May 4, 2017: San Jose State University Legacy of Poetry Festival with Maxine Hong Kingston, Genny Lim, Francis Wong, Jon Jang, Jimmy Biala, Bill Biala at Hammer Theatre Center, San Jose, CA.
February 7, 2017: Pinay Poets & Writers at Kepler’s Books, Menlo Park, CA.
October 15, 2016: LitCrawl – 150th Anniversary of REED Magazine, San Francisco, CA.
September 8, 2016: San Jose Poetry Festival with Alejandro Murguía and Sally Ashton, San Jose, CA.
July 17, 2016: LitLumpiaFest at the School of Arts and Culture at Mexican Heritage Plaza.
May 5, 2016: San Jose State University Legacy of Poetry Festival with Al Young, Juan Felipe Herrera, Alejandro Murguía at Hammer Theatre Center, San Jose, CA.
April 2016: Kuwentuhan (Talkstory): a project of The Poetry Center, San Francisco State University and Barbara Jane Reyes, supported by the Creative Work Fund. Residency with eight poets to create collaborative writing and performances, as well as each poet’s own work. Multiple venues, San Francisco, CA.
November 2015 and January 2016: United States Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera’s project based on the exhibit “One Life: Dolores Huerta” at the National Portrait Gallery to create poems in response to the exhibit. Poetry reading alongside Herrera and Diana Garcia at an event in the gallery on January 23, 2016. National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.
October 25, 2015: The 2015 American Book Awards recipients’ reading at SF Jazz Center, San Francisco, CA.
October 4, 2015: Third Filipino American International Book Festival “#allpinayeverything: On the Body” session panelist, and reading for “Hot Off the Press” session. San Francisco Main Library, San Francisco, CA.
June 2015: Well-RED poetry series presented by Poetry San Jose and Works/San Jose. Poetry performance with Kiana Del Rosario, Brittany Biala and Jimmy Biala. Works/San Jose, San Jose, CA.
April 2015: Asian Improv Arts in association with the Sound and Social Justice Commons, and SF State University Creative Music Studies present ImprovisAsians! 2015: The People’s Stories. Poetry performance collaboration with John-Carlos Perea (electric bass, Native American Flute, and voice), Francis Wong (saxophone), Jimmy Biala (percussion), and Eddie Madril (Native American dance).
April 2015: Asian American Women Artists Association’s Hungry Ghosts, juried artist and poetry performance. I-Hotel Manilatown Center, San Francisco, CA.
March 2015: Glowing with the Moon: Her Voice to Call Her Own, poetry performance. School of Arts and Culture at MHP, San Jose, CA.
October 2014: Poetry reading with Genny Lim. Chinese Historical Society of America, San Francisco, CA.
February 2014: The Breadline (listed as one of AWP’s Top 10 offsite events), poetry performance. The Vermillion, Seattle, WA.
January 2012: Poetry performance with musicians Jimmy Biala, Masaru Koga, Tim Volpicella and John Carlos Perea, and dancer Yuko Tamura. Eth-Noh-Tec Salon, San Francisco, CA.
November 2011: Manilatown Heritage Foundation & Asian American Women Artists Association’s Rhymes and Rhythms, poetry performance. I-Hotel Manilatown Center, San Francisco, CA.
November 2011: Poetry performance with musicians Jimmy Biala, Masaru Koga and Tim Volpicella. Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA.
May 2011: Asian American Women Artists Association’s A Place of Her Own, poetry performance. SomArts Cultural Center, San Francisco, CA.
May, 2011: SomArts Cultural Center’s Feast of Words, poetry reading & workshop. SomArts Cultural Center, San Francisco, CA.
January, 2011: Manilatown Heritage Foundation & Asian American Women Artists Association’s Rhymes and Rhythms, poetry performance with musician Brittany Biala. I-Hotel Manilatown Center, San Francisco, CA.
September 2010: Manilatown Heritage Foundation & Asian American Women Artists Association’s Rhymes and Rhythms, poetry performance with musicians Jimmy Biala and Kai Del Rosario. I-Hotel Manilatown Center, San Francisco, CA.
April 2010: Inaugural San Jose Museum of Art Poetry Invitational, San Jose, CA.
March 2010: Philippine American Writers & Artists’ Arkipelago Reading Series, Bayanihan Center, San Francisco, CA.
March 2010: San Jose Multicultural Artists Guild/MAIKO’s Girlfriend Appreciation Day, poetry performance with musician Brittany Biala. Mexican Heritage Plaza, San Jose, CA.
March 2010: Avotcja Jiltonilro & Nancy Hom’s International Women’s Day poetry event, poetry performance with Kai Del Rosario. I-Hotel Manilatown Center, San Francisco, CA.
September 2007: Kearny Street Workshop's 9th Annual APAture: A Window on the Art of Asian Pacific Americans, poetry performance with musician Masaru Koga and dancer Anne Chen. Intersection for the Arts, San Francisco, CA.
June 2007: Featured poet for DiVerseCity Poetry Series, poetry performance with theatre artist Miki Hirabayashi and dancer Lenora Lee. La Negrita Lounge, New York City, NY.
February 2007: 30th Annual Writers’ Week, Verbal Coliseum II, poetry performance with poet Genny Lim and musician Francis Wong. University of CA, Riverside, CA.
March 2005: KulArts' POMO (Post Modern Pilipino American Performance Project) poetry performance with musicians Jimmy Biala, Billy Biala, and John Carlos Perea; and dancers Lenora Lee, Jen Shyu, and Melody Takata. Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA.
May 2004: Asian American Arts & Heritage Festival, poetry performance with dancer Lenora Lee and musicians Jimmy Biala, Billy Biala, John Carlos Perea and SambAsia. SomArts Cultural Center, San Francisco, CA.
October 2002: San Francisco Asian American Jazz Festival, poetry performance with musicians Jimmy Biala, Billy Biala and John Carlos Perea, and dancer Lenora Lee. Japanese Cultural Community Center of Northern California, San Francisco, CA.
May 2001: (f)Roots of the blood orange tree, directed by Lenora Lee. Poetry performance with musicians Francis Wong, Melody Takata, and John Carlos Perea; visual artist Colleen Flaherty; and dancers Lenora Lee and Esther Morales. SomArts Center, San Francisco, CA.
December 1999: Continental Drift Book Release Event, poetry performance with musicians Jimmy Biala and Billy Biala; and dancers Rose and Janet Simon. MACLA, San Jose, CA.
Honors
2023 Literary Arts Fellow, Montalvo Arts Center’s Sally and Don Lucas Artists Residency Program
2022 Honoree, Womanhood: Anonymous No More project of Santa Clara County Office of Women’s Policy and Art Builds Community
Appointed Santa Clara County Poet Laureate for 2016 and 2017
2015 American Book Award Winner for her beckoning hands (Word Poetry, 2014)
2010 Philip Levine Poetry Prize semifinalist
Books
one inch punch. Cincinnati: Word Poetry, 2019.
Spring Mother Tongue – Anthology of Santa Clara County poets, 2017 (editor)
her beckoning hands. Cincinnati: Word Poetry, 2014.
continental drift. Albuquerque: West End Press, 1999.
bone. San Francisco: Helmut Press, 1993.
Anthologies and Journals – Highlights
Why to These Rocks: 50 Years of Poems from the Community of Writers (2022); Red Wheelbarrow Journal (2019, 2016 and 2010); More Good Talk: Collection of poems from the Santa Clara County Poets Laureate (2017); Verde Que Te Quiero Verde: Poems After Federico Garcia Lorca. Open Country Press (2016); Verses Typhoon Yolanda: A Storm of Filipino Poets. Meritage Press (2014), Poetas y Diwatas in The Bakery (2012); Border Senses Journal (2009); Caesura (2007); WOMB Poetry Review (2007); Squaw Valley Review (2006); Going Home to a Landscape: Writings by Filipinas. CALYX Books (2003); Growing Up Local. Bamboo Ridge Press (1998); Bamboo Ridge: A Hawai’i Writers Journal #69 (1996).