|
| ||
Aaron Devine
Educator. Author. Community Advocate.
I am a Creative who has built a career fostering community. I'm a storyteller who activates safe, joyful spaces for diverse individuals and groups to connect, reimagine, and grow. Relationships and language are at the core of my work. Like my son’s favorite animal, the octopus, I innovate through constant curiosity and motion.
Specialties include writing, editing, teaching, innovation, partnerships, community outreach, cross-cultural communication, Spanish language, Spanish-English translation, public speaking, customer service, teamwork, and humor.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Literacy Coordinator
Waltham Public Library
Fall 2019 – present; Waltham, MA
ESL Instructor (College of Advancement and Professional Studies)
University of Massachusetts Boston
2013 – 2019; Boston, MA
Writer in Residence
The Creative Arts Program at Boston Children’s Hospital
2011 – 2017; Brookline, MA.
Other Work Experience
2022 Freelance Copywriter, Homes by Emerald, LLC and the XD Agency (remote)
2009-11 Server, Orinoco Kitchen (Brookline and Boston locations)
2008 Community Director, Invested Citizens (Boston)
2008 Children’s Literature Anthologies Team, SABIS Educational Systems (Eden Prairie, MN)
2006-07 English teacher, translator, and temp worker (Nicaragua, Venezuela, Perú, Argentina)
2006 Build Second Coordinator, KaBoom!: Play Matters for All Kids (various locations, U.S.)
2006 Server, Tryg’s restaurant (Minneapolis, MN)
2004-05 Behrend Builders Coordinator/AVODAH fellow, Jewish Community Center (Washington D.C.)
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT/VOLUNTEER SERVICE
Co-founder, Program Advisor, and Series Emcee
Write on the DOT; Dorchester, MA; 2011 – present
Writing workshop instructor
826Boston: writing, tutoring, and publishing non-profit; Roxbury, MA; 2010-2011
Memoir Project intern
Grub Street Creative Writing Center and City of Boston; Jamaica Plain, MA; 2009
Tennis instructor and Play Tennis Day Coordinator
Raymond Recreation tennis courts in Georgia-Petworth, Washington D.C.; Feb-July 2005
Other Volunteer Experience
2016, 2017 Team Walk Coordinator, Eversource Walk for Children; Boston, MA
2015 Mentor, PresenTense Institute; Boston, MA
2010-12 Muse and the Marketplace Conference volunteer, Grub Street; Boston, MA
2008 The Dance Complex Volunteer; Cambridge, MA
Workshops and Conferences
2022 Presenter: “Beyond Books: Sharing ELL resources” for Waltham Public Schools
2020 Instructor: “With Dedication: Writing Poems To and For Other People” 5-week online writing workshop
2019 Instructor: “A Home is a Poem” community writing workshop with Write on the DOT at Frugal Bookstore as part of the Boston Book Festival’s BBF Unbound in Nubian Square
2018 Instructor: “A Home is a Poem” community writing workshop with Write on the DOT at Boston Public
Library-Copley as part of the Boston Book Festival’s BBF Unbound in Copley Square
2018 Instructor: “Memoir and Personal Essay” 6-week writing workshop at Egleston Branch Library
2018 Presenter: Conference on Teaching, Learning, and Technology at UMass Boston, “3D Printing:
Language as Key”
2017 Instructor: Staff Creative Writing Sessions at Boston Children’s Hospital
2017 Presenter: Brazilian Teachers Summit at UMass Boston, “On using New Media and Creative Writing to
teach ESL”
2015 Instructor: SONAD Glen Brook Youth Writers Workshop; Harrisville, NH
2015 Presenter: “Words of Healing” Concurrent Session, Association of Pediatric Hematologic and
Oncology Nurses National Conference in Providence, RI
2013 Panelist: “Writing Outside the Classroom,” Assoc. of Writers and Writing Programs Conference,
Boston
2012 Instructor: “Writing for Children” 6-week workshop Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UMass Boston
2011 Writer in Residence workshops at Pearl Street Yoga Studio; Dorchester, MA
2008-09 Instructor: Youth Creative Writing Workshops at 826Boston; Roxbury, MA
2008 Facilitator: Story of Stuff community workshops with Invested Citizens; Boston, MA and New York, NY
PUBLICATIONS
Author
“Blizzard Poem,” Window Cat Press, 2018 and Welcome to the Neighborhood: An Anthology of American Coexistence, Ohio University Press, 2019
“After the Minneapolis Miracle: Have Vikings Fans Truly Won?” The Good Men Project, 2018
“Witness,” Story Showcase: Live at the Podcast Garage, 2017
“Are You My Uber?” McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, 2016
“Hank vs. Henry: Howard Bryant’s The Last Hero,” The Good Men Project, 2014
Dakota Falls and Other Stories, UMass Boston MFA Thesis, 2013
“Interview with Adam Haslett,” The Breakwater Review, 2011
“Homerun Sports Stories,” Don’t Forget to Write: A Collection of Creative Writing from 826National, 2011
“In Webster’s,” Flashquake.com and The Inman Review, 2010
Wonder/Wander: 522 Days in Latin America (book), Self-published, 2009
Translator
“Cuerpo Público” (Public Body) by Mariela Cordero; Origins Journal, 2018
“Fragment 31” by Sappho; Write on the DOT: Volume II, 2013
“Samsara” by Alfredo Alegría; Write on the DOT: Volume I, 2012
Qhapaq Ñan: The Inka Path of Wisdom (book) by Javier Lajo Lazo; Amaro Runa Press (Perú), 2007
Editor
Write on the DOT: Volume VI (November 2021)
Windows to Our World: Volumes I and II, Fall 2020 and Spring 2021
With Dedication: New Poems, workshop chapbook, 2020
Write on the DOT: Volume V, 2019
In the Direction of Truth & Love: Memoir and Personal Essay, workshop chapbook, 2018
The Language of Illness (Volumes 1-3); UMass Boston, 2015, 2016, 2018
Write on the DOT: Volume IV, 2018
Chapbooks (various) of creative writing and translation by ESL students at UMass Boston, 2013-2018
Escribir Es Una Fiesta, Anthology of Student Writing from Hispanic Writers Week, 2010-2011
Write on the DOT: Volume II, 2012
The View From Here: Volume 2, Boston Children’s Hospital internal publication, 2011
Write on the DOT: Volume 1, 2011
Grants/Awards
2020 Fellowes Athenaeum Trust grant (to teach 5-week online poetry workshop)
2018 Fellowes Athenaeum Trust grant (to teach 6-week memoir workshop at Egleston branch library)
2013 Creative writing award for outstanding achievement (UMass Boston MFA program)
2013 Program of the Year award for Write on the DOT, UMass Boston Beacon Awards
2005 Georgia/Petworth Neighborhood Advisory Neighborhood Commission grant for Play Tennis Day
2005 Coca-Cola Foundation community grant for Play Tennis Day
2004 Polytropos Award from the Core Curriculum at Boston University
Education
2010-2013 MFA in Fiction, University of Massachusetts-Boston
2011-2012 Certificate in Spanish-English Translation, University of Massachusetts-Boston
2000-2004 BA in English, minor in Spanish; magna cum laude, Boston University
Languages
Spanish—can read, write, and speak fluently; Portuguese—can understand in print and conversation.
Some familiarity with basic words, phrases, and pronunciation in Chinese, Haitian Creole, and Hebrew.
*
Courses Taught
Course Title: Beginner English Activities
Location: Waltham Public Library (hybrid: online and in-person)
Dates: October 2019 through present
Description: Practice basic words and phrases. Learn library skills and how to use free online resources to study. Enjoy a supportive class.
Course Title: English Writing and Conversation
Location: Waltham Public Library (online, in-person)
Dates: January 2020 through present
Description: Improve communication skills in English through guided writing and conversation activities. Topics include art, music, and storytelling. Recommended for intermediate levels or higher, but all are welcome to participate as they can.
Course Title: The Language of Illness
Location: UMass Boston Honors College and College of Advancement and Professional Studies (CAPS)
Dates: Fall 2015, Summer 2016, Fall 2017, Fall 2018
Description: From recent YA-sensation The Fault in Our Stars to the many hit TV medical dramas, there is something about illness that connects deeply and innately in our experience. Perhaps it is when we are most vulnerable that language becomes most vital. And at the same time: most difficult to express. In this course, we ask: What is the language of illness? What “undiscovered countries” can we explore from our encounters with illness: personal, professional, or intellectual?
Course Title: The Art of Storytelling
Location: UMass Boston Honors College
Dates: Fall 2016, Fall 2018
Description: Whether seated around ancestral fires or streaming podcasts through earbuds, humankind has an innate thirst for stories that can express who we are and imagine who we might become. This course explores the craft and function of storytelling as a tool for individual and social empowerment. Students study cultural perspectives on storytelling while writing, adapting, and performing their own stories focused around identity and community. At the semester’s culmination, students produce a live storytelling event at UMass Boston aimed at fostering conversation and community on campus.
Course Title: English Sounds and Storytelling
Location: CAPS English as a Second Language (ESL) at UMass Boston
Dates: Fall 2017 – 2018
Description: In this class, we build fluency and confidence in our speaking and listening skills. Students learn about story structure and practice telling stories throughout the semester. We will listen to, read, write, record, and perform our stories in class every week. Lessons teach pronunciation, intonation, presentation, and listening strategies. Exercises give students fun, thought-provoking ways to share language.
Course Title: City of Boston: Language and Identity
Location: CAPS ESL at UMass Boston
Dates: Fall 2016 – Fall 2018
Description: What is the relationship between language and identity? Which words do we use to define ourselves as individuals or communities? In this course, we read contemporary essays by Bostonians and international authors reflecting on the city and their place in it. Students compose essays during the semester to explore place and their relationship to it.
Course Title: An American Road Trip
Location: CAPS ESL at UMass Boston
Dates: Fall 2016 – Spring 2017
Description: Since its inception, America has built mythology around the road as a pathway to expansion, discovery, individualism, and conquest. From the first pilgrims to explorers Lewis and Clark; from Henry Ford’s Model-T automobile to the modern American road trip inspired by Beat poets (or Brittany Spears); the open road has deep connections to how Americans view themselves. In this class, we seek to understand how American culture has been shaped—for better and for worse—by its great roads.
Course Title: Learning Language through New Media
Location: CAPS ESL at UMass Boston
Dates: Fall 2014 – Spring 2016
Description: In this course, we collaborate as student journalists to design, write, edit, and share a blog for international students in Boston. Students practice language skills while learning new media technology and its terminology in English. Students also learn basic principles of journalism and debate media ethics.
Course Title: Beginner ESL through Art and Music
Location: CAPS ESL at UMass Boston
Dates: Summer 2015, Summer 2018
Description: In this class, we use the five senses to discover vocabulary while enjoying cross-cultural encounters with art and music. Students visit local museums and engage in their own art- or music-making while building vocabulary and camaraderie in the classroom.
Course Title: Intro to Creative Writing
Location: UMass Boston English Department
Dates: Fall 2012
Description: What makes a story or a poem meaningful to you? This question is at the heart of our course, and we’ll plot our course in search of its answer. In this course, we seek to understand our own unique ways of looking at the world, and how to give them artistic expression.
Specialties include writing, editing, teaching, innovation, partnerships, community outreach, cross-cultural communication, Spanish language, Spanish-English translation, public speaking, customer service, teamwork, and humor.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Literacy Coordinator
Waltham Public Library
Fall 2019 – present; Waltham, MA
- Manage and teach in-person and virtual English language learning programs for learners of varying ages and educational backgrounds at Waltham Public Library (near 50 weekly participants from 22 countries in 2021).
- Create and maintain the Library’s Literacy Classroom, an interactive, multilingual, and welcoming space dedicated to English language learners to access materials, build community, and inspire new language.
- Supervise intern and volunteers, including 15-20 undergraduates from Brandeis University’s Language Empowering Action Project and one summer intern from Waltham High School/Waltham Partnership for Youth.
- Lead Waltham ELL Forum to cohere and inspire local partnerships in support of English language learners.
- Founded Equity Subcommittee of regional Literacy Coordinators to promote action toward building more equitable, accessible programs and libraries for English language learners.
ESL Instructor (College of Advancement and Professional Studies)
University of Massachusetts Boston
2013 – 2019; Boston, MA
- Designed and implemented university prep curriculum in grammar, composition, conversation, and reading comprehension courses for international students seeking undergraduate and graduate admission.
- Taught three classes per semester of approximately 12-20 students per class from wide range of countries (Colombia, Saudi Arabia, and China having the largest enrollment) and educational backgrounds.
- Regularly published student writing in new media and print resources to foster pride in their work and community.
- Choreographed, filmed, and produced annual “Fun > Fear” Halloween music videos to give international students a playful way to connect and be creative outside the classroom.
Writer in Residence
The Creative Arts Program at Boston Children’s Hospital
2011 – 2017; Brookline, MA.
- Led creative writing projects for patients (ages three to mid-20s), families, and staff at Boston Children’s Hospital to provide outlets for expression, authorship, and joy.
- Collected patient writing for publication in The View from Here: Volume 2.
- Originated playful storytelling encounters, including weekly “Word Nerd” program on the hospital’s internal TV channel and the Seriously Silly Superhero Stories workshop.
Other Work Experience
2022 Freelance Copywriter, Homes by Emerald, LLC and the XD Agency (remote)
2009-11 Server, Orinoco Kitchen (Brookline and Boston locations)
2008 Community Director, Invested Citizens (Boston)
2008 Children’s Literature Anthologies Team, SABIS Educational Systems (Eden Prairie, MN)
2006-07 English teacher, translator, and temp worker (Nicaragua, Venezuela, Perú, Argentina)
2006 Build Second Coordinator, KaBoom!: Play Matters for All Kids (various locations, U.S.)
2006 Server, Tryg’s restaurant (Minneapolis, MN)
2004-05 Behrend Builders Coordinator/AVODAH fellow, Jewish Community Center (Washington D.C.)
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT/VOLUNTEER SERVICE
Co-founder, Program Advisor, and Series Emcee
Write on the DOT; Dorchester, MA; 2011 – present
- Launched neighborhood-based reading series and literary platform in Dorchester (Boston) to bring writers and neighbors together to joyfully share creative work and build community.
- Led all steps of publication (promotion, selection, editing, layout/design, publication) for five (of six) books of local writing, featuring multi-genre and multi-generational authors, catalogued with Boston Public Library.
- Built and managed Write on the DOT website and social media platforms including #DotWrite21 campaign to foster community and inspire writing virtually during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Writing workshop instructor
826Boston: writing, tutoring, and publishing non-profit; Roxbury, MA; 2010-2011
- Created and taught free writing workshops to school-aged children, including “Homerun Sports Stories” (anthologized in Don’t Forget to Write) and “Found in Translation.”
Memoir Project intern
Grub Street Creative Writing Center and City of Boston; Jamaica Plain, MA; 2009
- Helped collect, edit, and translate memoir writing by Spanish-speaking, senior citizen residents of Jamaica Plain.
Tennis instructor and Play Tennis Day Coordinator
Raymond Recreation tennis courts in Georgia-Petworth, Washington D.C.; Feb-July 2005
- Initiated and taught free tennis program for kids (ages 5-15) at the Raymond Recreation tennis courts in Georgia-Petworth neighborhood of D.C.
- Conceived and coordinated “Play Tennis Day” event to repair court damage, construct a tennis wall, paint a community mural, host an exhibition match, and celebrate community.
- Forged partnerships with the Washington Tennis and Education Foundation, District of Columbia Parks and Recreation, Howard University Tennis Team, D.C. Jewish Community Center, and Shiloh Baptist Church.
- Wrote successful grants to Coca Cola Foundation and local Advisory Neighborhood Commission.
Other Volunteer Experience
2016, 2017 Team Walk Coordinator, Eversource Walk for Children; Boston, MA
2015 Mentor, PresenTense Institute; Boston, MA
2010-12 Muse and the Marketplace Conference volunteer, Grub Street; Boston, MA
2008 The Dance Complex Volunteer; Cambridge, MA
Workshops and Conferences
2022 Presenter: “Beyond Books: Sharing ELL resources” for Waltham Public Schools
2020 Instructor: “With Dedication: Writing Poems To and For Other People” 5-week online writing workshop
2019 Instructor: “A Home is a Poem” community writing workshop with Write on the DOT at Frugal Bookstore as part of the Boston Book Festival’s BBF Unbound in Nubian Square
2018 Instructor: “A Home is a Poem” community writing workshop with Write on the DOT at Boston Public
Library-Copley as part of the Boston Book Festival’s BBF Unbound in Copley Square
2018 Instructor: “Memoir and Personal Essay” 6-week writing workshop at Egleston Branch Library
2018 Presenter: Conference on Teaching, Learning, and Technology at UMass Boston, “3D Printing:
Language as Key”
2017 Instructor: Staff Creative Writing Sessions at Boston Children’s Hospital
2017 Presenter: Brazilian Teachers Summit at UMass Boston, “On using New Media and Creative Writing to
teach ESL”
2015 Instructor: SONAD Glen Brook Youth Writers Workshop; Harrisville, NH
2015 Presenter: “Words of Healing” Concurrent Session, Association of Pediatric Hematologic and
Oncology Nurses National Conference in Providence, RI
2013 Panelist: “Writing Outside the Classroom,” Assoc. of Writers and Writing Programs Conference,
Boston
2012 Instructor: “Writing for Children” 6-week workshop Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UMass Boston
2011 Writer in Residence workshops at Pearl Street Yoga Studio; Dorchester, MA
2008-09 Instructor: Youth Creative Writing Workshops at 826Boston; Roxbury, MA
2008 Facilitator: Story of Stuff community workshops with Invested Citizens; Boston, MA and New York, NY
PUBLICATIONS
Author
“Blizzard Poem,” Window Cat Press, 2018 and Welcome to the Neighborhood: An Anthology of American Coexistence, Ohio University Press, 2019
“After the Minneapolis Miracle: Have Vikings Fans Truly Won?” The Good Men Project, 2018
“Witness,” Story Showcase: Live at the Podcast Garage, 2017
“Are You My Uber?” McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, 2016
“Hank vs. Henry: Howard Bryant’s The Last Hero,” The Good Men Project, 2014
Dakota Falls and Other Stories, UMass Boston MFA Thesis, 2013
“Interview with Adam Haslett,” The Breakwater Review, 2011
“Homerun Sports Stories,” Don’t Forget to Write: A Collection of Creative Writing from 826National, 2011
“In Webster’s,” Flashquake.com and The Inman Review, 2010
Wonder/Wander: 522 Days in Latin America (book), Self-published, 2009
Translator
“Cuerpo Público” (Public Body) by Mariela Cordero; Origins Journal, 2018
“Fragment 31” by Sappho; Write on the DOT: Volume II, 2013
“Samsara” by Alfredo Alegría; Write on the DOT: Volume I, 2012
Qhapaq Ñan: The Inka Path of Wisdom (book) by Javier Lajo Lazo; Amaro Runa Press (Perú), 2007
Editor
Write on the DOT: Volume VI (November 2021)
Windows to Our World: Volumes I and II, Fall 2020 and Spring 2021
With Dedication: New Poems, workshop chapbook, 2020
Write on the DOT: Volume V, 2019
In the Direction of Truth & Love: Memoir and Personal Essay, workshop chapbook, 2018
The Language of Illness (Volumes 1-3); UMass Boston, 2015, 2016, 2018
Write on the DOT: Volume IV, 2018
Chapbooks (various) of creative writing and translation by ESL students at UMass Boston, 2013-2018
Escribir Es Una Fiesta, Anthology of Student Writing from Hispanic Writers Week, 2010-2011
Write on the DOT: Volume II, 2012
The View From Here: Volume 2, Boston Children’s Hospital internal publication, 2011
Write on the DOT: Volume 1, 2011
Grants/Awards
2020 Fellowes Athenaeum Trust grant (to teach 5-week online poetry workshop)
2018 Fellowes Athenaeum Trust grant (to teach 6-week memoir workshop at Egleston branch library)
2013 Creative writing award for outstanding achievement (UMass Boston MFA program)
2013 Program of the Year award for Write on the DOT, UMass Boston Beacon Awards
2005 Georgia/Petworth Neighborhood Advisory Neighborhood Commission grant for Play Tennis Day
2005 Coca-Cola Foundation community grant for Play Tennis Day
2004 Polytropos Award from the Core Curriculum at Boston University
Education
2010-2013 MFA in Fiction, University of Massachusetts-Boston
2011-2012 Certificate in Spanish-English Translation, University of Massachusetts-Boston
2000-2004 BA in English, minor in Spanish; magna cum laude, Boston University
Languages
Spanish—can read, write, and speak fluently; Portuguese—can understand in print and conversation.
Some familiarity with basic words, phrases, and pronunciation in Chinese, Haitian Creole, and Hebrew.
*
Courses Taught
Course Title: Beginner English Activities
Location: Waltham Public Library (hybrid: online and in-person)
Dates: October 2019 through present
Description: Practice basic words and phrases. Learn library skills and how to use free online resources to study. Enjoy a supportive class.
Course Title: English Writing and Conversation
Location: Waltham Public Library (online, in-person)
Dates: January 2020 through present
Description: Improve communication skills in English through guided writing and conversation activities. Topics include art, music, and storytelling. Recommended for intermediate levels or higher, but all are welcome to participate as they can.
Course Title: The Language of Illness
Location: UMass Boston Honors College and College of Advancement and Professional Studies (CAPS)
Dates: Fall 2015, Summer 2016, Fall 2017, Fall 2018
Description: From recent YA-sensation The Fault in Our Stars to the many hit TV medical dramas, there is something about illness that connects deeply and innately in our experience. Perhaps it is when we are most vulnerable that language becomes most vital. And at the same time: most difficult to express. In this course, we ask: What is the language of illness? What “undiscovered countries” can we explore from our encounters with illness: personal, professional, or intellectual?
Course Title: The Art of Storytelling
Location: UMass Boston Honors College
Dates: Fall 2016, Fall 2018
Description: Whether seated around ancestral fires or streaming podcasts through earbuds, humankind has an innate thirst for stories that can express who we are and imagine who we might become. This course explores the craft and function of storytelling as a tool for individual and social empowerment. Students study cultural perspectives on storytelling while writing, adapting, and performing their own stories focused around identity and community. At the semester’s culmination, students produce a live storytelling event at UMass Boston aimed at fostering conversation and community on campus.
Course Title: English Sounds and Storytelling
Location: CAPS English as a Second Language (ESL) at UMass Boston
Dates: Fall 2017 – 2018
Description: In this class, we build fluency and confidence in our speaking and listening skills. Students learn about story structure and practice telling stories throughout the semester. We will listen to, read, write, record, and perform our stories in class every week. Lessons teach pronunciation, intonation, presentation, and listening strategies. Exercises give students fun, thought-provoking ways to share language.
Course Title: City of Boston: Language and Identity
Location: CAPS ESL at UMass Boston
Dates: Fall 2016 – Fall 2018
Description: What is the relationship between language and identity? Which words do we use to define ourselves as individuals or communities? In this course, we read contemporary essays by Bostonians and international authors reflecting on the city and their place in it. Students compose essays during the semester to explore place and their relationship to it.
Course Title: An American Road Trip
Location: CAPS ESL at UMass Boston
Dates: Fall 2016 – Spring 2017
Description: Since its inception, America has built mythology around the road as a pathway to expansion, discovery, individualism, and conquest. From the first pilgrims to explorers Lewis and Clark; from Henry Ford’s Model-T automobile to the modern American road trip inspired by Beat poets (or Brittany Spears); the open road has deep connections to how Americans view themselves. In this class, we seek to understand how American culture has been shaped—for better and for worse—by its great roads.
Course Title: Learning Language through New Media
Location: CAPS ESL at UMass Boston
Dates: Fall 2014 – Spring 2016
Description: In this course, we collaborate as student journalists to design, write, edit, and share a blog for international students in Boston. Students practice language skills while learning new media technology and its terminology in English. Students also learn basic principles of journalism and debate media ethics.
Course Title: Beginner ESL through Art and Music
Location: CAPS ESL at UMass Boston
Dates: Summer 2015, Summer 2018
Description: In this class, we use the five senses to discover vocabulary while enjoying cross-cultural encounters with art and music. Students visit local museums and engage in their own art- or music-making while building vocabulary and camaraderie in the classroom.
Course Title: Intro to Creative Writing
Location: UMass Boston English Department
Dates: Fall 2012
Description: What makes a story or a poem meaningful to you? This question is at the heart of our course, and we’ll plot our course in search of its answer. In this course, we seek to understand our own unique ways of looking at the world, and how to give them artistic expression.
