Creative Writing at Boston Children's Hospital (2011-2017)
From 2011 to 2017, I worked as part of a team of Artists in Residence in the Creative Arts Program at Boston Children's Hospital. As Writer in Residence, I visited patients in their rooms and offered creative writing projects to them and/or their families. Our role as artists was to hand over the tools of expression and to engage patients in the creative process. During illness, and at the hospital, so much is outside of their control. Creative writing gave patients the authority to tell the stories that were intriguing, hilarious, or meaningful to them.
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Here is a PDF of The View From Here Volume 2: a book of creative writing and artwork by patients collected during my first year of residency at Boston Children's.
The YouTube video is an introduction to our work as Artists in Residence. Learn more on the Creative Arts Program website. 
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The Language of Illness at UMass Boston
When illness makes us vulnerable, language can seem most vital--and at the same time most difficult to express. Since language was my tool and the one I offered patients at Boston Children's, I challenged us to uncover new and unexpected language that rang true.
In 2015, I started teaching Honors 291: The Language of Illness to undergraduates in the Honors College at UMass Boston. Students read literature (poetry, drama, fiction) on the theme of illness or written by authors who struggled with it. As a class, we discuss what tools creative writers use to convey the experience of illness, what Virginia Woolf called that "undiscovered country." At the same time, students follow writing prompts to compose their own creative works, discovering over the course of the semester their own language of illness. At the end of the semester, we publish a book of their writing, which endures as a record of their shared conversation.
You can view my Fall 2018 syllabus for The Language of Illness below or open a PDF of our class book.
In 2015, I started teaching Honors 291: The Language of Illness to undergraduates in the Honors College at UMass Boston. Students read literature (poetry, drama, fiction) on the theme of illness or written by authors who struggled with it. As a class, we discuss what tools creative writers use to convey the experience of illness, what Virginia Woolf called that "undiscovered country." At the same time, students follow writing prompts to compose their own creative works, discovering over the course of the semester their own language of illness. At the end of the semester, we publish a book of their writing, which endures as a record of their shared conversation.
You can view my Fall 2018 syllabus for The Language of Illness below or open a PDF of our class book.
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