Originally from Long Island, New York, I’m a writer and editor living in Astoria. After graduating with a B.A. in English Literature/Writing Concentration from Yale, where I wrote my thesis under the supervision of Louise Glück, I earned an M.F.A. in Poetry from the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University, where I worked with Dave Smith, Mary Jo Salter, and John Irwin. I then started a PhD program in English Literature at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, but left with a Master’s Degree after a year because 1. academia is not for me and 2. Wisconsin is colder than you can imagine.

I started this blog simply because I want to think and to learn on my own terms. I want to ask questions about the things I care about, I want to ask why. In school, asking why was a habit necessary for generating discussion. As someone trained to think in the New Critical mode, I was taught to ask “Why” when something striking occurred in whatever text I was reading. And more often than not, my journey to answering why has led me to worthwhile discoveries.

Besides this blog, I write poetry, book reviews, and personal essays that have appeared in publications such as The Harvard Review, 32 Poems, and  The Hopkins Review. Check out my C.V. for a full list of publications.