Originally from Florida, I'm a current Literature/Creative Writing major at the University of California San Diego. I've been writing poetry since my teen years, but creating stories since before I could read. My mom often tells me my teachers in my early school years would assume I didn't do the reading because I would make up my own stories to answer questions about during tests. Creating a narrative reflective of myself has always been instinctual, but now I know it's a power I can harness for good, not just to antagonize my teachers. I now know to channel that story telling into a more productive avenue: poetry. Allowing for poetry to be read  or heard is essential, especially during these times of incredible turbulence. Both writing and reading poetry is an effective outlet and can be used to better realize  that others may feel the same way that you do.

After winning runner up Broward County poet laureate at 16, I began to see poetry as more than just a fun hobby. For the first time, I realized others might want to read the works that I laboriously spend hours typing away on in my room, alone. Since starting college, I've been published in one literary magazine and have collaborated with an instagram art influencer of over 400k followers, with another collaboration of poetry and art in the works. I hope in the future to be published elsewhere as well, and to eventually to have a book of my collection. In  fact, I've already gotten the name of my future first book tattooed (though the name, for now, will remain a secret.)

 

My poetry acts as a lens for myself (and hopefully others) to better understand where the world aligns with the self. I use poetry to work through events and emotions, and as such, my writing is deeply intwined with my identity as a woman. My upbringing in the South as a Jewish girl, very much feeling on the periphery of life there, also heavily influences my work. I find that the most truthful works are those that are the hardest to let others read, and so in choosing the works for this portfolio, those are the ones that I knew had to be included.