From the backstreets and central avenues, talking to the poor, the wealthy and everyone in-between, I tell the stories of politics, economics, cultural transformation and the bohemian underside.

About Me

I was born and raised in Middle America in the 80s and 90s. In my teenage-times I wrote my first short story of prose. Writing felt wonderful. Writing felt right.

Ever after, I knew I would be a writer, a teller of tales.

I completed two bachelor's degrees in Creative Writing-English and History. While in college I studied abroad for a year in Izmir, Turkey and translated Turkish folktales to English, beginning my love for Turkey.

In 2000 I attended Burning Man for four weeks. I bathed in the playa mud of Black Rock Desert .. A dessert of gorgeous humans. Money was banned and bandied about by venture capitalists and hippies as flames crept across the desert.

After Burning Man, I hitchhiked around the USA, living for a spell in San Francisco and then riding the rails of Europe looking for a home.

Expat Writer, Blogger and Teacher in Istanbul, Turkey

Wherever I went Turkey called to me. So after some European adventures, I settled in Istanbul and the city became my second home.

Ah İstanbul, yaktın beni!

Istanbul, I love and loath you.

I lived in Istanbul for 6 years and wrote an expat novel and lifestyle-political blog/vlog. I also learned to speak and write fluent Turkish and I became an ESL instructor teaching English as a second language.

Journalism and Post-Katrina New Orleans

Wanting to give back to my country, I returned home to the US and moved to post-Katrina New Orleans. I worked with a relief agency and later at a community college and at Tulane University.

While in New Orleans (NOLA) I found that I could contribute to the transformation of society by utilizing my skills as a multimedia storyteller and editor. In New Orleans I began my life as a journalist.

I saw hurricanes and Native American villages destroyed.

I saw NOLA under martial law.

I saw an oil spill; on the waves—a giant corporate corpse burning on the Gulf of Mexico.

Academia and Media Management in Cairo, Egypt

I came to live in Cairo in 2012 to complete a master’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies at the American University in Cairo (AUC).

Over the next few years I found my third home along the River Nile in Cairo where the crowd rushes and crushes under bright sunlight.

As a journalist and editor, I worked in television, radio and print media discussing the events of the Arab world and the greater Middle East. In this time, I learned to speak and write fluent Arabic.

!تحيا مصر و اللغة العربية

I also taught English, Journalism and Composition at AUC.

In 2017 I began a new role as Senior Editor of the Cairo Review of Global Affairs—AUC’s leading public policy journal. For the next 4 + years I was honored to work in media management.

Chicago and New Horizons

In 2022 I came home to care for my ill father and be with my family in Chicago.

Since coming to Chicago, I have been honored to teach at the University of Chicago as an English instructor and work in a freelance capacity as a Content Editor and Writer/Researcher for SWP, the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.

I am excited by new opportunities in media management, multimedia storytelling and instruction!

I seek a new position in the United States, Europe or the Middle East!