AWARDS & HONORS
Literary Honors & Recognition
2026: Nominated by Breakwater Review of UMASS Boston MFA for Best New Poets.
2022: Featured Poet and Interview, National Poetry Month Feature, Crab Creek Review.
2021: Semifinalist, Crab Creek Review Poetry Prize, selected by Camille T. Dungy.
2021: Featured Poet Interview, Sinister Wisdom Issue 120, interviewed by Vi Khi Nao.
2019: Winner, Berkeley Poetry Review Chapbook Contest, Midterm: Localities & Haunts.
2019: Featured Poet of the Month, Moon Tide Press.
2018: Semifinalist, Gold Wake Press Poetry Book Contest.
2016: Finalist, Gertrude Press Poetry Chapbook Competition.
2013: Winner, Aquarium of the Pacific's Urban Ocean 4th Annual Poetry Contest.
2012: Winner, Aquarium of the Pacific's Urban Ocean 3rd Annual Poetry Contest.
2012: Featured Poet of the Month, Moon Tide Press.
Teaching & Service Awards
2026: ASGWC Faculty Appreciation Award, Golden West College, Arts & Letters Division.
2026: Faculty Transfer Advocate of the Year, Santa Ana College, Humanities and Social Sciences Division.
Academic Honors & Distinctions
2013: Outstanding Graduate Student, Department of English Distinction, CSULB.
2013: William T. Shadden Graduate Scholarship Award for Poetry, CSULB.
2013: Member, Sigma Tau Delta, Iota Pi Chapter.
2010: Outstanding Graduate Certificate of Achievement, Partners for Success, CSULB.
Leadership & Community Recognition
2013: Safe Zone Ally+ Training Certificate and Panel Specialist, California State University, Long Beach.
2008–2010: Recognition for Excellence as Resource Center Host, LGBTQIA Resource Center, CSULB.
2008–2010: Recognition for Allyship and Task Force Contributions, Delta Lambda Phi, Rho Chapter.
INTERVIEWS
Crab Creek Reviewinterviews me as "Poetry Month Feature" for April 2022 #NaPoMo
Moon Tide Press features me as "Poet of the Month" for December 2019
VoyageLA interviews me about Whiskey Jellyfish Poetry in Long Beach
Unlearning cultural and gender expectations.
How to balance writing authentically (creating for the self) vs. writing to please the invisible audience (creating pieces that people will actually want to read).
The emotionally taxing aspect of teaching at the community college level.
Income instability of being an adjunct professor and being a poet.
Nancy Lynée Woo interviews me for Out Loud: A Cultural Revolution's "Artist Spotlight"
What is one major challenge you face as an artist?
"Two things: inheriting cultural loss and writing about the self. Although it is liberating to seamlessly integrate my identity into my poetry, the weight and fog of who I am, at times, can be insufferable."
Q&A with Cat Leeches, author of "Ichor"
Q&A with Gail Aronson, author of "Silk"
Q&A with Jenny Xie, author of “Pigeon Forge”
Q&A with Erika T. Wurth, author of “Barry Four Voices”
Q&A with Sofia Samatar, author of “An Account of the Land of Witches”
The Offing Magazine Editor's Feature
What doors does The Offing open for you?
