Fun Facts

I am preparing for a standup comedy show in June, 2020. Ask me how I'm feeling about it.

About Me

I am an essayist, film director and producer, and a graduate of Stanford University's MFA Program in Documentary Film. I believe essays should be both informative and juicy, like my favorites arthouse documentary films. My professional goals include premiering in certain festivals and securing a faculty teaching position. As a side project, I lead a curatorial team for short film streaming site.

Experience

I taught English in Ukraine for two years and Ukrainian in Chicago for one. At Stanford, I worked as a Writing Tutor for graduate students publishing research and also helped many students with personal essays for PhD applications and with cover letters for their first jobs. I assistant taught a creative screenwriting and shooting course for undergraduates and developed my own undergraduate course at Stanford, New Aesthetics in Non-Fiction.

Approach

Students are eager to be clever and so neglect structuring a basic argument and end up blocked. Finding your argument should feel like play, and before adding accoutrements, writing should be forthright and structured. With me, their sounding board, students will see pathways to both cogent arguments and a personal voice in their writing. Working shoulder-to-shoulder on the students' final draft, I may have occasion to teach the finer points of the craft.