I was born in El Salvador. My mother was from Mexico and my father was from the States. My father was in the U.S. foreign service and my parents met at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City, where my mother also worked. At that time, my father spoke little Spanish and my mother did not speak any English at all. It made for an interesting marriage. Actually, my dad was born in Paris. His parents were part of the lost generation of 1920s Paris. Their friends and acquaintances included Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, Picasso, and Chagall. One of my future projects is a book about my grandparents and their time in Paris.

I am a poet, playwright, and fiction writer. I am also working on my memoir, My Life in Pieces. My parents were diplomats and I ended up living in El Salvador, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Paraguay, Ecuador, Switzerland, and the United States—with extended stays in Mexico, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Argentina, France, Denmark, England, and Kenya. Life was interesting—sometimes difficult, but always interesting. I now live in the Netherlands, with my husband, Sibe Doosje.

My stories, poetry, and books have been published by Macmillan-McGraw-Hill, Benchmark Education, and numerous small-press publications. I have written and/or adapted bilingual scripts for GALA Hispanic Theatre, Discovery Theatre at the Smithsonian, Theatre Hopkins, and Children’s Theatre Association. I have earned a Master of Arts from The Writing Seminars, Johns Hopkins University (Poetry), New York University (Performance Studies), and the University of Maryland (American Studies), where I pursued my Ph.D.

For GALA  I have adapted and directed Bodas de sangre, Platero y yo (named one of the best D.C children’s plays in 2014), and Don Quijote de la Mancha (two separate versions). Original bilingual scripts for GALA include VolcánO (inspired by my work as a simultaneous interpreter for the US immigration court); Picasso (about the life and work of the famous painter); Rigoberta, ¿dónde estás? A Journey Through Guatemala (about a young girl’s journey from her small town in Guatemala to the country’s capital to meet her heroine, Rigoberta Menchú); and La llamada de Sylvia Méndez: Separate Is Never Equal (to be produced in the spring of 2022).

As an actress, I performed at GALA, The Shakespeare Theatre, Center Stage, Arena Stage, The Kennedy Center, and in numerous television commercials. At GALA, I had lead roles in La zapatera prodigiosa, Doña Rosita la solterona, Don Perlimplín, Eloisa está debajo de un almendro, and Entre mujeres.

I taught theatre studies at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts for over 20 years. I have also taught at Johns Hopkins University, Goucher College, Trinity Washington University, and the University of Maryland. My one-woman show, Mongrel: The Life and Words of Dorothy Parker, was performed off-Broadway at the York Theatre and at Goucher College where I have directed, taught, and led workshops on bilingual theater.