The Work
My writing examines how individual identity is shaped—and often distorted—by social judgment. Through memoir, autobiographical fiction, and historical narrative, I keep returning to a core question:
What occurs when society misdefines a person?
Throughout history, individuals have been named, categorized, and judged by institutions far larger than themselves: governments, churches, communities, and cultural norms. These acts of naming can determine whether a person is accepted, condemned, or erased.
My work explores the human consequences of these moments.
Hardship Alaska explores the tension between personal conscience and state authority during the Vietnam War–era draft. The Object of His Affection turns to the emotional and artistic realms, where identity is shaped through relationships, performance, and recognition. Scapegoat investigates the mechanisms by which societies identify and persecute outsiders. A Name Unbroken reflects on the Salem witch trials and the long historical process through which the falsely accused may eventually be remembered differently.
Although these books differ in form and historical setting, they share a common concern: the effort of individuals to retain their own identity in a world eager to impose another one upon them.
Underlying this work is a simple conviction:
A person’s true identity cannot ultimately be erased by accusation or misunderstanding. History may distort it, authority may condemn it, and communities may reject it, but the struggle to remain faithful to one’s own conscience remains one of the deepest dramas of human life.
Through narrative, history, and reflection, my work seeks to illuminate that struggle.