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What to expect:

Peace. Quiet. Serenity. 


• Uncrowded (limited to 6 participants at any time)

•Peaceful with complete silence when writing

•Spiritually based, meditative, uplifting, with creative prompts, handouts and textbooks

•Inspired by retreats and seminars with the Benedictine monks in the Mojave Desert

• Silent retreats with the Camaldolese hermits in Big Sur

•( 2 years.)Study at the Buddhist Temple in San Jose, CA

•Retreats and seminars I've attended led by poets, e.g.,Robert Bly and William Stafford

•Based upon my own experience writing with great teachers

•Guaranteed to give individual and intensely sensitive feedback

•Strictly positive support with genuine interest and encouragement

•The result of many years of writing and teaching successful students

My writing credentials are:

•Over 48 plays produced either fully- staged or staged readings and more than once on NPR

•Playwright-in-residence at two theater companies

•Many awards for plays, e.g., Beverly Hills Theater, Maude Adams, Theaterworks, Robert Shiras, and more.

Four plays Off-Broadway directed by Tony Award winners.

Founder and Artistic Director of Arrowhead Readers Theater in San Jose at City Lights Theatre 

Winner of Hurricane Award at Eccentric Theater Center in LA  with production

  •  Among the "Top 100" entries (out of 5500 entries) in the last CBS/Dramatists Guild Awards for The Magic Hand given a  6 week run at City Lights Theater in San Jose and winner of "Play of the Year"by Metro newspaper.
  • Newspaper columnist (3 years) for Santa Clara Sun, and Santa Clara American, and Her (Japan)

•Short stories and poems* in literary journals, popular magazines, and anthology

•Seven Phelan awards for poetry

•Poems published internationally with Charles Bukowski (more than once), Anthony Burgess, et al

•Attendance at four Colrain Conferences (Joan Houlihan)  in the past three years

Staying current: Last year Stanford class with Lewis Robinson (short story)

Screenwriting classes with Albert Maltz (Berkeley), Lamont Johnson (Hollywood) Nancy Malone, at the time: president of Women in Film, owner of Lavender Productions, (SJSU), Mick Curran (Pasadena City College), Jurgen Wolff (Hollywood) Dr. Flick (really) at SJSU Poetry classes and seminars with Robert Bly, 

William  Stafford, Naomi Clark, Nils Peterson, Elsie Leach,  and many more

• Hollywood agent- the late Tyler Kjar

Staff writer for Los Angeles Theatres Magazine with cover stories, interviews, reviews and features

Producing, writing, hosting "Joan's Show" Cable TV (Viacom) Santa Clara daily for 7 years: interviewing guests from the world of entertainment, politics, and the neighborhood: Johnny Carson, Jack LaLanne, Johnny Mathis, Mayor Moscone (SF), Joan Baez, Carlos Montoya (in Spanish), Theodore Bikel, Joel Gray, Jane Russell, Fess Parker, Janis Paige, John Raitt, Cheech and Chong, Tom Jones, Andy Williams..many more interesting guests, e.g., the pilots of the Goodyear Blimp, famous chefs, musicians, president/founder of Weight Watchers, Mr. Button, chair of the FCC, et al

Many former students have had success as professional writers

•Over forty years teaching in California colleges and most recently 15 years in graduate MFA classes at Mount Several teaching awards e/.g., St. Mary's University (LA)  Faculty of the year at Mount St. Mary's College (2003) and  ISAE Award for service at MSMU

Current circulating submissions: 48 plays (9 full length, 26 one-acts, 13 ten-minute plays),

 (Nineveh) a book of stories-- 1/3 published individually)

A poetry collection  A Voyager's Thoughts(60 poems),  An historical novel-- in progress, a young adult novel --in progress 

Publiished and translated internationally poems, short stories, and articles.

I am now and have been (continuously) a working writer.

We could all use less stress. Come to the mountains where you can breathe fresh air.




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