I am a journalist and essayist reporting from New York City, Texas and Mexico, where I have covered stories related to violence, trauma, and organized crime. I am the former Texas correspondent for the Columbia Journalism Review and a former columnist for the Texas Observer. In 2016 I was ranked 4th on Buzzfeed’s list of Women Writers Gay Talese Should Read. I am currently working on a narrative non-fiction book about the West, Texas, masculinity and myth. Member of Pen America.
My work has appeared in the Oxford American, Guernica, The New York Times, Columbia Journalism Review, The Atlantic’s Quartz, Insight Crime, NACLA, Christian Science Monitor, Salon, The Nation, and AlJazeera America, among others. In 2014, I was awarded a grant from the Nation Investigative Fund to report on the dangers faced by journalists in Mexico.
I reported from The Washington Post New York bureau for three years. My essay, “On the Texas Borderline, a Solid, if Invisible, Wall” appeared in the Post’s Style section and became the inspiration for my documentary project, (work in progress) Tell’em Who You Are.”
PBS acquired my documentary film, Against Mexico-the making of heroes and enemies, which explores the reenactments, also known as living history, of the Texas Revolution. The film can be viewed online at pbs.org. PBS Newshour featured Against Mexico as part of its 2012 election coverage. My video reports have appeared on Time.com, the multimedia site for the magazine. They include coverage of the violence in Ciudad Juárez, the construction of the border fence in South Texas and the plight of the Sahrawi refugees in the Sahara desert.
My journalism roots belong in public radio. I have reported for NPR’s Justice Talking, Day to Day, Latino USA and PRI’s The World, Marketplace and the Next Big Thing. Public radio documentaries include investigations into the spread of HIV/AIDS on the U.S.-Mexico border, women and violence in El Salvador and labor abuses in the post Katrina Gulf Coast.
In 2006, I was awarded a Knight fellowship through the International Center for Journalists and assigned to work in El Salvador. I have lectured at CUNY’s Graduate School of Journalism and delivered reporting workshops at numerous conferences and universities.
Last updated July 2017