I have been a poet all my life and have read my poetry at many venues in Seattle, San Francisco, Berkeley and Siskiyou County California and in several print venues including Chrysanthemum, Raven Chronicles, PoetsWest Literary Journal, Switched-on Gutenberg and three poetry anthologies. I was awarded the Native Writer’s Circle of the America’s First Book Award (via the University of Oklahoma) for my book, Stirring up the Water.
I have taught Creative Writing, English, Literature and Humanities courses for 14 years. I currently teach Humanities online for College of the Siskiyous in northern California.
From my poetry book:
"Stirring up the Water is a river of merging currents. In this award-winning collection, the waters are at times stirred softly as though with the tips of the fingers, and at times harshly like an oar thrusting into the water's depths. These poems explore life’s injustices and dive into ages-old religious-spiritual questioning, casting their nets far across a philosophical sea."
And my words:
I explore the tough and the gentle sides of human behaviour, and discover the purity at the core of human love. In my poetry I see that to live “at the edge” is no less bountiful than to live with a sense of normality and is often more conducive to seeing and knowing “the mystery.” I write in both freestyle verse and formal rhythms, and strive to make my poems accessible to all seekers, both poets and non-poets alike.               

MA, Humanities, Literature focus. California State University, Dominquez Hills.
BA, Communications Research. University of Washington. Seattle, WA.
Award: Native Writer's Circle of the America's First Book Award for Poetry, 2004.
15 Year Cancer Survivor.

Fiction Writer under the name: C. Louise Kigerl. Short Story Collection: New Halem Tales. Together with four other northwest authors. Not yet in print.

Stirring up the Water
Book information page at Salt Publishing.