“In my classroom, I strive for an artful teaching approach—what I call Passionate Pedagogy—utilizing the eclectic skills I have acquired through my work as a theater artist and creative writer. My approach is based on: 1) interactive techniques, which come from my experience in theater and my belief that a classroom is a community; and 2) mentorship: individual and small group meetings and projects to counter and complement the time in class that is communal. My job is to foster curiosity, courage, and a love of knowledge that will carry my students beyond the classroom into lifelong learning.”
Nikki is Project Director for Breaking the Silence, I Dream a World, Word of Mouth, and Most Dangerous Women. She presents the following workshops for K-12 and college level educators:
- Asian American Literature
- Creative Non-fiction
- Editors’ Techniques
- Fiction Technique: Searching for Story
- From Page to Stage: Writing and Staging Literary Adaptations
- Memoir and Memory
- Techniques of Readers’ Theater
- The Art of Personal Essay
- Worlds of Fiction: The Self and the Other
Nikki’s publications:
- Hidden Idaho
- Most Dangerous Women – playscript, co-written with Jan Maher, in Most Dangerous Women: Bringing History to Life through Readers’ Theater (Heinemann)
- Goodbye Gorilla, Indiana Review, 2002. Nominated for 2003 Pushcart Prize
- Glory, Rosebud, 2000. Winner, Imaginative Fiction Contest, selected by Ursula K. LeGuin
- Artistic Statement, Interview, and Writing Excerpt: Seattle Arts Newsletter, Jan. 1999
