Writing Center Tutors

María Acuña
MA, English Literature
Hours: Mondays from 3:30-6:00; Tuesdays 12:30-4:00; Thursdays 10:00-11:30

María completed an undergraduate program in Latin American Literature at Mills College, with an emphasis on the historic and cultural development of Venezuelan music as it relates to the African Diaspora. In the study of literature, she is looking for shared spaces between Spanish and English narratives and in the historical and cultural circumstances that create such spaces. She is interested in cultural studies, anthropology, education, poetry and film, and she is also a professional musician and part of the fusion jazz band quijeremá.

Myha T. Do
MA, English Literature
Hours: Tuesdays from 12-6:00; Thursdays from 11:30-2:00
Myha is a recent graduate from Saint Mary’s College’s MFA Creative Writing Fiction Program and is in her first year as a graduate student at Mills. Her interest lies especially in Victorian literature, but any genre of literature is, of course, wonderful. She is also a reader at Cal Berkeley for a Gender Women Studies course and an Asian American Culture course, and she works at Eastwind Books of Berkeley.

Noёl Fagerhaugh
MA, Literature
Hours: Mondays from 11:30–1:00 & 4:00–6:00; Wednesdays 10:00–12:30; Thursdays 1:00–2:30

Noёl was accepted to both the MFA Poetry and MA Literature programs here at Mills and had a difficult time choosing! She did two years of her undergraduate degree at Laney College and 2 years at Mills, graduating Phi Beta Kappa and with honors. She loved it here so much that she decided to stay! While finishing her MA in Literature at Mills, she is also teaching courses in study skills, test preparation and speed reading. She couples her love of reading and writing with a love of nature, spending as much time as possible outdoors, hiking, gardening and walking with her dog. She is a Bay Area native, so ask her about the best places to camp and hike nearby!

Justin Goldman
MFA, Fiction
Hours: Tuesdays from 3:30-5:00

Justin Goldman is a second-year fiction student in the MFA program at Mills and the Director of the Writing Center. He's been doing the whole teaching/tutoring thing for a while, in between stints as a journalist, environmental activist, bookstore clerk, and wannabe guitar god.

Johnny Hernandez
MFA, Poetry
Hours: Mondays from 1:00-4:00; Tuesdays 5:00-6:00; Wednesdays 2:30-6:00

Johnny Hernandez is a second year MFA who graduated from UC Berkeley’s English Department with a specialization in creative writing. There are three years of experience as a writing tutor that says he is capable of helping students reveal their own inner researcher. Although at times he may be enveloped by the lovely sounds of experimentation, he often will attempt to bottle detailed guidance so that students provide their own tools (for their own voice). He is not a McCompendium of answers, but rather a window washer for your own self-empowerment. He loves books, music, film and nature, but is confounded by these word things.

Clare Krochmal
MA, Literature
Hours: Monday 10-11:30; Tuesdays from 10:00-12:00; Wednesdays 12:30-2:00; Fridays 10:00-12:00

Clare grew up in Northern Ireland. Her academic interest is in nineteenth century British Lit., particularly, the female authors and all of the Irish ones. Some of her favorite authors are the Brönte sisters, George Eliot, and James Joyce. She loves long bike rides and would be happiest if she never had to wake up before 10:00 am. Clare loves pineapple and hates coconut, and she wants to visit every continent before she is thirty.

Jessica Menkin
MFA, Fiction
Hours: Thursdays from 2:00-4:00; Fridays 12:00-3:00
Jessica is a first year MFA student studying Fiction. She is a recent east coast graduate with a BA in English and more than three years experience at her last college's Writing Center. One of her favorite pastimes is traveling with a notebook and pen, and, since she's new to the area, she's excited to experience more of it. Last summer's travels to South Korea and India have also added some ELL experience to her resume.

Kellie Parkinson
MFA, Poetry
Hours: Tuesdays from 10:00-12:30; Wednesdays 10:00-2:00; Thursdays 4:00-5:30

Kellie likes the blue light of an early morning, drinks more coffee than water, and reads grammar books for fun. She’s a first year MFA and tutored writing for three years as an undergrad. Last semester, she taught middle- and high-school students about history and writing, while they taught her to listen patiently and to laugh frequently. She regularly loses chapstick, sunglasses, and pens. She takes pictures of the sea.

Monica Peck
MFA, Poetry
Hours: Sundays from 12:00-6:00; Wednesdays & Thursdays 5:00-6:00

After various thrilling, if not lucrative, “careers” as an ice cream seller, busker, coat-check girl, avocado gardener, sprout farmer, and feral cat tamer, Monica has spent the past year in the MFA program at Mills College. She has a teaching credential from San Francisco State University and currently works as a writer and teacher in the Bay Area.

Michelle Puckett
MFA, Poetry
Hours: Thursdays from 10:00-1:00; Fridays 1:00-6:00

Michelle was born and raised in Dallas, Texas, where she attended an arts magnet high school. She has been a patron and lover of the arts ever since. She has a BA in Writing from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, and is currently in her second year of the MFA Poetry program here at Mills. She has also done a lot of community organizing, so her main aesthetic motivation is driven by her interest in social justice issues. She is warm and patient, and loves learning with other people. Come in and see Michelle!

Cassidy Smith
MA, Literature
Hours: Mondays 1:30-3:30; Wednesdays 2:00-5:00

Cassidy is a first year MA student whose special interests remain to be determined. For now, her academic interests float around Gender Studies, Queer Theory, and, well, to state the obvious, English Literature. Having lived in the Bay Area for one year, Cassidy hopes it will be her home for the next ten years or more ... unless she moves to Paris. In her spare time, Cassidy enjoys idling at cafes for hours on end, running, doing yoga, and indulging in yummy food at restaurants with good atmospheres. Writing in the third person makes her feel jittery and famous, and she hopes she'll be asked to do it again someday. P.S. She's also a big fan of women's colleges, having attended one herself in Massachusetts.

Mica Valdez
MFA, Poetry
Hours: Mondays from 10:00-1:00; Thursday 2:30-5:00; Fridays 10:00-12:00

Mica Valdez is an artist, poet and educator who has taught in the Bay Area since 1997. She received her BA in American Studies (Ethnic Studies pathway) from the University of California at Santa Cruz and a Teaching Credential from San Francisco State University. Mica is currently editing the book Turtle Island to Abya Yala: A Love Anthology of Art and Poetry by Native American and Latina Women.