Hello, my name is Demree. I’m a third year MFA (fiction) student. This is my last year at San Diego State. I’ve taught RWS 100/200 courses before, in addition to teaching my first creative writing course last semester. A few months ago my first book, Sympathy for Wild Girls, was published by Feminist Press. I am very proud of this.

I was born in Lawton, Oklahoma, but I’ve lived in San Diego since I was six. These two places influence a lot of my writing. I like reading, but I wouldn’t say I’m obsessed with books themselves, unless they have some kind of particular meaning to me. I have a copy of James and the Giant Peach illustrated by the illustrator Lane Smith, which has a very special place in my heart.

I first became interested in books as object by listening to a podcast I like called Material Girls (formerly Witch Please) which analyzes pop culture through a materialist lens. It was formerly a Harry Potter recap/critique podcast. The hosts are two Canadian professors and they’ve frequently discussed books as an object of fetishization and an exclusionary capitalist tool. I’m very excited to expand upon the casual knowledge I have in this subject.

I find certain things visually and artistically appealing and inspiring: dogs, coyotes, the southwest, light, valley girls, bugs/parasites, satin/ribbon/bunches of fabric, grids, the virgin mary, megachurches, teeth, the ocean, mirrors.