Who I Am & What I Do

A glimpse into my writing and events.

Books, Films, Stories

Ready to meet Faith? Links to my award-winning books, film and audio projects, and selected articles and essays.

Workshops

Ready to change your life? I teach transformative workshops around the globe using personal storytelling.

Talks

Where's my TED Talk? I've inspired at film & art festivals, schools & universities, community organizations, yoga studios, churches, on radio... #CantStopWontStop

Events

Let's do something! I'm all about literary citizenship, from hosting community clubs and mentoring writers, to giving readings and talks.

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My Journey

I'm the author of Meeting Faith, an award-winning account of ordaining as Thailand’s first Black Buddhist nun that is widely taught, is the subject of multiple studies, and regularly appears on essential travel listicles.

I am also author of four hybrid chapbooks/memoirs about my Nigerian/Nordic/American heritage. My media credits include 2 episodes of A World of Calm (HBO-Max) voiced by Mahershala Ali and Kate Winslet, Sleep Stories for the Calm App voiced by Idris Elba and others, the documentary My Journey Home (PBS) about finding my family in Nigeria, and a travel column in the Miami Herald.

I am co-editor of Coming of Age Around the World: A Multicultural Anthology, and my award-winning arts and culture journalism appears in Alta, Smithsonian, Hyperallergic, and others. I founded the nation’s first writing workshop for BIPOC travelers and edit the "Decolonising Travel" section of UK-based Panorama: A Journal of Travel, Place & Nature. I have been awarded 30+ artists’ residencies in 6 countries.

I chair the Writing & Literature Program at California College of the Arts (San Francisco, USA) and teach in their MFA Writing Program, as well as in Stonecoast Low-Residency MFA Program (Maine, USA). I hold degrees from Harvard University, The Writers' Workshop (University of Iowa), and the Nonfiction Writing Program (University of Iowa), as well as a Fulbright Hays to Ghana and Rotary International Fellowships to Thailand and Nigeria.

Named one of Marie Claire magazine’s “Five Women to Learn From,” I travel the world teaching and have spoken at the Cannes Film Fest and dOCUMENTA, been interviewed on NPR and PBS, and my clients include Esalen, University of Iceland, Open Center NYC, American Language Centers of Morocco, and InsightLA.

I am the founder/host of African Book Club (at Sistah SciFi) and Writing Club (at Groundfloor Social Club & Co-working Space) and a founding member of the Afro-Nordic Feminisms Consortium (Columbia University).

Experience