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zinnia gupte

355 berry street #330 sf, ca 94158
voice 415 217 9037
mixedbyroots@yahoo.com




OBJECTIVE

To bring digital storytelling to communities and develop storytelling programs for oral history projects, adult education, social activism organizations, community arts programs, organizational staff development, and corporate marketing and branding projects.


EDUCATION & RESIDENCIES


Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, England
MA Creative Writing, Nov 2005


University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Bachelor of Science in Digital Storytelling & New Media, May 1999


Stanford Writer’s Studio, Palo Alto, CA
Making Your Writing Three Dimensional, Katherine Noel, 2007-2008


San Francisco Writing Salon, San Francisco, CA
Fiction Workshop, David Booth 2008


Arts Council Toowoomba Residency, Toowoomba, Australia.
Created a collection of poems for “Toowoomba Poetry Project.”
Fall 2001.


Subverse: Queensland Poetry Festival Residency,
Brisbane, Australia. Collaborated with Aboriginal poets, showcased new work, gave public readings, networked with other poets and attended workshops”. Received mentorship from poets Felix Cheong, Bronwyn Lea, Terry Jaensch and Jayne Fenton-Keane.
Fall 2001.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE


• Streetside Stories Young Authors Mentor, San Francisco, CA. Led after-school workshops in fiction and poetry for middle school students. Spring 2008.


• Everett Middle School, San Francisco, CA. Tutored Spanish speaking immigrant students in creative writing. Spring 2008.


• Beyond the Global Divide Adult Arts Workshop, Palenque, Mexico. Writing Instructor. Taught seminar in dance narratives from India. Spring 2006.


• Beyond the Global Divide Adult Arts Workshop, Washington D.C. Spring 2004. Writing Instructor. Taught seminar in poetry.


• Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK. Teaching Assistant (for Graham Joyce). Taught discussion section for undergraduate English course “Elements of Fiction.” Fall 2004.


• Peace Corps, Benin, West Africa. Taught high school students entrepreneurial skills and helped them create a small business, in which they created a product, sold stock, marketed the product and made profit. 2002 – 2003




PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE


• Independent editorial consultant for Hot Studio. Nov 2007 - Current.
• Writer/Editor for Nokia, Apple, Shutterfly and corporate clients. 2001-2007
• Contributing Writer, BBC 2004 – Current.
• Contributing Writer, Everybody’s Magazine. 2004
• Assistant editor Dilip Cherian, columnist for the Economic Times. 2003.
• Storytelling consultant, Sapient. 1999-2001


NON-PROFIT EXPERIENCE

• Streetside Stories, Mentor for Young Authors program. 2008

• 826 Valencia. Brainstormed storytelling project ideas for national programming. 2008

• Once Upon A School.com Designed website for author, literacy activist and TED Prize winner, Dave Eggers. Spring 2008.

• El Museo del barrio. Created brand language for national programming. 2008

• PBS Art21. Brainstormed storytelling project ideas for national programming. 2007

• UCSF Memory & Ageing Center. Designed storytelling program to heal patients suffering from rare and fatal diseases by telling their stories. 200- 2008.

• Hot Studio. Conducted studio tours for inner-city high school students and youth. 2008.



PUBLICATIONS: FICTION

• “The River Inside.” Lanterns: An Anthology of New Writing. Spring 2005.

• “Twilight Street.” Inkblot. Spring 2001.



PUBLICATIONS: POETRY

• “Nostalgia.” Eclectica. No. 4. Fall 2002.

• “Angel.” Small Packages. No 3. Fall 2002.

• “Calcutta 300.” Spark Anthology.



PUBLICATIONS: NON-FICTION

• “The Last Girl.” BBC. Fall 2005.

• “Bromley House.” BBC. Fall 2005.

• “Lanterns Set to Illuminate.” BBC. Fall 2005.



READINGS & EXHIBITIONS

• Art Span Exhibition, “Lands of Exile” Installation Poetry,
San Francisco, CA. Upcoming Summer 2008.

• Nottingham Trent University Anthology City Reading Series, Nottingham, UK. Spring 2005.

• Bowery Poetry Club, New York City, NY. Spring 2004.

• Goddess Poetry Series, Washington D.C., Summer 2004.



AWARDS

• Nottingham Trent University Distinction Award for Emerging Fiction, Nottingham, UK. Fall 2005.

• Daily Mirror National Student Journalism Awards, London, UK. Finalist for “Best Fashion Journalist.” Spring 2005.



INDEPENDENT TRAVEL PROJECTS

• India 2001-2004. Researched my collection of short stories "The House That Wept By The River" and collected local tales.

• Australia 2002. Researched and collected Aboriginal Dreamtime stories.

• New Zealand 2002. Researched and collected Maori mythology and creation stories.

• West Africa 2001-2002. Served in the Peace Corps collected local folklore for student project.

• China 2004. Traveled to Beijing, Wuhan, Sichuan and Xian to learn about Chinese culture.

• Tibet 2004. Embarked on a pilgrimage to Lhasa.

• England 2004-2005. Studies MA in Creative Writing. Traveled in Wales, Isle of Man and Cornwall to collect mermaid stories.