Biography
Stephanie Flood was born in poverty in Cebu City, Philippines and adopted in the United States at the age of two. Her birth name was Desiree Maru. Stephanie has a background in creative writing, mixed media and photography. She hails with a Master of Library and Information Science, a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, and Bachelor of Science in Journalism. As a Pushcart Prize Nominee (2015), her fiction stories, mixed media art and creative nonfiction essays have been featured in numerous literary magazines and journals since 2015. Mixed media art has been featured at conferences, literary magazines and blogs. Additionally, she published the first-of-its-kind hybrid mixed media thesis in her MFA Creative Writing Program in Northern Arizona University, where she used visuals and epistolary literary methods to amplify her storytelling. Stephanie has been an active community member of InterCountry Adoptee Voices (ICAV), as a critical blogger and social media activist supporting Intercountry adoptee voices since 2017. Additionally, she has worked in public libraries in Arizona and later in Hawaii when she moved to Honolulu in 2018. In 2022, Stephanie additionally taught Creative Writing in Honolulu, Hawaii, and published her first middle school literary magazine, My Hawaiian Identity. After her journeys in Hawaii, Stephanie decided to settle down in Indianapolis, Indiana where she now works as a librarian at a downtown public library. As a Public Service librarian, she enjoys lifting up community voices through her public service work, supporting diversity, equity and inclusion in committee meetings and outreach, coordinating exhibits and displays for the public and staff, as well as managing her assigned area of the nonfiction book collection which is in the subjects of creative arts, crafts and design. On her free time, she loves visiting the Philippine Cultural Community Center and attending karaoke. The Philippine Cultural Community Center is an important and integral place to Stephanie where she can learn about her cultural roots, make meaningful connections and experience the Filipino culture in Indiana. Her favorite Filipino foods are Ube and adobo. Stephanie's favorite things to do in Indiana are exploring the outdoors, cooking, making home-made herbal tea brews, and going to the gym. She likes to visit farmer's markets and eat out at cultural restaurants to learn about other cultures and cultural foods, and so far she loves Indian as well as Filipino food. Stephanie also enjoys arts and crafts, workshops, reading, meditation, journaling, cafes, Latin dancing, music, practicing meditation and attending community meditations as well as yoga. She also loves to travel, take photos and share her daily inspirations on Instagram. |
Credits
Essays: AGNI, Foliate Oak Literary Magazine, The Writing Disorder, Journey Magazine, Hole in The Donut Cultural Travel Mixed Media: Nzuir: The Online Journal of Umoja Community, Oyster River Pages, The Tishman Review, Helen Literary Magazine, The Sonder Review, Storm Cellar, The Healing Muse Fiction: Third Flatiron Anthologies, The Story Shack, On the Rusk, Gone Lawn Journal Published Anthology: Third Flatiron's Best of 2015 Anthology, Book 14 Nonfiction: The Flagstaff Live, The Noise, The Daily Sun, Mountain Living Magazine Adoptee Media: Adoptee Voices, InterCountry Adoptee Voices (ICAV), Overcoming Odds, AdopTree Project: Exploring Asian Adoption Narratives, The Write Place at the Write Time |
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