I am a bilingual poet, essayist, translator, artist, and activist with the added distinction of being the first woman (not to mention Latina and lesbian) to found/publish/edit a literary magazine and press in the history of Los Angeles (rara avis/Books of a Feather; 1977-84). I have taught writing in many settings--elementary and high schools, colleges and universities, community centers, and the AIDS Unit of a women's prison. My debut collection of poetry, Garden of Exile, won both the Kathryn A. Morton Poetry Prise and the PEN Center USA Literary Award, and was listed as a Best Book by the San Francisco Chronicle. I am bequeathing my historic home and collections as: Red Hill House Artists Residence & Living Archives, on historic Red Hill in Los Angeles, for use by writers, scholars, and artists in perpetuity.