Howdy! I’m Maya, and I am a senior at Polytechnic School in Pasadena, California and a third-year jGirls+ editor. Writing and literature have always been a huge part of my life. My prose and poetry have appeared in Cargoes, Up North Lit, Hadassah, Battering Ram Journal, Bluefire, Skipping Stones, and jGirls+ Magazine. My writing has been recognized by Princeton University, Hollins University, Columbia College, Rider College, Scholastic, Library of Congress, Skipping Stones, Blank Theatre National Young Playwrights Festival, and The Leyla Beban Foundation. I was a 2020 finalist for Los Angeles Youth Poet Laureate. It is my great honor to be a recipient of a 2019 grant from the Dragon Kim Foundation and a 2020 grant from The Pollination Project enabling me to launch A Life In Tapestry, the travelling exhibition of the tapestry work of Holocaust survivor and artist Trudie Strobel. The project has been featured in such news outlets as The Star News, The Jewish Journal, The San Gabriel Valley Tribune, KCBS2, and KCAL9 News.
In other endeavors, I am a member of my high school’s Arts Student Council. I am a World Schools debater, a 4-year Varsity soccer player, editor of my high school literary magazine, and Co-President of its Jewish Student Union. I am a nap enthusiast who loves a good farmer’s market, oat milk latte, jGirls+’ Zoom call, or hike in the mountains. If I were a yam, my name would be a palindrome.
Works by Maya
To Live by the Mandate of Tikkun Olam
Trudie’s Goose
Maya's Photographs are Featured in
What it is Like to Have Anxiety
Stargazer
Brain on Life
