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poet.
performer. activist. teacher.
Dora is descendant of traveling gypsies, Irish Golden-gloved
boxers, and strong women, whose stories and the telling
of them prompted her lifelong fascination with the written
and spoken word. Dora continues the family tradition
of using the personal story to explore memory and conjecture,
culture and community, and the intersections between
the private and the political. Her unique blend of art,
emotion and service has
earned her multiple awards, including the Pennsylvania
Governors Pathfinder Award, recognition by the
Pennsylvania Senate and a Vagina Warrior Award from
the Penn State cast of Eve Enslers play
The Vagina Monologues. Dora has been awarded
a number of Poet-In-Residence and Fellowship positions
with various programs, including The Harwood Museum
of Art and The Helene Wurlitzer Foundation in Taos,
New Mexico, and the Pagosa Springs, Colorado Artist-In-Residency
Program. She was also awarded the 2011 New Mexico Woman
Writers Fellowship by A Room of Her Own Foundation
and is being honored as one of the Remarkable Women
of Taos, New Mexico during the 2012 yearlong celebration
of women whose lives and creative spirits have influenced
the community.
Dora performs, speaks and teaches internationally in
venues as varied as justice and
outreach programs, mens and womens prisons,
political rallies and community events,
universities and high schools, churches and shelters,
as well as television and radio
programs and professional and academic conferences.
She has collaborated nationally
with an array of other artists, ranging from writers,
poets and performers, to musicians
and songwriters and visual artists working in various
mediums, including the Ekphrasis
poets and artists of Taos, NM. Dora currently serves
as a member of the Board of
Directors of The Sage Institute for Environment, Creativity
and Consciousness, which is
affiliated with the University of New Mexico-Taos. www.sagetaos.com
Doras work has been published in anthologies,
films, plays, musical compositions,
literary journals and magazines, required course readings,
law enforcement training
programs in Pennsylvania, as well as posters, calendars
and greeting cards. She is the
author of the
scorched earth, and its compact disc companion,
the scorched
earth:
spoken, both of which were reissued in 2012
as a 10-Year Anniversary Edition. the scorched earth
is Dora's collection of poems about her journey from
victimization to survivorship, through healing and into
empowerment. The CD companion, the scorched earth:
spoken has studio and live recordings of Dora performing
16 of the 28 poems from the book, plus a bonus track
of Around This Table, the poem Dora was commissioned
to write to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the
PA Coalition Against Domestic Violence. These poems
have been used nationally. The
commemorative poem,
Around This Table, the 25th Anniversary of
the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence,
is now available in poster form. Kate Bogles short
film, One Womans
Voice, which documents Doras combined roles
as poet, teacher and activist and is used internationally
as a teaching/training tool.
Doras next collection of poems, SEVEN:
Poems of The Interim, is forthcoming.
AWARDS AND RECOGNITION:
Remarkable Woman of Taos,
2012
Honored as one of the Remarkable
Women of Taos, New Mexico during the 2012
yearlong celebration of women whose lives and creative
spirits have influenced the
community and history of Northern New Mexico.
The New Mexico
Woman Writers Fellowship,
2011
Chosen as recipient of the sole fellowship for a New
Mexico woman writer to attend the
2012 A Room Of Her Own Foundation, 2011
The Pagosa Springs
Colorado Artist-In-Residency Program, Poet-In-Residence,
Colorado, 2008
The Helene Wurlitzer
Foundation, Poet Fellowship,
New Mexico, 2007-2008
The Harwood Museum
of Art, Poet-In-Residence,
New Mexico, 2006.
Vagina Warrior
Award, 2005
Honored by the cast of the 2005 Penn State Production
of Eve Enslers award-winning
play, The Vagina Monologues,
for my statewide and national activism to end violence
against women and girls.
Penn State Roots
Of Leadership Honoree,
2004
Fifth Annual Pennsylvania
Governors Pathfinder Award,
2003
Governor Ed Rendell and The Pennsylvania Commission
on Crime and Delinquency
stated Ms. McQuaid was
awarded for her outstanding and visible contribution
to and
impact upon the victim services movement in Pennsylvania
through her work on behalf
of victims of domestic and sexual violence as
a survivor/activist.
Citation of Congratulations,
The Pennsylvania Senate and Senator Jake Corman,
2003
Scholarship Award,
Outward Bound Outdoor Schools, Women of Courage Program,
2000
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