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 Governor’s Pathfinder Award, recognition by the Pennsylvania Senate and a Vagina Warrior Award from the Penn State cast of Eve Ensler’s 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 Writer’s 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, men’s and women’s 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

Dora’s 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 Bogle’s short film, One Woman’s Voice, which documents Dora’s combined roles as poet, teacher and activist and is used internationally as a teaching/training tool.

Dora’s 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 Writer’s 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 Ensler’s 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 Governor’s 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