Rock singer Guitar Wolf in black leather jacket and sunglasses crowdsurfs while clutching his microphone.

Journalism

Nicole combines a refreshingly wry enthusiasm and deep institutional knowledge into a highly readable style, and dives without inhibition into every assignment.

–Marke Bieschke, editor, 48Hills (formerly of the San Francisco Bay Guardian)

Inspired by Jello Biafra to “become” the media, I gravitated towards journalism in 2005– first as a travel writer, later as an arts and culture reporter. As a contributing editor to San Francisco’s (now-defunct) Other magazine, and a freelance writer for the (also-defunct) San Francisco Bay Guardian, I developed a diverse array of beats, including bicycling, biofuels, beer, books, DIY culture, travel, theatre, cinema, music, underground events, festivals, and more. I’ve also written for, and edited the work of others, for a variety of industry publications, including at Green Tortoise Adventure Travel Company, Other Avenues Cooperative, Folio Books, and the San Francisco Fringe Festival.

In 2010, I received an NEA Fellowship in theatre journalism at USC Annenberg, and developed “The Performant,” an underground arts column for the San Francisco Bay Guardian, which ran weekly through December, 2013. Previously, I created a “green” lifestyle column, “The GIY Guide” for Lime.com, which ran from approximately 2008-2010. I take a dramaturgical approach to my work, rigorously researching and fact-checking each piece, seeking to explore and contextualize the complete world of the narrative however possible. You can read a bit more about my process in this Critic Spotlight, courtesy of the ATCA.

Currently, I contribute regularly to KQED, and my bylines have also appeared in print and online at Roadtrippers, the Battery Candy, California Magazine, East Bay Express, SFist, StageRush, BayStages, SFIFF, The Quarterly Conversation, and elsewhere. In 2013, I co-published the Bikes to Books literary history bicycling tour map with City Lights Books and Burrito Justice, now in its third printing. Afterward, we independently published the expanded poster version (2015) and a 16-page minizine (2018) of our Boots to Books walking tour. Check out a portfolio of selected clips here.