Chivas was a finalist for the 2012 ForeWord Book of the Year Awards in Poetry. As an Assistant Professor at Westfield State University, She taught Composition, World Literature and Contemporary Cross-Culture Literature. She also has a background as a performing artist in New England and New York City. She holds an MFA in writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts and a BA from Bennington College. Chivas teaches poetry and multi-genre writing workshops in Northampton, MA and Collinsville, CT. She is currently at work on her second collection of poems.