FROM OUR PRODUCER & HOST
KELLY DUMAR
(she/her) Boston based poet, playwright, daily blogger, and leader of creative writing organizations—in person and online—for 30 years. Kelly's philosophy about teaching and coaching is simple: Your stories are not only meaningful, they are beautiful, and they deserve to be written, crafted and shared.
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From balm & blessing to unfiltered & raw—We'll hear from
Megan McDermott
about “the weird wonderfulness” of being a
young clergywoman, poet and feminist
When she’s not doing something priestly or poetic, Megan McDermott says you might find her watching mindless television, drinking tea, going to an improv or stand-up comedy class, hula hooping, or getting too worked up about something she’s read on Twitter.
I’m excited to host Megan’s poetry feature, this Thursday night, October 27, 2022 on Zoom, from 7-8:30 p.m. in the Journal of Expressive Writing's monthly OPEN MIC series.
Megan is a powerhouse of energy and accomplishment. Ordained as a priest at age 26, she graduated from Yale Divinity School in 2018. In addition to earning a Master’s of Divinity degree and a diploma in Anglican Studies, she also graduated with a certificate from the Institute of Sacred Music at Yale. And, she is the author of two poetry chapbooks: Prayer Book for Contemporary Dating, available from Ethel Zine and Micro-Press, and Woman as Communion, available from Game Over Books.
Additionally, Megan’s first full-length poetry collection, Jesus Merch: A Catalog in Poems, is forthcoming from Fernwood Press in late February 2023.
Megan will read poems about the challenges of dating, faith, sexuality, and heartbreak, including Gratitude Prayer for Internet Creeping:
Thank God for the internet,
both as a source of dates
and a way to suss them out,
though to be honest, I only ever
creep post-positive impression,
follow-up to eye-to-eye, maybe
mouth-to-mouth encounter.
That’s possibly unsafe, but I know
how judgey I can be – the way
that written words, so close
to my heart when I deem them
good, can also sound alarms. . .
And, perhaps she’ll read from her poem, Blessing of the Profiles:
. . . May the number of people who could possibly
love you under the right circumstances
be greater than those who will ghost
you after you’ve knelt on their living room
floor. . .
Megan will also read from her chapbook, Woman as Communion, published by Boston-based small press, Game Over Books in 2022.
In describing the collection, poet Catherine Weiss calls it “a powerful collection of poetry that gives voice to women of scripture, and ultimately reimagines the relationship between the self and faith.”
Poet Dayna Patterson writes: “For anyone who’s absorbed Bible stories and felt diminished or harmed by the gaps, silences, erasures, these poems are for you. McDermott’s work is both balm and blessing: enter and welcome.”
I hope you will join the Journal of Expressive Writing and Megan this Thursday night for Megan’s creatively faith-filled, raw and unfiltered reading and Q&A, followed by fifteen pre-registered readers in the OPEN MIC portion of the event who will read their work for 3 minutes each.
REGISTER NOW
See you then!
Kelly
About Megan McDermott
Megan McDermott is a poet and Episcopal priest living in Western Massachusetts. She writes about faith, women in Scripture, purity culture baggage, relationships, and more. She is the author of two chapbooks: Prayer Book for Contemporary Dating, available from Ethel Zine and Micro-Press, and Woman as Communion, available from Game Over Books. Her first full-length poetry collection, Jesus Merch: A Catalog in Poems, is forthcoming from Fernwood Press in late February 2023. Megan’s poems have appeared in a variety of publications, including The Christian Century, Rust + Moth, Rogue Agent Journal, Relief: A Journal of Art & Faith, and The Cresset. She is also a poetry reader for one of her favorite online lit journals, Psaltery & Lyre.
Learn more at: meganmcdermottpoet.com
All OPEN MIC events are FREE to attend and OPEN TO ALL, but you do need to register ahead of time.
The Journal of Expressive Writing OPEN MIC is produced and hosted by Kelly DuMar.
Read about our upcoming featured authors on our OPEN MIC page.
Journal of Expressive Writing Submissions
Our Call for Submissions is always open,
because there is never a deadline on creativity. Never a fee to submit.
New content published weekly. All voices wanted!
About the Founder and Editor-in-Chief:
Jennifer A. Minotti (she/her) is a Writer-in-Residence at the Center for Women's Health and Human Rights at Suffolk University. For the past 25 years, she has dedicated her professional life toward working for the betterment of society. For 17 years, Jen worked at Education Development Center (EDC)—a global non-profit working to improve education, health, and economic opportunities worldwide—in a variety of technology, research, writing, and leadership roles.
In 2012, Jen founded the Women's Writing Circle as a means to merge her passions for expressive writing, positive psychology, community organizing, women’s health, and social activism. In 2020, she founded the Journal of Expressive Writing in order to provide a place for sharing expressive writing, believing that we need this space on a fundamental, human level, individually and collectively. Jen is a graduate of Boston University (B.S.) and Columbia University (M.A., M.Ed). Her writing has appeared in numerous refereed journals, anthologies and literary publications.