The Journal of Expressive Writing is more than a publication. We aim to be an engaged and supportive community of writers and listeners. Giving our focused attention to each other’s voices, stories and writing is a generous, necessary act of humanity, repair and celebration.
On Thursday, May 8, 2025 at 7:00pm EST, our monthly OPEN MIC series will feature Diane Lockward— Poet, Publisher and Editor of What the House Knows, an anthology of 116 poems by 116 poets, including Ted Kooser, Alice Friman, Billy Collins, Tracy K. Smith, Jan Beatty, George Bilgere, and more!
The event will also include poets included in the anthology who will read their poems!
ABOUT DIANE LOCKWARD
Diane Lockward is the editor of The Strategic Poet: Honing the Craft (Terrapin Books, 2021), The Practicing Poet: Writing Beyond the Basics (Terrapin Books, 2018), The Crafty Poet II: A Portable Workshop (Terrapin Books, 2016) and The Crafty Poet: A Portable Workshop (rev. edition, Terrapin Books, 2016). Her publications include four full-length collections of poetry, most recently, The Uneaten Carrots of Atonement (Wind Publications, 2016). Her earlier books are Temptation by Water, WhatFeeds Us, which received the 2006 Quentin R. Howard Poetry Prize, and Eve’s Red Dress. She is also the author of two chapbooks, Against Perfection and Greatest Hits: 1997-2010.
Diane's poems have been anthologized in Poetry Daily: 366 Poems from the World’s Most Popular Poetry Website, Garrison Keillor's Good Poems for Hard Times, The Poet's Cookbook,and elsewhere. Her poems have appeared in such journals as Beloit Poetry Journal, Southern Poetry Review, Harvard Review, Poet Lore, and Prairie Schooner, andbeen featured on Poetry Daily, Verse Daily, The Writer’s Almanac, and Ted Kooser's American Life in Poetry.Her awards include a Poetry Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, the 2006 Quentin R. Howard Poetry Book Prize, First Place in the 2012 Naugatuck River Review poetry contest, and a 2013 Woman of Achievement award.
On May 17, 2009, Diane was appointedPoet Laureateof West Caldwell, NJ. In 2015 she foundedTerrapin Books,a small press for poetry books, and serves as its editor and publisher.
More at: dianelockward.com
ABOUT THE ANTHOLOGY:
What the House Knows is an anthology of 116 poems by 116 poets, poets such as Ted Kooser, Alice Friman, Billy Collins, Tracy K. Smith, Jan Beatty, and George Bilgere. Each poem features a house. Throughout the collection, you will find a variety of houses: old age homes, a schoolhouse, an outhouse, an abandoned farmhouse, rented apartments, and even a doghouse. The poems tell stories and hit the heart. There are poems about losing a house to fire, moving out of a house after divorce, remembering people who once lived in the house. You will also find a variety of people inhabiting the houses. And you will find poems in a variety of forms. As you move from poem to poem, from house to house, walk through the rooms known in Italy as stanzas. Listen to what the walls have to say.
FEATURED READERS:
- Adele Kenny
- Jennifer Freed
- Jessica de Koninck
- Barbara Sabol
- Saba Husain
- Susan Azar Porterfield
- Betsy Sholl
- Susan Rothbard
- Kathy Nelson
- Lynne Knight
- Kelly DuMar
ABOUT THE OPEN MIC PORTION:
In addition to our featured writers, 15 other pre-registered writers will read their work. Each of our contributing authors will have 3 minutes to read their best expressive writing, poetry, stories, free writing, non-fiction, personal essay, memoir, reflective essay, prose, contemplative discourse, and creative non-fiction.
The Journal's OPEN MIC series is FREE to attend and OPEN TO ALL, but you do need to Pre-Register through eventbrite to get the live Zoom link.
The Journal's OPEN MIC series is produced and hosted by Kelly DuMar.
