Appearances
Dale Kushner and Tamara Dean on the wild freedom of imagination and the process of creating
Dale M. Kushner will be joining author and writing teacher Tamara Dean on May 7 at Mystery to Me in Madison, WI for a live, in-person discussion and book signing of Dale’s new book, Wild Freedom: The Princess Who Found Her Name — On Fairy Tales, Imagination, and the Creative Mind. The event is free and will also be streamed.
Wild Freedom in Conversation with Dale M. Kushner, Murray Stein, Henry Abramovitch, and Dariane Pictet
Join us on May 30 at 11 AM ET for a lively morning celebrating the launch of Jungian multidisciplinary writer Dale M. Kushner’s newest book, Wild Freedom: The Princess Who Found Her Name. Dale welcomes world-renowned analyst Murray Stein, alongside esteemed Jungian analysts Henry Abramovitch and Dariane Pictut, to the virtual stage for a dynamic online panel discussion of the book.
Dale Kushner and Rita Mae Reese on journeys of self-discovery, creativity, and inner wisdom
FOR WRITERS AND READERS DRAWN TO LITERARY FICTION, MEMOIR, SPIRITUALITY, AND PERSONAL GROWTH
Join novelist, poet, and essayist Dale M. Kushner and author, poet, and teacher Rita Mae Reese on Friday, June 5 at 7:00 PM CDT for a thoughtful and engaging conversation exploring journeys of self‑discovery, creativity, and inner wisdom.
This is a free, in-person event at Arts + Literature Laboratory in Madison, WI.
RSVPs are encouraged but not required. You can RSVP here.
Drawing from her acclaimed new book, Wild Freedom, Kushner invites readers into an intimate exploration of what it means to listen deeply to ourselves and move toward wholeness—especially in times of uncertainty, competing commitments, and even one’s own personal crisis.
Blending insight with warmth and humor, Kushner’s work offers simple yet powerful reflection on how we can tap into our innate wisdom and navigate life’s complexities with courage and compassion and curiosity. This session will include conversation, reflection, and audience Q&A, making it ideal for writers and readers drawn to literary fiction, memoir, spirituality, and personal growth.
In current times, we are encouraged to look elsewhere, outside ourselves, for answers and solutions for our questions and concerns. Wild Freedom reminds us that with the support of our guides (however one might define this), we can trust our own wisdom. Whether you are at a crossroads, seeking inspiration, or simply love beautifully crafted storytelling, this event promises a rich and meaningful experience. Please save your spot at this link.
About the Participants
Dale M. Kushner
Dale M. Kushner is an award-winning American novelist, poet, and essayist who explores the mysterious terrain of the human psyche and its transformation in her work.
Holding an MFA in Creative Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts, Dale has a deep interest in dreams, creativity, and personal transformation, which was enriched by her study of Jungian depth psychology at the C.G. Jung Institute in Switzerland. There she explored the unconscious, synchronicity, and the archetypal patterns that influence our lives This background profoundly shapes her writing. Dale’s latest book, Wild Freedom: The Princess Who Found Her Name — On Fairy Tales, Imagination, and the Creative Mind, will be published in May 2026 by Chiron Publications and is a hybrid work of fairy tale, memoir, and reflection that explores imagination as a vital psychological and spiritual practice.
Dale is also the author of the popular monthly Psychology Today column, “Transcending the Past,” which bridges art, psychology, and science. In her columns, she shares insights into dreams, relationships, trauma, and creativity.
Dale’s debut novel, The Conditions of Love, was celebrated for its intimate exploration of love, loss, and resilience, and was nominated for the Texas Library Association Award for Outstanding Adult Fiction. Her recent poetry collection M received Special Mention in the Pushcart Prize 2024.
Her work has appeared widely in journals and anthologies, and Dale has been featured in international conferences and documentaries.
A passionate advocate for storytelling and the transformative power of dreams, Dale’s work brings together art and science, offering readers a guide through the labyrinth of the unconscious with wisdom and empathy. She believes that individual growth and transformation can inspire broader societal healing. She is honored to be considered a compelling voice in contemporary literature and psychological insight.
Dale and her husband live in Madison, WI. with their Golden Retriever, Maisie. She has just finished her second novel.
Rita Mae Reese
Author, poet, and teacher Rita Mae Reese was born and raised in Charleston, West Virginia. She is the author of the poetry collections The Book of Hulga (2016), which won the Felix Pollak Prize, and The Alphabet Conspiracy (2011), which won the 2012 Drake Emerging Writers Award.
Informed by her work for the Dictionary of American Regional English, Reese’s poems move both within and against the constraints of the English language. In a 2011 NewPages review, Alissa Fleck observed, “Rita Mae Reese’s The Alphabet Conspiracy is a book replete with anecdotes and snapshots of memory, ranging in subject matter from the religious to the informatively historical to the contemporary, which thoroughly [explores] both the whimsy and restrictions of language.” In an online statement for the literary journal Anti-, Reese stated, “I'm against poems that aren't against anything. Poems that only have one mind (or fewer). Poems that go in one direction only. I'm even more against poems that go very slowly in one direction. I'm against poetry that's never smoked, can't take a joke and can't remember my name.”
Reese’s poetry has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and work of hers is featured in Robert Olen Butler’s From Where You Dream: The Process of Writing Fiction (2005) and Poetry From Sojourner: A Feminist Anthology (2004). Her honors include a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award, the Paumanok Poetry Award, a Wallace Stegner Fellowship from Stanford University, and a DiscoveryThe Nation award
She lives in Madison, Wisconsin with her family where she serves as the co-director of literary arts programming at Arts + Literature Laboratory (ALL).
The Art of Memory: A Conversation with Dale M. Kushner and Viviane Silvera
Join novelist and poet Dale M. Kushner and filmmaker and artist Viviane Silvera for a conversation exploring the intersections of storytelling, neuroscience, and visual art. Moderated by author Michelle Wildgen.
Rebecca Aronson & Dale M. Kushner Poets @ HERE
Poets @ HERE
Rebecca Aronson & Dale Kushner will read from their poetry in a free, in-person event on April 12, 2026, in Santa Fe.
Dale Kushner to discuss The Conditions of Love with the Brown Bag Book Group at the Oregon Public Library
Dale Kushner to discuss The Conditions of Love with the Brown Bag Book Group at the Oregon Public Library
Meet the Author
Join Dale at Garcia Street Books in Santa Fe, NM for an exclusive “Meet the Author” event on Saturday, April 5, 2025. The bookstore is open from 10am to 5pm Mountain Time — Dale’s website displays in Central Time.
Stay tuned for more specific details on the timing of this afternoon event!
Writing Poems from Within the Work with Dale Kushner
Dale will lead an in-person writing workshop at Jules' Poetry Playhouse — part of a series of classes, events, art & publications at the high desert casita retreat hosted by Jules Nyquist & John Roche in Placitas, New Mexico.
Event is from 10am to 3pm Mountain Time — Dale’s website displays in Central Time.
PRE-REGISTRATION required. Class limit of 10.
Book Launch for Eranos – A Play
Join Dale Kushner and authors Murray Stein and Henry Abramovitch (and others) for the Zoom Book Launch of Eranos – A Play
Click here on October 9 to join the discussion
Eranos: A Play is an imaginative account of a meeting at the Eranos Conference in 1947. Carl Jung, Aniela Jaffé, Erich Neumann, Rabbi Leo Baeck, and the founder of Eranos, Olga Fröbe-Kapteyn, are gathered on the grounds of Eranos where the stillness of the setting under the trees and the beauty of the lake and surrounding mountains create a magical aura. Guided by the imagination of the authors, the play is deeply informed by historical sources and deals with questions such as: “What is evil?”, “How does one recover from the trauma of war?”, and “Is there a need for a new myth for our time?”
Step Right Up, Ma’am — Stories of Resilience
Event Photos
Event Summary
What do a formerly enslaved woman running for her freedom, a hidden child during the Holocaust, and Mary Magdalene have in common?
More than you might think. These remarkably strong women are all featured as “characters” in Step Right Up, Ma’am — Stories of Resilience, a new TNW Ensemble Theater production exploring the theme of resilience.
Performances in Overture Center’s Promenade Hall, Madison, Wisconsin:
Friday, June 21st @ 7:30pm CT
Saturday, June 22nd @ 3:00 & 7:30pm CT
Sunday June 23rd @ 3:00pm CT
About the Event
The production includes the writings of poet, Fabu Phillis Carter, Dale M. Kushner, poet and novelist, and TNW’s own co-producing artistic director, playwright Danielle Dresden. Cut paper collage banners, by upstate New York visual artist Milly Charles, highlight the production’s themes and shape the stage environment. Performers are Nedra Bobo-Boyles, Liz Light, and Atlanta-based actor Eileen Koteles. Donna Peckett, TNW’s co-producing artistic director, stages this multi-disciplinary theater production. Lighting design is by Patricia Micetic, and Shane Heim is Stage Manager.
Poet Fabu’s writings, Say It Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud, tell the stories of notable black women in history and their connections to Wisconsin. Dale M. Kushner’s poems, M, dive into the transformative experiences of women in myth and history, from desire through loss and grief to awakening. Dresden’s work, Henny & the Strawberries is based on the real-life experiences of her cousins as hidden Jewish children during World War II in the Netherlands. The play concludes with “characters” from each author coming together to find a way forward.
Tickets are $30 and available through the Overture Center Box Office by phone at (608) 258-4141, by email at tickets@overture.org, or in person at 201 State Street. Click the link below to get tickets online.
Poetry & Beer
Come enjoy some poetry with your beer and some beer with your poetry on Wednesday, May 22 from 7:00 to 9:00 PM CT when Dale Kushner will do a LIVE in-person reading of her work at the Minocqua Brewing Company.
Hosted by Richard Vargas at the Minocqua Brewing Company, other poets are invited to read one or two of their works (in five-minute slots) through the two-hour session. No advance registration is required.
SOMOS Poetry Month
Join Dale Kushner & Leslie Ullman for a conversation and free poetry reading at SOMOS on Friday, April 5 at 5:30pm Mountain Time — Dale’s website displays in Central Time.
Event Information
SOMOS Salon & Bookshop
108 Civic Plaza Drive
Taos, NM
575-758-0081
SOMOSTaos.org
somos@somostaos.org
Author Bios
DALE M. KUSHNER is a novelist, poet, and essayist. Her debut novel, The Conditions of Love, published by Grand Central, was nominated for the Texas Library Association Award for Outstanding Adult Fiction. Her study of Jungian psychology and dreamwork informs Transcending the Past, her popular monthly online column for Psychology Today. She has been recently honored by the Pushcart Prize 2024 for special mention in poetry. Her short fiction has also been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Kushner’s widely regarded writings on the divine feminine, creativity, and intergenerational trauma are published in anthologies and collected works. Her essays have been published in Strange Attractors: Lives Changed by Chance (University of Massachusetts Press, 2019), Jung’s Red Book For Our Time: Searching for Soul Under Postmodern Conditions, Volume 4 (Chiron Publications, 2020), Jewish Currents, Bark, and elsewhere. She is currently working on her second novel. M is Dale’s new collection of poetry.
LESLIE ULLMAN is the author of five poetry collections, most recently The You That All Along Has Housed You: A Sequence (Nine Mile Press, 2019) and a hybrid collection of craft essays, writing exercises and poems titled Library of Small Happiness (3: A Taos Press, 2017). A new collection based on Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies, titled Unruly Tree, will be published in 2024 by University of New Mexico Press. Professor Emerita at U.T.-El Paso where she taught for 27 years, she remains a faculty member in the low-residency MFA program at Vermont College of the Fine Arts. Her awards include the Yale Series of Younger Poets Award, the Iowa Poetry Prize, two NEA fellowships and a New Mexico/Arizona Book Award for poetry. Leslie is a freelance manuscript consultant and ski instructor at Taos Ski Valley. Her website is www.leslieullman.com
Poetry Night feat. Dale M. Kushner & Carrie Voigt Schonhoff
Replay
You can now listen to the reading Dale did from M, her new book of poems, at Leopold’s on July 11, 2022. Click play below!
About the Event
Join us for a book signing, poetry reading, and meet & greet with local poets Carrie Voigt Schonhoff and Dale M. Kushner on July 11, 2022 (4pm Pacific, 6pm Central, 7pm Eastern).
Both poets will have books of poetry available for sale. Come connect with the local poetry community!
About the Poets
CARRIE VOIGT SCHONHOFF, poet and author of The Liminal Space, has released her second published book of poems, The End of the Beginning. Schonhoff once again captures the spirit of her native Wisconsin while encapsulating the growth of her life’s journey and exciting next chapter. This work will resonate deeply with readers from the Midwest and pull at the heartstrings of those that continue to face challenges but never stop dreaming. Her second book of poems addresses the importance of healing, moving on, and being ready to face a new beginning. Schonhoff’s newest work is a continuation of beliefs that we can heal by connecting and understanding one another on a deeper level through poetry.
DALE M KUSHNER is a novelist, poet, and essayist driven to understand what makes us human. What are the raw and tender stories that shape our lives? Her work wrestles with the “twin spectaculars” of love and loss. Her work draws on the writings of Carl Jung, myths, fairy tales, Buddhist practice, neuroscience, epigenetics, the hidden life of plants and animals, mystery and magic. Her book of poetry, “M”, testifies to the heroic dimensions of women’s lives. The urgent voices in these poems, including Mary Magdalene, Eve, the Virgin Mary, and women experiencing violence across centuries and continents, are bearers of the sacred into the profane world of history—of men and war.
Dale Kushner in conversation with Mare Chapman
Replay Video
You can watch a replay video of the event via the Crowdcast livestream! Register for the Crowdcast livestream below and Mystery to Me will send you a link to a replay video of the event.
About the Event
Poet, author, and essayist Dale M. Kushner introduces her new collection, M, in conversation with writer and Buddhist teacher, Mare Chapman. This free event will be live and in-person at Mystery to Me Bookstore in Madison, Wisconsin at 4pm Pacific, 6pm Central, 7pm Eastern.
Space for the in-person bookstore event is limited. Reserve a spot at the bookstore below.
Leslie Ullman & Dale M. Kushner reading and conversation – Video now available!
Video Replay
Watch video of the event below. Dale’s reading starts at 2:55
About the Event
Part of the KAKTUS reading series, this special night features poets Leslie Ullman and Dale M. Kushner. Join us LIVE on Tuesday, March 29th (6pm Pacific, 7pm Mountain. 8pm Central, 9pm Eastern) for a reading and conversation, followed by an open mic.
The Author + The Marketer: Working Together To Connect to Readers
Video Replay
You can now view this entire event on video. Press play on the video below.
About the Event
Novelist/poet/columnist Dale M. Kushner, and the marketing veteran she has worked with for eight years, WMG member Bridget Marmion, share the process, tasks, benefits and challenges of connecting a writer with readers today.
Free virtual event for WMG members and non-members but requires registration in advance.
(Re)connecting to Art
Video Replay
This event is past but you can still watch it on the Art Lit Lab YouTube channel below. As you watch, enjoy their FREE (Re)connecting to Arts Resources PDF.
About the Event
Have you struggled to continue your artistic practice recently, or considering starting a new one? How do we stay engaged and reimagine a better world? Join us for a cross-disciplinary discussion as we take time to explore how artistic work and creative expression can be supportive of transformation during times of upheaval. Panelists will reflect on how the arts help us reconnect, build resilience, and help us navigate a chaotic world undergoing dramatic change. We will embrace questions around what is it that allows you to make art and how do you get to it in a world—and with a mind—filled with obstacles?
Panelists include: Madison author Dale M. Kushner, jazz pianist and teacher Wilder Deitz, and spoken word artist Charles Payne. Facilitated by Catherine Stephens, music instructor and community arts advocate.
Event includes a workshop activity and an opportunity for audience questions.