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).