Summary: The act of writing is a kind of naming. When we give name to our lives with honesty and humility, we enter the possibility of discovering connections which could lead us to better imagine the amazing immensities and intimacies of life. Jean Janzen from Fresno,California claims Harrisonburg as a second home since she taught poetry writing here. She offered a six-week intensive course seven times from 1989 to 2001. She also taught at Fresno Pacific University. Jean received a master’s degree from Fresno State University where she studied with Peter Everwine and Philip Levine. She has six collections of poems, a book of essays based on the Menno Simons lectures given at Bethel College, and a forthcoming book of essays on faith and writing titled “Entering the Wild.” Jean is married to Louis Janzen, a retired pediatrician, and has four children and seven grandchildren. She is on campus as part of the Mennonite/s Writing Conference.
