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First Name

Joanna

Last Name

Pallister

Nickname

Joanna

Writing genre

memoir, non-fiction, poetry

Bio

In my life I have had many incarnations or roles. To say “I am a writer” is to bring to mind that in the past I have identified as many things, some of which I still try on. I have been an actress, a clothing store manager, a designer’s assistant, a doula at both births and funerals, a pastor, and most recently a teacher and consultant at a missionary organization, a role I left painfully after nearly 20 years. I am a daughter, a sister, a wife and a mother. I love to play pinball even when I am terrible at it.

I have perceived myself more as a performer than a writer for most of my life, yet in the last few years it is writing that seems to help me find my way through. I find I write in my best voice, and especially when I write for my children, in writing the voice of my hopes alongside and sometimes louder than my fears. Poems have become guideposts for me to go back to again and again.

I promise not to try to weigh my writing down with aiming to help someone with it, but the thought that my words to connect to anther heart makes me feel less lonely. I would like to write to find me, to give me courage, to mark my days well.