“To say what you want to say, you must create another language and nourish it for years and years with what you have loved, with what you have lost, with what you will never find again.” —George Seferis

 

Dale M. Kushner grew up in Maplewood, New Jersey on a street that was once an orchard and has never lost her affection for trees and other natural wonders. Her novels, poetry, and essays bear witness to the “unspoken” and “unsayable” in our lives, to the silenced voices of women, and the aching questions of identity, belonging, and vulnerability. She views literature as a bridge to empathy that explores the dimensionality of what it means to be human and to endure love and loss.

Her study abroad at the C. G. Jung Institute in Switzerland and depth psychology inform her writing, including Transcending the Past her popular monthly online column for Psychology Today. M is Ms. Kushner’s debut collection of poetry. Her first novel The Conditions of Love was published by Grand Central (2013) and was nominated for the Texas Library Association’s Lariat Award for Outstanding Adult Fiction. She recently completed her second novel with the working title The Lost Mother Archive.

 

Dale has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, received the Wisconsin Arts Board Grant in the Literary Arts, and has been honored by fellowships to the Wurlitzer Foundation, The Ragdale Foundation, and the Fetzer Institute. Dale was a finalist for the May Swenson Poetry Award, The Prairie Schooner Book Competition and the Dorset Prize from Tupelo Press among others.

Dale’s widely regarded writings on the divine feminine, creativity, and intergenerational trauma are published in anthologies and collected works. Her essay on Mary Magdalene appears in the anthology Strange Attractors: Lives Changed by Chance, edited by Edie Meidav and Emmalie Dropkin, University of Massachusetts Press. Her in-depth article on Carl Jung, “In Extremis: Jung’s Descent into the Language of the Self” appears in Jung’s Red Book For Our Time: Searching for Soul Under Postmodern Conditions, Volume 4 (2020) edited by Murray Stein and Thomas Arzt, Chiron Publications. She teaches workshops that reflect her scholarship in Buddhism, depth psychology, spirituality, and the creative process.

 

Dale lives in Madison, Wisconsin with her husband Burt and dog Maisie.

Keep up with everything Dale is doing by following her on Facebook and subscribing to her email newsletter.

Be in Touch

Dale welcomes the opportunity to discuss the craft of writing and the themes of her work. If you are interested in interviewing Dale or in inviting her to join your podcast or your club’s discussion of The Conditions of Love, please click here. You may enjoy using this Q&A about The Conditions of Love in your group discussion.