Jan BallJan started seriously writing poetry and submitting it for publication in 1998. Since then, she has had 244 poems accepted or published in the U.S., Canada, India and England (hopefully Australia soon). Published poems have appeared in: Calyx, Chiron Connecticut Review, Main Street Rag, Nimrod, Phoebe and many other journals. Her poem, "my face emerges from my face," was second runner-up in the spring 2010 contest issue of So to Speak. In another contest, her poem, "carwash," won the 2011 Betsy Colquitt Award for the best poem in a current issue of Descant, Fort Worth. Her two chapbooks, Accompanying Spouse (2011) and Chapter of Faults (2014), have both been published by Finishing Line Press. She is a member of The Poetry Club of Chicago. Besides her poetry publications, Jan wrote a doctoral dissertation at the University of Rochester in 1996. The title is: Age and Natural Order in Second Language Acquisition. I Wanted to Dance with My Father is Jan's first full length poetry publication. Jan taught ESL at DePaul University in Chicago until recently. She lived in Australia for fifteen years with her Australian husband, Ray Ball. Her two children, Geoffrey and Quentin, were born in Brisbane. She is a twin to Jean Helmken and she was a Franciscan nun for seven years (Sister Jeanclare). When not writing poetry, working with her personal trainer at FFC, going to book group or traveling, Jan and her husband like to cook for friends. These background experiences infuse her poetry. Read More Read Less