This hard earth not our final holding place after all, but the air into which we sail, breath by dusty breaths, toward a different shore. from “Claiming the Dust” by Jean Janzen

Jean Janzen is a poet living in Fresno, California, who has taught at Fresno Pacific University and Eastern Mennonite University. She is the author of six collections of poetry, the latest entitled PIANO IN THE VINEYARD, and a book of essays on writing, ELEMENTS OF FAITHFUL WRITING. Jean received her Masters in Creative Writing at California State University Fresno where she studied with poets Philip Levine and Peter Everwine. Her poems have been published in journals such as POETRY, GETTYSBURG REVIEW, IMAGE, CHRISTIAN CENTURY, and her work is included in numerous anthologies. Among other awards she has received an NEA grant for her poems. She has also written hymn texts which have been included in a dozen new hymnals in the last decade.

Jean recently shared her work with the PLNU students and faculty at the annual Evening of Poetry on October 9, 2007.