Dale M. Kushner grew up in Maplewood, New Jersey on a street that was once a peach orchard. Her poetry and fiction have been influenced by Carl Jung, and the power of myths and archetypal images at work in the world.

Dale was the founder and director of The Writer's Place, a literary center in Madison, Wisconsin. She is a recipient of a Wisconsin Arts Board Grant in the Literary Arts and has been honored by a fellowship to the Wurlitzer Foundation, The Ragdale Foundation, and the Fetzer Institute as a participant of their first writers' conference on compassion and forgiveness. Her work has been widely published in literary journals including IMAGE, Poetry, Prairie Schooner, Salmagundi, Witness, Fifth Wednesday and elsewhere. Her most recent poetry collection More Alive Than Lions Roaring was a finalist for the May Swenson Poetry Award at Utah State Press, The Prairie Schooner Book Competition, the Agha Shahid Ali Prize at University of Utah Press and The Tupelo Prize. Her story "When You Open the Door, Where Are You?" was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She is on the core faculty of The Assisi Institute, a Jungian think-tank in Brattleboro, Vermont.

She lives with her husband in Madison, Wisconsin. The Conditions of Love is her first novel.

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The Madtown Poetry Open Mic, hosted by Ron Czerwien at Mother Fool's Coffeehouse, welcomes all forms of poetry. Each month a featured reader is showcased for 15-20 minutes, followed by the open mic. Readers in the open mic are invited to read their original work for up to five minutes. Sign up starts at 7:00pm and the event begins at 8:00pm.

For over ten years Ron hosted poetry readings as well as an open mic at Avol's Bookstore in Madison. His poems have appeared both on-line and in print journals. His manuscript, "The Office of Uncomfortable Admissions," received an honorable mention in the Concrete Wolf Chapbook Contest. Ron serves on the board of The Council for Wisconsin Writers, and sells used and out-of-print books on-line under the name Avol's Books LLC. If you have questions about the open mic, call Ron at 608-255-4730, or email him at avols@chorus.net.