Kelly DuMar
Poet, Playwright, Workshop Facilitator

Bio & Press

Official Press Kit

Biography

Kelly DuMar is a poet, playwright and workshop facilitator from the Boston area who has been helping writers around the U.S. discover their creativity and express their unique voice for over thirty years.


Read about Kelly's personal journey in her own words.

Combining her significant experience as a psychotherapist with her skills as a creative writer, Kelly builds unique offerings based on the healing power of imagination. She holds a Master’s Degree in Counseling & Consulting Psychology from Harvard University, she graduated Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kapps, from UMass, Amherst with a Bachelor's in English, and she is a certified Psychodramatist. Kelly has facilitated creative writing workshops for a wide cross section of communities, festivals and conferences including The Mass. Poetry Festival, The International Women’s Writing Guild, The National Association for Poetry Therapy, The New England Theatre Conference, The Power of Words Conference, The Southern Writer’s Symposium, Winter Wheat Literary Festival, The Boston Book Festival and The American Society for Group Psychotherapy & Psychodrama. As a past president & board member of Playwrights’ Platform, Boston, Kelly has been a passionate leader of new play development in the greater Boston area for over a decade.

Read more about Kelly's workshop offerings.

Kelly’s poems are widely published in literary magazines including “Lumina Online,” “Corium,” “Cape Cod Review,” “Kindred,” and “Tupelo Quarterly,” and her award-winning poetry chapbook, “All These Cures,” was published by Lit House Press, 2014. Her chapbook, “Tree of the Apple,” is forthcoming from Two of Cups Press in 2017. Kelly’s award-winning plays have been produced around the United States and Canada, and are published by a variety dramatic publishers. Kelly founded and produces the Our Voices Festival of Women Playwrights at Wellesley College, now in its 10th year. She serves on the board & faculty of The International Women’s Writing Guild. In 2001, her non-fiction book for parents, Before You Forget – The Wisdom of Writing Diaries For Your Children, was published, and she introduced hundreds of parents to storytelling through diary/journal writing in workshops across the US.

Read more about the Our Voices Festival.
Read Kelly's published writing.

Select Press

  • 800 hours of professional training in Psychodrama 1988-1997
     
  • Certified Psychodramatist by the American Board of Group Psychotherapy & Psychodrama, 1997, passing exam with distinction.
     
  • Florida Licensed Mental Health Counselor (#0001930 since 1989)

Professional Training, Certification & Licensure

Awards, Fellowships, Honors, Grants

  • Phi Beta Kappa, University of Mass., Amherst, 1982
     
  • Magna Cum Laude, University of Mass., Amherst, 1982
     
  • Fellow, American Society for Group Psychotherapy & Psychodrama, 1998
     
  • Winner, Susan McIntyre Play Festival, full-length play, Weekend at the Dreaming Cloud, Yellow Taxi, Nashua, NH
     
  • Finalist, The John Gassner New Play Festival, Stony Brook Univ., NY, full-length play, Weekend at the Dreaming Cloud
     
  • Mass. Cultural Council Grant Recipient, (Sherborn Council on Aging) 2009
     
  • Winner, Susan McIntyre Play Festival, Yellow Taxi Productions, Nashua, NH, 2008 for Weekend at the Dreaming Cloud, a full-length play
     
  • Mass. Cultural Council Grant, (Sherborn Council on Aging), to produce a 6-week class: Writing Stories from Life – Memoir & Storytelling for Seniors, 200

Professional Memberships

  • Founding Board Member of the New England Chapter, American Society for Group Psychotherapy & Psychodrama, 1994-2002
     
  • Board Member - Playwrights’ Platform – 2002 –2010
     
  • Founder & Producer – Our Voices Annual Festival for Boston Area Women Playwrights – 2006-CURRENT
     
  • Board Member - International Women’s Writing Guild - 2015-CURRENT
     
  • Advisory Circle Member - International Women’s Writing Guild, 2014-2015
     
  • Council Member - Transformative Language Arts Association, 2014-CURRENT
     
  • Member, Playback North America
     
  • Member, The American Board of Examiners in Psychodrama
     
  • Member, The Transformative Language Arts Association