Biography
About Kelly DuMar
A poet, playwright, and engaging workshop leader, Kelly guides new and experienced writers to aim for astonishment, reclaim their imaginations, and generate enlivening writing experiences. Her Aim for Astonishing photo-inspired process elicits profound personal awakenings, deepens connection with others, and fosters beautifully crafted writing in poetry and prose. Author of three poetry collections, Kelly is also author of Before You Forget— The Wisdom of Writing Diaries for Your Children. She produces the Our Voices Festival of Boston Area Women Playwrights, held at Wellesley College, now in its 13th year, and she produces the annual Boston Writing Retreat and the weeklong summer Play Lab for the International Women’s Writing Guild, where she serves on the board. Kelly founded the Farm Pond Writers Collective to guide women writers to write from their personal photos, develop their artistic voices and connect deeply with their creative lives. Kelly inspires readers of #NewThisDay - her daily photo-inspired blog - with her mindful reflections on a writing life. Each post provides stunning images captured in the woods, meadows, oceans, rivers, and brooks so readers can find meaning, beauty and enchantment in every walk in every weather.
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 Kappa, 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 is author of two poetry chapbooks, “All These Cures,” published by Lit House Press, 2014, and “Tree of the Apple,” published by 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
Interviews
Features
Guest Articles and Blogging
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