. . . You gave me . . . What you did not have, and I gave you . . . What I had to give—together, we made . . . Something greater from the difference.
— Alberto Rios, Poet, “When Giving Is All We Have ”
The Journal of Expressive Writing is more than a publication. We aim to be an engaged and supportive community of writers and listeners. We believe that giving our focused attention to each other’s voices, stories, and writing is a generous, necessary act of humanity, repair, and celebration.
Each month, the Journal OPEN MIC will open with a featured author, in addition to 15 pre-reserved spots for writers to read their work. During the OPEN MIC, each writer will read for up to 3 minutes max. All events are FREE to attend and OPEN TO ALL, but you do need to pre-register to attend AND you need to Sign Up ahead of time if you would like to read your work. See both links below. The Journal Open Mic is produced and hosted by Kelly DuMar.
Thursday, Sept 24, 2026
7:-8:30pm EST
Mary Alice Hostetter grew up the tenth of twelve children in a Mennonite farm family in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. She showed an early fascination for words and stories, which were for her entertainment and escape, comfort and power. She recognized the power of words, when as high school newspaper editor, her editorials upset the principal.
She earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in English from Lebanon Valley College and Villanova University. While pursuing a career in education and human services, with a brief lapse into cheese-making and restaurant management, she studied writing whenever and wherever she could, including at the University of Virginia, WriterHouse in Charlottesville, and at the annual summer conference of the International Women’s Writing Guild. She has also been a fellow at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.
Her memoir, Plain: A Memoir of Mennonite Girlhood, was published by the University of Wisconsin Press in December 2022. She previously edited and published The Measure of a Life: Diaries of Mennonite Farm Wife 1920-2000, a compilation of entries from her mother’s diaries. There’s No Way to Know, a collection of linked short stories, will be published in November. This is her debut fiction publication.
More at: www.maryalicehostetter.com
