Guest Editor Note, Issue One
Dr. Winnie Dunn PhD OTR FAOTA

Dear Readers,

I am “Poetry-Adjacent”.

I appreciate poetry, yet I haven’t sought out collections of poems. I yearn for good writing and select books by authors whose prose dances across my mind yet forget that poetry does this all the time.

I have written hundreds of haikus over the years to capture the small, profound moments of people’s lives, yet I am not a poet. I enjoy the challenge of expressing meaning by finding the right number of syllables [5-7-5].

I’ve been breathless listening to poets, such as Amanda Gorman, Biden’s Poet Laureate, as she read The Hill We Climb at his inauguration.

I’ve experienced a range of emotions in quick succession as Rupi Kaur read from her [then] new book Milk and Honey at a TEDX event in my hometown Kansas City, Missouri.

My husband Tim Wilson writes poetry for me. They are all stored in his mind, and he can call them up whenever I ask! His demeanor and voice change as he prepares to recite them revealing his inner self to the outside world. Here are two of his poems that illustrate the immense ideas that are contained in such a small collection of words. He typically writes them in the solitude of nature, when his mind can rest and expand, describing the ways we stay connected.

This project asked me to be “Poetry-Immersed”.

At this stage in my career, I am clear that my role is to raise others up, to lend my expertise, perspective, to make others’ emergence shine. Dr. Daniel James Rortvedt offered me a chance to contribute in a new way. We selected poems together to launch his new online journal that collects stories about occupations big and small so we can gain insights from voices we might not otherwise encounter. Although he did not know it, he offered me another way to remain curious, and I am changed for the better.

I read more than 1,000 poems to find the ones in this inaugural edition, and read all of them multiple times. I had no idea there were this many poets out there with a lot to say. I want all the poets who submitted to remember 2 things:

1. I am changed for the better from all the stories you tell, and

2. There is a right and perfect place for all your stories, whether passed along in poetry, by the spoken word, or in prose you have yet to write.

I learned that poets work hard to expose their essential selves. Isn’t this what the most artful OT professionals do every day?

I am becoming “Poetry Literate”.

In this process, a curious thing has happened. When I learned to paint with watercolors from an artist from Hallmark Cards [their headquarters are in Kansas City, so we are immersed with all kinds of talented artists!], my mind started to see things differently. “I could paint that!”, “oh, the light and shadows will be interesting to paint!”. After my immersion experience with poetry, my mind is seeing another facet of life differently. Poems I read are in my head, and I tell others about their message. I hear someone’s story and start building a poetry structure to remember their story. I take closer note of what words people use to describe things, and wonder ‘could that be a good poetry word?’.

I am not ready to say I am a poet, and might never be, but I am experiencing how poetry has become a thread in my thinking and problem-solving processes.

Winnow Literary gives us a contemporary way of knowing, a vehicle for hearing voices that may not have had a place to be heard before.

Join us to see in new ways.

Winnie Dunn PhD OTR FAOTA
Volume 1 Guest Editor 

Distinguished Professor
College of Health Sciences
Department of Occupational Therapy Education
University of Missouri