Janet Aalfs
Janet Elizabeth Aalfs | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 14, 1956 |
| Occupation(s) | Poet, martial artist |
| Known for | Poet laureate of Northampton, Massachusetts (2003–2005); founding Valley Women's Martial Arts and National Women's Martial Arts Federation; directing Lotus Peace Arts |
Janet Elizabeth Aalfs (born August 14, 1956) is an American poet and martial artist recognized for her contributions to both fields. She played a pivotal role in establishing Valley Women's Martial Arts as well as the National Women's Martial Arts Federation, and currently directs Lotus Peace Arts. From 2003 through 2005, Aalfs held the position of poet laureate for Northampton, Massachusetts.
Early life and education
Aalfs began composing poetry at the age of thirteen. Her creative development was shaped by her father, a minister active in the Civil Rights Movement, and her mother, who founded a women's center in New Bedford, Massachusetts. During her time at Southeastern Massachusetts University, she published poetry through that center.
Career
Aalfs commenced her higher education journey at Hampshire College in 1974 and pursued women's studies at the University of Massachusetts, where she also publicly embraced her identity as a lesbian. She attained an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College. She co-founded lesbian literary groups including Calypso Borealis and the Tuesday Night Lesbian Writers Group, and established Orogeny Press, which focused on fiction and poetry by lesbian authors.
Her martial arts training began in 1977 when she joined Valley Women's Martial Arts. She later founded the Institute for Healing and Violence Prevention Strategies (HAVPS) within the organization. As an original member of the National Women's Martial Arts Federation, Aalfs contributed to developing the Empowerment Self-Defense Instructor Certification program. Since 1982, she has been a key leader at VWMA (currently known as Heron's Bridge/VWMA). Aalfs holds eighth-degree black belts in both Shuri-ryū and Modern Arnis, and serves as a Jian Mei Chief Instructor specializing in tai chi and qigong.
Following her term as Northampton’s poet laureate from 2003 to 2005, she was honored with the Leadership and Advocacy in the Arts Award by the Center for Women and Community at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2013.
Further reading
- Selected works by Janet Aalfs
- with Carol Wiley. Martial Arts Teachers on Teaching. Mumbai: Frog Books (1995).
- Reach. Florence: Perugia Press (1999).
- "Women and the martial arts." Women of Power 3 (1986).
- Bird of a Thousand Eyes. Levellers Press (2010). ISBN 978-0-9819820-3-8
- What the Dead Want Me to Know. Human Error Publishing (2022). ISBN 978-1-948521-73-4
External links
- "Janet Aalfs teaches fifth-graders about the power of words" from the Daily Hampshire Gazette.
- 1956 births
- 20th-century American poets
- 20th-century American women writers
- 21st-century American poets
- 21st-century American women writers
- American female martial artists
- American women poets
- Hampshire College alumni
- American lesbian writers
- American LGBTQ poets
- LGBTQ people from Massachusetts
- LGBTQ people from New York (state)
- Living people
- Municipal poets laureate in the United States
- Writers from New Bedford, Massachusetts
- Sarah Lawrence College alumni
- Writers from Massachusetts
- Poets from Massachusetts
- 20th-century American sportswomen
- Sportspeople from New Bedford, Massachusetts