about

Elana Klugman is drawn to the revelatory capacity of poetry to awaken, surprise and transform, to channel wisdom and beauty, to honor suffering and healing and bring voice and silence into form. Her work lives in deep conversation with myth and archetype, ancient stories and sacred texts, particularly from the Jewish tradition, including Torah, Jewish prayer/tefilah, and theology and Jewish mysticism. Elana writes in the sacred tradition of Jewish midrash, which is a central Jewish practice of intellectual, spiritual and psychological wrestling with, interpreting and imaginatively adding to Jewish text and teachings. A particular passion in her work is to pull forward, illuminate and re-imagine the stories of women. Elana brings to her writing multiple resources from her thirty six years of practice as a psychotherapist, including Jungian training with the visionary teacher Marion Woodman, the insights of contemplative practices and a deep appreciation for the well of the unconscious and of the reparative powers of creativity. She has been blessed by many teachers along the way who have inspired and grounded her in the capacity of poetry to enliven and transform, including Deena Metzger, Genie Zeiger, Pat Schneider and Robert Bly.

Elana is a recipient of the Anna Rosenberg International Prize for Poetry on the Jewish Experience. Her poems have been published in various books, journals, prayer books and anthologies including Our Bodies Ourselves, Which Lilith and Her Words.