The Neat and Proper Third Person Part:

Jo Van Arkel writes poetry and fiction, including micro, flash and short stories. Her stories and poems have appeared in Northwest Review, The Literary Review, Sou’wester, Cave Region Review, Elder Mountain, Big Muddy, OPA Pandemic Anthology and elsewhere. She is a past winner of the Missouri Writers Biennial Award and the author of two short story collections, The Things I’ve Got Growing Deep Down Inside and The Life of Birds and six chapbooks of poetry including Give Me a Hat to Wear. She is the librettist to an opera on Thomas Hart Benton with music composed by Dr. D. Wayne Johnson which was performed in the rotunda at the Missouri State Capital and at the Kansas City Art Institute.

As an artist, she works in book arts, illustration, comics, printmaking, letterpress and painting. Her prints and paintings have been featured at the Pool Art Gallery, Sky Gallery at the Springfield Branson Regional Airport, Obelisk, Creamery Art Center and The Monarch Art Factory. She is a founder of the Paper Airplane Zine Library with holdings of more than 200 zines from around the country. She makes pocket-sized zines, pamphlets, letterpress poster poems and folded broadsheets on the regular.

She earned an M.F.A. in Creative Writing at the University of Oregon, a Masters in Literature at Texas Christian University, and a Masters in Art and Art Theory at Drury University. She has served as a past editor of Gingko Tree Review, and is publisher and editor for Pencil Box Press. Jo is a Professor of English at Drury University and currently directs the Graphic Storytelling Certificate. She was recently named Teaching Fellow in Writing at the Drury University Innovation in Teaching Center and mentors her colleagues in best practices for writing-to-learn pedagogy in the university classroom. She has 35 years of teaching experience in publishing, creative writing and literature. She is available for speaking engagements and workshops.

Jo lives with her husband and two cats in a fairy tale house on the Ozark Plateau.

The Friendly First Person Part:

Hi and welcome! I am glad you are here. If you like words and ephemera like I do, then we have something in common. My quarterly newsletter includes life notes, tips for keeping a writing practice (including prompts!), as well as things I am reading or hearing, thoughts on art, and other random bits. Sign up on my contact page by posting your email address, and if you add your snail mail address, I will send an every-once-in-a-while random packet of limited edition zines and ephemera!

follow me on instagram: #jbva