Writing Policy to Poetry: Janice Cummings O’Mahony on Turning Clarity into Craft

Hello Listener,

You know those writers whose words literally shape how we live—public notices, policy briefs, the fine print that keeps a community running?

For years, Janice Cummings O’Mahony was one of them.

She wrote for government agencies and civic projects where every word had to be factual, clear, and airtight. And then she did something beautifully unpredictable—she crossed the line from policy to poetry.

Now her sentences don’t just inform; they breathe. At this point in my intro, you may be thinking “hmmm, don’t know if I really want to get into poetry on my way to work or while I’m cooking dinner”.  I suggest you keep listening. Janice does not wax poetic … hahaha see what I did there. Let me describe her this way ‘she’s not your average poet and she doesn’t care for Mary Oliver’, if you know who that is.

Her new collection, Raise Your Hand If You Hear My Voice, is part memory, part witness, and all heart. In this conversation, Janice shares what she carried over from her policy career—the discipline, the empathy, the precision—and how she learned to loosen her grip enough to let language sing. Her greatest thrill is when she sees a response that tells her “I get this and it speaks to me.”  She loves to write poems that make the reader chuckle and definitely adds a bit of snark. My kind of gal. Janice also has a deep appreciation for those in the military. She grew up with her father being in the Air Force, and participating in 3 wars. You will thoroughly enjoy her poem D-Day that she reads to us.

We’ll talk about what happens when a rule-book writer learns to write for resonance instead of regulation, and why her years of crafting government documents might just be the best training ground a poet could have. You can buy her book locally at Moonraker in Langley, Kingfishers in Coupeville and Village Books in Bellingham. It is also in Sno-Isle, Seattle and King County Libraries.

By the way, Janice also co-wrote ‘Whidbey Island: Reflections on People and the Land’ (which is a book on local land-use approaches).

Lets meet your local poetry maven, Janice.

Follow Janice on FACEBOOK and her website https://janiceomahony.com/.

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You may also get to know Magsy and subscribe for invites to her supper club, at https://withmagsy.com.