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Jess Janz is a writer, community facilitator, and creator of Dinner With Strangers, which brings 20 people from different walks of life to share their stories over a meal. Her work examines identity, connection, and what binds us all together. Jess has hosted events for Wealthsimple, lululemon, Altea Active Club, The W Hotel, and Writers Collective of Canada.

She runs monthly writing workshops and Poetry Club for her writing community of over 65k people. She is currently pitching her first collection of essays, Meet Me At The Table, under representation by Jonathan Merritt.

jessjanz.com

instagram.com/jessjanz

linkedin.com/in/jess-janz

substack.com/@jessjanz

Kathie's note: Jess is my first referral interview! Thank you, Hanna Wheeler (episode #11), for recommending your friend Jess. Both of y'all are too cool for school.

Had so much fun learning about Jess's Dinner With Strangers event. What a fabulous concept. From the cutting room floor (because I stumbled and bumbled through it and didn't include it in the episode), one of the coolest things I've seen with a roomful of friends and strangers was one year on my friend Ed Commons's birthday:

A passel of us gathered at his condo, spilling over from the living room to kitchen to patio and parking lot, and someone gave him a steering wheel as a gift. A 19-something pick-a-model. Ed was touched. He shared a story about driving that model (or similar) (I didn't take notes and I don't remember any details, just the vibe). Someone sitting near him asked to see it, and before you knew it, the steering wheel was passed around the circle like a peace pipe. Everyone had a memory, a memorable automotive story to share.

Storytelling in community is for real. I'm so glad people like Jess Janz are facilitating things like this!

Writers Rotation intro/outro recorded at Dynamix Productions in Lexington, Kentucky.

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