Jules’ Poetry Playhouse
started on a whim in 2012, when a small studio space became available at the Factory on 5th Art space in Albuquerque. Jules had a long-time dream of leading writing retreats and sharing poetry with other writers, and in 2012 she was joined by John to co-host events and classes. In 2015 Jules’ Poetry Playhouse was based at their home in Old Town. In 2016 Jules and John rented classroom and office space on 5th Street and Granite in Albuquerque where they hosted many readings and classes. Poetry Playhouse Publications was founded in 2018, and produces award-winning poetry books and anthologies. In January of 2019, Jules’ Poetry Playhouse moved to beautiful Placitas, New Mexico where Jules and John continue to lead poetry classes, invite national and international visiting writers and artists in a retreat setting.
Jules Nyquist
took her MFA in Writing and Literature from Bennington College, VT and is the author of numerous award-winning publications. As the founder of Jules’ Poetry Playhouse, she delights in giving poets tools to empower their unique voices with small-group or online classes and retreats. Jules has a background in travel and brings a warm and encouraging experience to the Poetry Playhouse environment. Jules’ class specialties are the sestina, food as metaphor and memoir. She has been widely published and is co-editor (with John Roche) of the Poets Speak series with the award-winning HERS anthology. She co-founded Poetry Playhouse Publications, along with her husband John Roche, to publish poets that have that unique sense of play and creativity in their poetry. Jules has also edited several anthologies resulting from classes she teaches and collaborations, including Shadow of the Snake, Legends & Monsters, House of Cards Ekphrastic Poetry, Rolling Sixes Sestinas, and Poetry in Place: Autumn Writing from the Bosque. Jules was a member of the Albuquerque Poet Laureate Selection Committee from 2016-2017. Jules’ visual art incorporates mixed media collage and photography with wall art and greeting cards. She exhibits at the Placitas Community Library and Jules’ Poetry Playhouse is part of the Placitas Artists Studio Tour. Her black cat Bagheera (Bags) may be seen popping in on Zoom events!
John Roche
earned a PhD in English at SUNY/Buffalo and an MA in Anglo-Irish Studies at University College Dublin. John taught Literature and Creative Writing for four decades at various colleges, retiring from Rochester Institute of Technology in 2019. John is the Assistant Director of Jules’ Poetry Playhouse and teaches classes on Irish literature, Beat and Black Mountain poetry and other areas, and is co-editor with Poetry Playhouse Publications. John founded and edited the award-winning Mo’Joe and Poets Speak Anthologies and is the host of the monthly Jules’ Poetry Playhouse reading series.
Jules’ Poetry Playhouse
is now a celebrated retreat and writing center based in the beautiful high desert setting of Placitas, New Mexico, complete with a labyrinth in the backyard designed and created by Jules. Jules and John’s philosophy is to follow imagination, stay creative and support the poetry community in a state of collaboration, education and creative play.
Want to know more?
Press
ATOMIC PARADISE reviewed in the Albuquerque Journal, August 1, 2021
Interview about Jules’ Poetry Playhouse on KUPR: listen here!
Audio & Visual Poems
“Horizons” by Jules Nyquist
Jules Nyquist & Alicia Ultan