Works in English

As a poet, writer and journalist, I offer articles for newspapers and magazines. I am specialized in (international) human and cultural affairs and in portraits of people.

Literature and poetry are my efforts to connect observations, people and subjects of interest. I do readings, give talks and maintain a poetry shop with works availabe.

As a media designer, I create websites for the self-employed, voluntary associations and small companies. I design books and media (covers, layouts, posters, flyers, brochures, programmes).

Bristle Brush Path (or The Field Path) – a poem
This poem is an adaptation of my German original. It is available in the poetry shop as a handwritten copy. There, also consider reading the poem „The Old Town“. It contains observations from the oldest part of my hometown Husum, North Frisia, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.

100 Year of Kurt Vonnegut – Celebration
I gave an English-language talk together with Vonnegut biographer Charles J. Shields and Kurt Vonnegut’s grandson Max Prior who read from his grandfather’s works. The German-American online event was organized by the Amerikazentrum in Hamburg, Germany, and by the Kurt Vonnegut Society, USA.

You can book me for readings and talks: petersen(at)j-c-p.eu

Handgeschriebenes Gedicht von Jan-Christian Petersen / handwritten poetry by Jan-Christian Petersen

The Humming of the Night
This poem in English is also available in the poetry shop as a handwritten copy. Enjoy!

My Poetry Exhibition in Friedrichstadt on August 27, 2022
„All Seasons in the Wet Land“ is the exhibition title. My handwritten poems have been exhibited in the Former Synagogue during Friedrichstadt Culture Night. There is a photo gallery with impressions for you to see.

Digital Art for Liberation Day, May 8, 2022
With an ongoing war in the Ukraine, May 8 became more significant to us. I called for creating digital art. Now the works are shown. On Liberation Day 2022, people encounter what they have experienced in past and present. Visit the exhibition on humini.de in German or English.

In 2021, Felix Adler would have turned 170
(download pdf) The son of a German rabbi in New York moved beyond Reform Judaism and founded the Ethical Culture movement. Adler’s Ethical Culture has had an impact on Europe too and still inspires one of the most enduring humanist communities in the US.

E-Poetry for Holocaust Remembrance Day
(Jan 27, 2022) The e-poem »297 Names« is dedicated to the victims of the Husum-Schwesing concentration camp. What is e-poetry? And what does e-poetry mean for the Culture of Remembrance?

May 8 Event Building Bridges on Liberation Day
May 8, 1945. The German Wehrmacht surrendered. That marked the end of World War II in Europe. On May 8, 2021, I hosted an event to celebrate liberation and our growing German–American friendship. The participants and their contributions have been recorded for YouTube.

poem – All Seasons In The Wet Land
North Frisia. The coastal landscape is unique, the weather is rough, people are introverted. When I am asked where I am from, it is sometimes hard to explain. So I captured main characteristics in a poem.
photo by Flickr/Dr. Hans-Günter Wagner (CC BY-SA 2.0)

prosaic poem – Cracks
He was sitting, but he wasn’t sitting still. He never sat still. His breathing—the rising and falling of his chest—led to imperceptible folds in the fabric of the armchair. Lint was surging under his eyes as a gentle draught wound through the room. […]

poem – The Woman Made Of Flowers (Blodeuwedd)
is a Welsh tale and inspiration for my poem. The poem has been translated from English to Welsh by Prof. Angharad Price from Bangor University. Read the poem in both languages and an essay on preserving minority languages. photo by Flickr/Herry Lawford (CC BY 2.0)