Janet Aalfs

Janet Elizabeth Aalfs (born August 14, 1956) is an American poet and martial artist. She is a founding member of Valley Women's Martial Arts and the National Women's Martial Arts Federation, and founder and director of Lotus Peace Arts. She served as poet laureate of Northampton, Massachusetts from 2003 to 2005. While still in college, Aalfs came out of the closet as a lesbian. Shortly afterwards, she joined a women's writing group, and eventually co-founded two lesbian writing groups: Calypso Borealis and the Tuesday Night Lesbian Writers Group. She also co-founded Orogeny Press, a publishing house for fiction and lesbian poetry.

In 1977, Aalfs began practicing martial arts. She became a member of Valley Women's Martial Arts and created VWMA's Institute for Healing and Violence Prevention Strategies (HAVPS: "have peace"). She is a founding member of the National Women's Martial Arts Federation and co-founder of NWMAF's Empowerment Self-Defense Instructor Certification program.

Between 2003 and 2005, she served as the poet laureate for Northampton, Massachusetts. In 2013, she received the Leadership and Advocacy in the Arts Award from the Center for Women and Community at University of Massachusetts Amherst.