This interactive performance playground offers skilled guidance in a variety of poetry presentation styles. Participants will share their work aloud and experiment with different approaches, discovering what styles feel most authentic and effective for their unique voice.

Join me for a frolic with poetry—not as literary form but as portal, an opening into the vastness of existence. We’ll approach the poem as the place where we meet the sacred, not as a religious concept but as presence: dragonfly, sage, moon, caress. We’ll play with receptivity and wonder, the way these invite words and rhythms that sing themselves onto the page.

Exploring curiosity, attention and connection we’ll cultivate a poetic consciousness from which poems naturally arise, and perhaps discover the mystic’s voice in ourselves.

This workshop is intended to allow the writer to explore the genre of persona poetry. In constructing persona pieces, the writer will delve into the consciousness and possible experiences of others, creatively convey stories that may not otherwise be expressed, and to challenge the poet to step out of the “literary” box. We will read and discuss the works of Patricia Smith and the poet Ai. Additionally, workshop participants will lay out the framework for their own persona poem and/or dramatic monologue. It is important to note that in “speaking for others” we write from a possible privileged viewpoint and it is necessary to consider the ramifications that may arise in writing persona poetry. In essence, we are asking ourselves how to strive to write a responsible and dynamic persona poem.

SoulCollage is based on every soul’s innate love of images, as well as the freedom of imagination and intuition. Seena Frost, founded SoulCollage as a process for weaving creativity, spirituality and psychology to support us in exploring healing and evolving our lives.  In the workshop, we will make a few cards (depending on how fast or slowly your own timing allows), 5 x8. Choosing compelling images that call to us, cutting them out and and adding them to a background, we will do this process in silence, letting the cards emerge. The cards coming through the unconscious, express parts of you and your world… the inner child, the teacher, the organizer, the spirit world, the writer…and if this process calls to you, you will have all you need to take the workshop experience and grow a SoulCollage deck… embracing your many facets… to support your soul journey. The writing piece that is prompted by your cards will be guided, inviting you to free write, responses that come from the card.. I.e., asking the card, “Who are you?” “What are you here to give me?” “What do you want from me” And also there will be some other creative writing prompts… And you have the freedom and time, to let the writing tell you where it wants to go- no sense of needing to follow the prompts! All materials will be provided, including delicious snacks and teas and coffee…Come prepared to play.

In this workshop, we will explore the charred forests of the heart through the lens and practice of poetry writing. Employing poems from Walking the Burn and others as guides, we will reflect on our own experiences and how to weave difficult subjects—such as generational trauma, struggles with mental health, grief and social injustice—into poems that speak to the fragility and strength of the human spirit and the balm of the natural world. Our approach will emphasize the importance of concrete imageryand the beauty in ordinary language. We will walk together through group discussions of mentor texts, generative writing prompts, and a short meditative exercise drawn from Bön Buddhist practice, to enter a space for self-reflection, vulnerability and poetic craft. Writers will experiment with recurring motifs of place, nature, and family toward transforming raw, personal narrative into powerful, lyric poetry that heals—ourselves and our world.

What is a metaphor to a mountain? A simile to a stream? What is the grammar of granite? How do we convey something as grand as a landscape with words and paper? In this workshop, we will focus on interpreting the living language of the land while exploring the boundary between self and nature. We'll exam poems by Ada Limòn, Joy Harjo, Rachel Kellum, Melissa Mitchell, and more. We find the right words for our poems when we slow down to listen and notice our More-than-Human kin, while surveying the damage. May our poems tend to the wounds, and (re)connect us with the landscape we call home.

Lawrence Ferlinghetti defines “poetry as insurgent art.”  He believed, “Words can save you when guns cannot.” He asserted, “The state of the world calls out for poetry to save it. (A voice in the wilderness!)” For Ferlinghetti, “Each poem is a passion fruit, a pith of pure being.”  

Kathleen Willard call on poets to join Ferlinghetti’s insurgency and embrace their passions, and wiring pithy. She believes the voices of poets need be louder than ever.  This is time for all poets to speak their truths and turn their passions into poems that can change the world. She will share her passion for nature, her engagement with climate change, liberation and anti-war poetry. What issues are calling to you? What are you obsessed about? Who needs you to speak for them?

This workshop is an invitation to join the insurgency to write poetry that can save us, that can change the world, reach out into the hearts of our readers and become a voice for those who will

not or cannot or will not speak. We will harness the empathy and passion poets naturally have for the world and write poetry together that speaks truth as words can save us.

We will examine the work of Brian Turner, Yusef Komunyakaa, Wilfred Owen, Czeslaw Milosch, Henry David Thoreau, William Wordsworth, Mary Oliver and Sylvia Plath.

Civil rights activist and congressman John Lewis urges “Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year — it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.”

Even if you don't think of yourself as a poet of place, this workshop will show you how landscape and setting can deepen your poems by rooting them in the worlds they inhabit. Together we'll broaden our understanding of what "place" and "landscape" can

mean, read examples of poems that bring setting to life, and then put these ideas into practice through writing.

Whether the place that calls to you is your hometown, the family living room from your childhood, a city street, or a wilderness landscape, anchoring your poems in place can enrich them with greater specificity, context, and emotional resonance. Join us as we

explore the geographies that have shaped us—and discover how the places we've been worn open by can become the heart of our poems.

In this workshop, we will explore how writing poetry can help us tend our inner experience and remain rooted in the present moment. Whether you have recently experienced loss or are navigating one of life's many transitions, writing offers a compassionate way to witness, process, and integrate what is unfolding within. Through a series of guided writing prompts, participants will explore both free verse and structured forms—including haiku and sonnet—as pathways into the language of the soul. Drawing from her own journey through grief following the death of her husband, Darci will share practices inspired by her book, The Marvelous Contentment of Belonging: Poetry, Prose & Prompts for Navigating Grief.

“If you find that you no longer believe, try enlarging the temple.” —W.S. Merwin

The internet and electronic media continue to change our notions of spatial and temporal forms, creating interruptions and reconstructions in the visual arts and poetry. What can poets learn

from painters and the placeless world of the internet in their choice of materials or subject matter? How do contemporary poets such as W.S. Merwin, Arthur Sze, Natalie Diaz, Angie Estes, Larry Levis, Jorie Graham, Brenda Hillman, Rick Barot, Thomas Sayers Ellis, and Peter Gizzi use diverse and compelling subject matter? How do they manipulate imagery, metaphor, diction, perspective, and syntax in order to protract, collapse, or accelerate memory and time? Memorability, imagination, and emotional amplitude will be stressed, and we will engage new forms and poetic strategies and risks in own work.

The frame drum is one of the oldest musical instruments known to humanity.  For thousands of years, it has been used not only to accompany song and dance, but in ceremonies, storytelling, healing practices and communal  gatherings.  Simple in form, it carries a sacred voice that seems to speak directly to something timeless and powerful within us.

In this workshop, we will explore how rhythm lives at the heart of poetry.  Poetry is, after all, a form of music. Meter, cadence, repetition and silence give poems their power long before they are intellectually understood. By combining drum and voice, we will experience how rhythm can deepen both our creative practice and our connection to one another.

Bring a notebook, pen and drum or noisemaker if you have one.  If you don't have a drum, we will provide you one.

Ready to share your poetry with the world but unsure of the next step? Through guided reflection and creative practices, you'll connect with your inner wisdom, spark fresh inspiration, and clarify your vision for your poetry collection. You'll also gain an overview of today's publishing options—including traditional, hybrid, and self-publishing—so you can confidently choose the path that best aligns with your goals to bring your book to life.

We will start with yoga for the people (no mats, special attire, or props necessary). Then, we will pair up for a walking meditation about our collective future. Finally, we will write for our future ancestors. All writing styles are welcome.