Holding Light in Dark Times: A Poetry Intensive with Caitlin McDonnell (Zoom)

In periods of uncertainty and upheaval, poets often find their most essential work. Crisis has a way of stripping away the nonessential, bringing our attention to what truly matters—the small gestures of kindness, the persistence of beauty, the quiet acts of resistance that sustain us.

This workshop explores how poetry can serve as both refuge and response during challenging times. We'll examine how poets throughout history have used their craft to process difficulty, create meaning, and offer solace to others. Through close reading and generative exercises, we'll practice finding language for complex emotions and experiences that might otherwise overwhelm us.

We'll read work by poets who have transformed personal and collective struggles into art that illuminates rather than despairs. Some poets we might look at: Muriel Rukeyser, Joan Kwon Glass, Carolyn Forché, Adrienne Rich, Adam Zagajewski, Jericho Brown, Hanif Abdurraqib and others. Together, we'll discover how the act of writing…