NAPT In Conversation with Sherri Levine: How Poetry Saves Lives (30 May 2026)

Sat, 30 May 2026 21:00:00 GMT

The National Association for Poetry Therapy Presents

NAPT In Conversation with Sherri Levine: How Poetry Saves Lives

Workshop Description:

NAPT’s In Conversation series presents dynamic dialogues with a wide variety of individuals who have been touched, in one way or another, by poetry, storytelling, journaling, literature, and other expressive language arts practices. This series seeks not only to share the wisdom of poetry therapy masters but to also create space for diverse folks to share about how poetry has functioned in their lives. We will explore first-person accounts of what poetry does. The interviews in this series will take place live on Zoom with time set aside for audience Q&A. They will also be recorded and made available online.

The first of such events will feature Sherri Levine on May 30th, 5:00-6:30pm EDT / 2:00-3:30pm PDT. She will speak about her lived experiences with mental health challenges and the role poetry has played in her recovery journey. Sherri will also share about her experience as a facilitator of creative writing groups for the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA). She will also read some of her own poetry and provide a few writing exercises/prompts for audience members to take with them.

Facilitator Bio:

Sherri Levine is a poet, educator, mental health advocate, and squirrel lover who lives in Portland, Oregon. She spent her career teaching English to immigrants and refugees at colleges and universities. She is the recent recipient of the Patricia Ruth Banta Award which recognizes an individual or group who has offered significant contribution to Oregon poetry by the Oregon Poetry Association. She has won numerous poetry awards and has written and edited three poetry books and poetry anthologies: Stealing Flowers from the Neighbors, A Joy to See, and I Remember Not Sleeping which is dedicated to those dealing with mental illness or knows someone who is suffering from one. Sherri facilitates writing groups locally and nationally for DBSA (Depression & Bipolar Support Alliance). She believes writing saves lives, as it has continued to save hers. She teaches creative writing and poetry classes at an arts center. She has anew anthology published by Fernwood Press: Waking in the Blue: Poetry & Essays on Mental Health. Please visit her at sherrilevine.com

Date: Saturday, May 30, 2026

Time: 5:00pm - 6:30pm (EDT)

Venue: Zoom

Host: Ashley Schaaf ashley@poetrytherapy.org

Registration:

Members — free

Non-Members — $10

* Funds from our virtual events support our conference scholarship fund.

Alchemy: Poetry's Power to Transform (14 Jun 2026)

Sun, 14 Jun 2026 17:00:00 GMT

The National Association for Poetry Therapy Presents

Alchemy: Poetry's Power to Transform

facilitated by Jon Sayers, Psychodynamic Coach

Workshop Description:

Carl Jung believed the ancient art of alchemy was perhaps the ultimate expression of the nature of the collective unconscious and the richest, most complete guide to the workings of the human soul.

In this deep dive into the links between alchemy and biblio/poetry therapy we will look at the three main stages of the alchemical process: nigredo (blackening), albedo (whitening) and rubedo (reddening) and explore how poems we know and use in our work - by Bishop, Larkin, Olds, and others - reflect this sequence, acting as unconscious carriers of alchemical ideas. We will learn to identify alchemical patterns through seeking and linking images of fire, earth, bathing, water, and dawn.

It is hoped that participants will leave the workshop with a basic knowledge of alchemy, its potential applications to group facilitation, curriculum design and session structure, and its ability to transform the work we do into gold.

About the Facilitator:

Jon Sayers is a poet, psychodynamic coach and journal facilitator based in London. His poems have been published in leading UK magazines, he has served as chair and co-editor of the leading UK poetry magazine, Magma, vice chair of The Poetry Society, and as a trustee of the Winchester Poetry Festival, for whom he has interviewed poets including Christopher Reid, Jo Shapcott, Annie Freud and Paul Muldoon. His play, A World Full of Weeping, a supernatural thriller whose plot revolves around a poem by WB Yeats, was twice broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and was a Radio Times Pick of the Week.

As a journal facilitator, using a biblio/poetry therapy model, Jon has worked with a variety of populations, from older teens transitioning out of the care system, older women care givers and church communities to newly qualified life coaches, members of the British Guild of Travel Writers, and inmates of His Majesty's Pentonville prison. Jon draws on a range of psychological models in his work, with a particular interest in the ideas of Carl Jung. He is a contributor to Writing for Wellbeing: Theory, Research, and Practice (Routledge 2023), teaches for TWI, and is UK representative for NAPT.

Date: June 14, 2026

Time: 1:00pm - 2:30pm (EDT)