The National Association for Poetry Therapy Presents
“POEMS IN FLIGHT” LAUNCH EVENT:
WARMTH IN WINTER
— a donation-only NAPT benefit event —
A new concept from Nancy Scherlong and Jon Sayers, in which two poetry therapists, from different countries, send each other poems on a chosen theme, and each selects one to workshop online with the NAPT community. Nancy and Jon discuss each other's poem choices and each leads a writing workshop based on a poem gifted by the other.
Description:
We all know that NAPT (despite the 'National' in its name) is very much an international organisation, actively helping other nations develop poetry therapy within their own culture. Our members inhabit dozens of countries across five continents. Nancy and Jon were wondering about new ways we might explore and enjoy our diverse membership's cultural mix, so we can all learn from each other's richness. They came came up with the idea of a poem exchange between two NAPT members in different countries, sharing poems on a single theme that in some way reflect their own respective cultures and backgrounds. We've called the concept "Poems in Flight" and, for this pilot session, Nancy and Jon will be sending each other three poems on the theme of 'Warmth in Winter.' We will share all six poems with the audience in advance of the session, and then each reveal our final choice on the day, each of us leading a short writing workshop on the poem we've chosen. We hope you'll join us for this exciting cross-cultural experiment! We'd also love to hear from you if you would like to team up or be paired with another poetry therapist to run you own Poems in Flight workshop for NAPT, hosted and facilitated by Nancy and Jon. Over time, we hope to build a library of themed poems from diverse cultures, which could become a useful resource for NAPT poetry therapists and facilitators.
Nancy Scherlong is a US, Connecticut-based poet, coach, psychotherapist and poetry/journal therapist and trainer and psychodrama practitioner. She is on the social work faculty of Adelphi and Columbia Universities as well as a member of the core teaching faculty for the Therapeutic Writing Institute and a member of the KINT Institute training team. She has worked with children and families in crisis and foster care transition settings, in after-school diversion programs, privately with adults, couples and groups and consults with agencies and corporations regarding workplace wellness and creativity. She maintains an intermodal trauma-informed practice, consultancy and training institute called Change Your Narrative LCSW PLLC. She has published in a variety of poetry journals, was wellness contributor to Journal Therapy for Burnout (edited by Kay Adams) and has authored or co-authored several textbook chapters on the research and benefits of poetic and expressive writing. She is outgoing president for the International Federation of Biblio-Poetry Therapy and a long-time member (and former Board member) of NAPT.
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Jon Sayers is a UK, London-based poet, psychodynamic coach, journal therapist and faculty member of the Therapeutic Writing Institute. He has worked with young people transitioning out of residential care, older women carergivers, and inmates of London's Pentonville prison, as well as offering training and workshops based on Jungian ideas and themes to other facilitators. His poems, translations and reviews have appeared in leading UK magazines, and his essay on 'Poetry and the Science of Surprise' appears in 'Writing for Wellbeing: Research, Theory and Practice' (Routledge, 2023). He is the UK representative for NAPT and serves on the Education Committee.
Date: January 19, 2025 — Sunday
Time: 2:00pm - 3:30pm (EST)
Venue: Zoom
Facilitators: Nancy Scherlong and Jon Sayers
Registration: https://poetrytherapy.org/event-6008539
Donation: https://poetrytherapy.org/GIVE
* All proceeds support various NAPT scholarship funds.
