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Our Mission

The Institute for Poetic Medicine offers tools and support to heal body, mind, and spirit through the creative and therapeutic process of hearing, speaking, and writing poetry.

The Institute for Poetic Medicine is a non-profit 501(c)3

Upcoming Poetic Medicine Events

  • Poetic Medicine: Sharing Light During the Solstice
    Poetic Medicine: Sharing Light During the Solstice
    Thu, Dec 11
    Poetry Circle
    Dec 11, 2025, 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM
    Poetry Circle
    Thursday Dec 11 from 3-5pm Pacific Time In this solstice poetry circle, we aim to light a candle in our hearts at the darkest time of the year. We will enter into a poetic medicine experience to replenish our hearts -- and to offer gratitude for the sacred and generous earth that sustains us.
  • New Year, New Vision 2025
    New Year, New Vision 2025
    Sat, Dec 13
    Poetry Circle
    Dec 13, 2025, 11:00 AM
    Poetry Circle
    Join us for this poetry circle to jumpstart your new year in mid-December. In this session we'll discover how poetry can help affect positive personal change that can help us learn to consider new ways forward. Facilitated by Athena McClendon.
  • Poetic Medicine Summit 2026: The Expressive Art of Poetry
    Poetic Medicine Summit 2026: The Expressive Art of Poetry
    Sat, Apr 25
    Austin Central Public Library
    Apr 25, 2026, 9:30 AM CDT – Apr 26, 2026, 4:30 PM CDT
    Austin Central Public Library, 710 W Cesar Chavez St, Austin, TX 78701, USA
    Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, Amanda Johnston, and John Fox as keynote speakers
Sandstone

Poetry really is the cure.
When we stop jabbering long enough to listen to what is going on around, among, and inside us—and we have someone to help us put that into the fewest, truest words available to us—the air clears and the aliveness flows through all the spaces in between.
 
Barbara Brown Taylor
Writer, Speaker, Spiritual Contrarian

Poetic Medicine Community

Because our personal experiences touch the common ground we share with others, poetry offers a way to connect an otherwise seemingly unconnected community.

 

We invite you to share your experiences

– your poems –

within these poetic medicine groups. 

Poetry Commons is a group that is open to all: ask questions, share poems, and become part of the larger poetic medicine community.

 

Other groups are available by invitation through registration for IPM programming.

Groups

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