This program is being offered virtually through Zoom. In order to participate and receive the Zoom link, register by clicking the RSVP button above or by emailing carla@smithcenter.org.

You will receive the Zoom information no later than the morning of your program.

with Kathleen O’Toole

Writing Through the Seasons

Spirit and Shadow in Autumn

Between the fall equinox and Samhain (Halloween), we’ll tune into the changing colors and light of autumn, the migratory birds and shifts in our imagination and dreams that this season brings. Autumn can be a time of melancholy and letting go, or whimsy and ghost stories.

Bring a notebook, sketchbook and any autumn memories that are special to you.

Kathleen O’Toole is a poet whose work with haiku and other short poetic forms is deeply rooted in attention to the natural world. These three workshops will guide participants through poetry forms and writing practices that invite us to explore the ways season changes bring special opportunities for healing and creativity. The ancient Celts celebrated cross-quarter days as moments of magic and openings to spirit and ritual; we’ll mark our own seasonal awareness.

Writing Through the Seasons will be offered as a program series, spread over the seasons, beginning in Fall 2021.

Program Dates: 

• Saturday, October 9th, 10:00-11:30am ET
• Saturday, February 5th, 10:00-11:30am ET
• Saturday, May 14th, 10:00-11:30am ET

Suggested Donation: $10/session or $25/series

About Kathleen O’Toole

Takoma Park Poet Laureate Kathleen O’Toole is the author of 4 books of poetry (find her at https://kathleenotoolepoetry.com). She has taught writing at Johns Hopkins University and the Maryland Institute College of Art. As evident in her longer work, she often seeks inspiration and consolation in nature. For more than thirty years she has been writing haiku as a spiritual practice of attention, and to deepen her experience of the natural world.