The Poetry of Loss: An Elegy Workshop for Medical Professionals
April 11, 2019
10:00am – 11:30am
IREB 350
Facilitated by poet Thomas Dooley
Register now, space it limited.
The elegy is one of the most ancient poetic forms we have to reflect on and express our grief. As clinicians, how do we navigate the multiple losses and traumas in our professional and personal lives? Participants will be introduced to a selection of powerful elegies, from ancient to contemporary, and invited to give shape to their loss through the exploratory use of expressive writing.
Thomas Dooley is the author of Trespass (Harper Perennial, 2014), selected by poet and novelist Charlie Smith for the National Poetry Series. His poetry has appeared widely and most notably on National Public Radio, PBS NewsHour, Poetry Daily, National Endowment for the Arts’ Art Works podcast, Academy of American Poets’ Poem-A-Day series, and with the Poetry Society of America. Thomas is the founding artistic director of Emotive Fruition, a nonprofit literary organization that strives to promote ways for poetry to entertain, educate, and heal. Thomas has presented internationally in the field of medical humanities at such distinguished institutions as Mayo Clinic, Kings College London, University of Glasgow, and Columbia University. In addition to teaching creative writing and literature at New York University and Saint Peter’s University, he is the Poet-in-Residence at New York Presbyterian Columbia University Medical Center where he facilitates expressive writing sessions at the bedsides of patients and caregivers.