When a beloved dies, how can we best support the children and families who still live?
I am so grateful to Evermore for inviting me to be their first poet laureate. I love the nonprofit’s vision in this endeavor, bringing the arts alongside their legislative and scientific efforts to transform bereavement policies and systems in America.
I’m so in awe of the good work they do for bereaved families and children. I’m so inspired by the dedication of the founder Joyal Mulheron who turned her own grief into an invitation to serve others who don’t have access to bereavement services. And I’m so grateful for manager of outreach and engagement Jena Kirkpatrick for her positivity and professionalism in coordinating the new poet laureate position.
Their website explains, “We accomplish our work by advocating for meaningful policy change, advancing bereavement science, and cultivating innovative bereavement programming among communities across the nation. We envision a world where all bereaved individuals achieve a healthy, prosperous, and equitable future, and we are actively building a society toward that actuality.”
I look forward to helping to build that actuality. I’ll be offering quarterly poetry workshops to help people write about their grief and explore the many nuances of how it changes us. You can sign up for the workshops here. I’ll also be helping to find ways for people read more poems by others about grief. For more information about my work as their poet laureate, you can click here. And for more information about Evermore and their mission, resources, advocacy and more, please click here.