Join me for an upcoming workshop, class or retreat.
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COURSES
We love a poem of praise, but love it best when it nods—or bows—to difficulty. We want the poem to mirror our real lives: the beauty and wonder, yes, but also the difficulty and loss.
Together we’ll spend four online sessions exploring poems that ferry us across rough seas, a lantern in hand.
Zoom Class
4 Sundays, October 6-27
4pm to 5:30pm PT
(7pm to 8:30pm ET)
Maggie and Danusha
“I would sign up for more classes from Danusha regardless of the topic because she is such an excellent teacher.”
Lana Hechtman Ayers
“Anything Danusha does is what I want to partake in!”
Tara Zafft
Are you an Innovator? A Soul Keeper?
There are so many ways to write poems. And so many kinds of poems to read.
Sometimes, it’s easy to think there's a right way to write, or a wrong way. Or just that we don't–––and can’t–– relate to certain types of poems.
What if there were a way to hold all the different styles without judgment, to see what a poem has to offer and what it offers the same way we might study an animal in its own biome?
Course Recordings Available
Tending the Heart
It’s that time of year again! Please join James Crews and myself for our next webinar, Tending the Heart, with this amazing group of poets, writers, and thinkers.
This 6-week offering begins on Oct. 13th and meets on Fridays at 1pm Eastern/10am Pacific.
Every session is recorded and there are partial scholarships available thanks to the generosity of our community. These truly are life-changing courses for me that alter the way I write and how I hold this difficult, beautiful world. Follow the link below for more information!
Learn More
Getting to the Marrow (Filled)
The marrow in our bones produces approximately 500 billion blood cells per day that sustain our blood. When we write from the marrow, we bring nourishment to the page. What’s happening inside your poem? Is there something you feel you can’t quite get to? Something just out of reach? How do you access that deeper subject matter? We’ll focus on getting to the grit in your writing. The thing that makes you gasp. Or take a deep breath. That changes you.
Details
Weeklong Zoom Workshop | May 15 -19, 2023 | Limited to 15 people | Cost: $1350
Together we will co-create a space that is conducive to taking risks and exploring new terrain. Suitable for newer writers and experienced, published poets, alike. I see this week as a live edge, an exhilarating space to take some time outside of time and step into possibility. Let’s be curious together.
Stay tuned for more future offerings like 'Getting to the Marrow'
Poetry of Resilience
Regularly offered 6-week webinars that I host alongside James Crews; featuring guest poets such as Ross Gay, Naomi Shihab Nye, Jane Hirshfield, Maggie Smith, Ellen Bass and more.
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"Danusha Laméris is welcoming and caring, the embodiment of supportive. Her line edits are spot-on, as is her skill in clarifying meaning. Possessed of an uncanny ability to apprehend her students’ vision and style—the atmosphere of the world each poet inhabits—she fosters each writer’s unique voice. Moreover, she is astute about where that voice fits in the larger landscape of current American poetry. On several occasions, she accurately predicted which poems of mine would be published and in which journals. It is inspiring to witness her help students craft powerful poems from tentative beginnings, all the more so because of the graceful way she enlists the group in the process. The pitfall of attending poetry workshops is that the soulful edges of poems can be smoothed away. Fear not! There is no such risk in Danusha’s workshops."
--Dion O'Reilly, Author of Ghost Dogs (Terrapin Press, 2020)
"I appreciate Danusha's ability to get to the probable intent of poems, to understand that that grief can be passionless, as Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote, that dream ships might be about unkillable hope, and more examples than I can recall right now. All good teachers must be able to do this, I think, and I enjoy how she does it, gently, aesthetically, and intuitively."
--Catherine Gonick
"Danusha is a remarkably gifted teacher of poetry, and a perceptive and gentle mentor. She combines deep insight into the emotions of the poems we bring, with a depth of knowledge of other poets, and what makes their writing successful. Because of this, she is often able to point her students toward new sources that appeal to their own style and inform their growth.
I have studied with Danusha almost every week for two years, and learn something new each week during her craft talks. Then when it comes to navigating our own poetry, I am often surprised with how quickly she helps us find the meaty parts, and makes thoughtful suggestions for bettering our poems. While having someone dissect one's poem can be daunting, Danusha sets a very positive tone in the group and the overall effect is uplifting. I feel incredibly fortunate to have found her."
--Dana Crow
"I have been studying with Danusha Laméris for three years both in the occasional private session as well as her weekly poetry salon. I believe Danusha is truly an extraordinary teacher. What a gift she is to those of us who wish to better understand the magic of language and the pure delight of reading and writing poetry. With a keen sense of observation and a tireless, encouraging spirit Danusha combines her rich knowledge of craft with her extraordinary ability to elevate the strengths of any writer. She is able to mine the gems of both experienced and novice writers and help them in a most encouraging way to gain valuable insights into their work. Nearly every week Danusha also draws on her extensive library to tailor her teaching by offering specific recommendations to each student for further reading and learning. When they are ready, she encourages her students to put their work out into the world, and she has a wealth of information about how most effectively to accomplish this. What a blessing Danusha is to the writing and Poetry community!"
--Michelle Massie
