Of Softness: A Poetry Experience | Eaton DC
Soften your creative practice by immersing yourself in a calm expanse to write.
Of Softness: A Poetry Experience
A monthly Sunday series with award-winning poet María Fernanda and a guest facilitator.
“Quiet [...] is a metaphor for the full range of one’s inner life—one’s desires, ambitions, hungers, vulnerabilities, fears. [...] and can encompass fantastic motion.”— Kevin Quashie, The Sovereignty of Quiet (2012)
Crafted to soften your creative practice, this experience will immerse us in a calm expanse to write poems. Generative writing exercises will move at a relaxed, tranquil pace.
Come to be rejuvenated and leave with so much more.
What to expect: A 90-minute poetry experience, led by two facilitators. Notebooks and pens provided.
What to bring: (optional and encouraged) A water bottle. (You are welcome to bring your own notebooks and nonpermanent writing implements.)
What you leave with: Several new poems, beginnings of other literary worka, a new notebook and pen.
Each session highlights a different element of wellness. Each experience is for both advanced, poetry enthusiasts and new writers, alike.
April
Deepen your breathing practice by engaging in the somatic. Somatic breathing can be guided breathing techniques. This unique practice will lead to new insights while also encouraging a gentler, more intuitive relationship with the literary page.
May
Deepen your listening experience with resonance. Chimes, singing bowls, other soft tonal instruments, and poetry, woven into heart-opening sounds will create a resonant experience of attunement. We will remember, soften, and simply be.
June
The haibun is a hybrid form. Pairing prose with a gestural haiku, this form considers time and place. We will focus on a singular moment and choose one or two images for the page.
About This Series: This is a monthly Sunday series with award-winning poet María Fernanda, beginning April and closing in June at Eaton Wellness, on the second floor of the Eaton Hotel.
Join us at 1:00pm, featuring a guest facilitator.
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Thank you for helping us be sensitive to allergies by not applying perfume and scents ahead of or during the workshop. For this reason, we will not use aromas.
For seating accommodations, please contact us directly.
Limited discounted tickets available.
About María Fernanda:
María Fernanda (she/hers) is poet whose work explores the intimacy of sisterhood, the anchor of intergenerational coexistence, and grief. Awarded the Norma Elia Cantú Award in Creative Writing and the Andrea Klein Willison Prize for Poetry, María Fernanda performed at The National African American Museum of History and Culture, The National Gallery of Art, MoMaPS1, Lincoln Center, Phoenix Museum of Art, and more. A recipient of several literary appointments, she has also led collaborations with Black Girls in Arts Space and The National Museum of Women in the Arts.
Internationally, Mar´ía Fernanda has read her work to audiences in Nikiti, Moscow, and Hamburg. Her written works appear in The Healing Verse Poetry Line, Cave Canem's Dogbytes, and Cheryl Clarke's born in a bed of good lessons: poems inspired by the works of Lucille Clifton. She is a Callaloo fellow and the founder of five independent in-person interview series, including a poetry garden. a poetry garden is a series honoring the historic and creative connections between Black literary artists and horticulturists.
For more info: @poetrywithmariafernanda
April 5th Workshop
About Jasmine:
Jasmine Turner is a storyteller, communications strategist, and writer who believes that writing is one of humanity’s oldest and most powerful tools for understanding ourselves and one another. With a background in journalism and strategic communications, Jasmine has spent her professional life helping individuals and organizations find language for what matters most. Her work in media and public storytelling centers on clarity, voice, and the careful shaping of narrative. She approaches communication with the understanding that every person, every community, and every moment carries a story waiting to be told. In her creative work, Jasmine approaches writing as both exploration and alchemy. She believes that meaningful writing often rises from depths within us that we are not always consciously aware of, and that the act of putting words to experience can become a powerful form of discovery.
Her essays and creative projects explore themes of identity, lineage, womanhood, memory, and cultural inheritance. Through reflection, research, and storytelling, she examines the ways the past continues to shape the present. For Jasmine, writing is more than a craft. It is a practice of connection. She believes writing can heal, expand consciousness, and move people toward deeper understanding and action. When we read our own words and the words of others, we begin to recognize the invisible threads that connect our lives. At the heart of her work is a simple conviction. Everyone and everything carries a story. The work of the storyteller is to listen closely enough to find the language that honors it.
For more info: @dreamsofjasmine
May 3rd Workshop
About Kia:
Kia is the founder of Àṣẹ Yoga and Meditation and is deeply passionate about meditation, sound healing, and energy work. She thoughtfully integrates these practices into her classes to help students not only build strength and flexibility but also restore balance and harmony within. By combining mindful movement, breathwork, and healing sound frequencies, Kia creates a transformative experience that nurtures both body and mind. Her approach gently guides each student toward inner peace, self-awareness, and holistic well-being. A strong advocate for rest and recovery, Kia emphasizes the importance of listening to the body and honoring moments of stillness as an essential part of achieving true vitality and sustainable wellness. Visit the website to explore our wellness offerings and services: aseyogaflow.com
Instagram: @aseyoga_
June 7th Workshop
About Thu Anh:
Thu Anh Nguyen is a Vietnamese Floridian whose work as a poet, painter, and educator tells her immigration story. Her poetry has been featured in journals such as American Literary Review, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Southern Humanities Review, Crab Orchard Review, and Cider Press Review among many others. Her poem “Symbols Are Not Excuses” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize by the Southern Humanities Review. In her social practice art, Thu shapes poetry while listening to conversations about what makes a flourishing community. Thu also paints large-scale watercolors and murals, and is obsessed with flowers, their symbolism and beauty. Her murals have been featured at SparkFest in Fort Worth, TX, and at Gallery Y and Culture house in Washington, D.C. When she isn’t painting or writing, you can find her in someone else’s garden, nose in a book, snack in hand. You may find examples of her work at thuanhnguyen.com.
Instagram: @ThuAnhPoet
All sales are final and non-refundable, non-extendable, and non-transferable, unless a request for a refund or transfer is made prior to the class starting. If you fail to make a request for a refund or notify a Eaton Wellness team member before the class begins, you will forfeit the class or purchase.
Extend your experience and enjoy an exclusive room discount when you reserve a stay at Eaton Hotel using a personalized code:
PROMO CODE: Wellness
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