Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg
3rd Poet Laureate of Kansas, 2009 - 2013
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg Ph.D., is the 2009-2013 Kansas Poet laureate, an award-winning writer, professor, and the author of sixteen books, including four collections of poetry: Landed (Mammoth Press), Animals in the House (Woodley Memorial Press), Reading the Body (Mammoth Press), and Lot’s Wife (Woodley Memorial Press).  She is also the author of The Divorce Girl (a novel, Ice Cube Press), The Sky Begins At Your Feet: A Memoir on Cancer, Community and Coming Home to the Body (Ice Cube Press), Needle in the Bone: How a Holocaust Survivor and Polish Resistance Fighter Beat the Odds and Found Each Other (Potomac Press), the award-winning Write Where You Are and numerous anthologies, including the Kansas Notable Book winning To the Stars Through Difficulties: A Kansas Renga in 150 Voices (Mammoth Press). Additionally, her poetry and prose have been published in dozens of literary journals and anthologies, and she has given poetry readings and workshops in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.
Caryn coordinates the Transformative Language Arts concentration at Goddard College, where she teaches.  She also facilitates writing workshops for people of many backgrounds, including for people living with cancer and other serious illness, for low-income women, and for adults in transition.  A certified poetry therapist, and  certified yoga teacher, Caryn also has extensive training in grassroots organizing and group facilitation.

Caryn is recipient of numerous awards, including the 2006-08 Kansas Arts Fellowship in Poetry, the 2005 Rocky Mountain National Park artist-in-residency, the City of Lawrence Phoenix Award for Artistic Achievement, and the National Association for Poetry Therapy education award.  She also gives frequent workshops (in-person and online), presentations through various organizations and programs, such as the Kansas Humanities Council, Osher Institute, Turning Point: The Center for Hope and Healing, The Loft, and the Transformative Language Arts Network.

Please see carynmirriamgoldberg.com for updates on Caryn’s workshops, readings, and retreats.
 
Also see: 150 Kansas Poems;  Brave Voice;  Transformative Langauge Arts at Goddard College
Statement -- July, 2009
 
Greetings,

I'm thrilled and humbled to begin my term as the next Kansas Poet Laureate July 1, 2009, building on the superb work of our current poet laureate, Denise Low. I'm writing to let you know about my poet laureate project as well as other opportunities for your community, and I'm writing months before my term begins because the Kansas Arts on Tour program is now accepting applications that will be funded on a first-come, first-serve basis for the next fiscal year (beginning 7/1/09).

My vision is to foster writing communities around the state that can eventually sustain themselves and run on their own power. After over 15 years of traveling around Kansas with the Kansas Arts Commission and Kansas Humanities Council, I've witnessed many writers who yearn for inspiration, an audience, and the irreplaceable day-to-day support of other writers. Poetry Across Kansas: Reading and Writing Our Way Home, my poet laureate project, would allow me to visit communities around the state to offer writing workshops and readings, and a special training session for community members to learn how to facilitate ongoing writing circles. People who go through this training would receive several books and booklets full of writing prompts and group facilitation guidance, and they would be linked through a website to share resources and receive ongoing help.

Wishing you all the best,

Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg  
Kansas Poet Laureate  ​
Laureate Program Description

Poetry Across Kansas -- Reading and Writing Our Way Home: The Poet Laureate project, Writing Across Kansas, strengthens the presence of poetry in Kansas, builds literary communities statewide, and enhances Kansans' sense of place through poetry. The project brings together new and emerging to create original poems and make community with one another through writing workshops and ongoing poetry circles (facilitated by local citizens who receive facilitator training and ongoing support through the project). The components of the project are:
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  • Reading and Writing Ourselves Home Poetry Workshops: This writing workshop, open to teens and adults, helps people discover their own best poetry, and how reading and writing poetry can add greater meaning to their lives and communities. Each workshop, tailored to community needs and interests, draws on Kansas poets for discussion, reflection, study of craft and as writing prompts.
  • Poetry Circles: One of the greatest gifts for any writer, whether new or experienced, is community with others who value the written word. To facilitate ongoing Poetry Circles in each community where she leads a writing workshop, Mirriam-Goldberg provides facilitator training (including a resource book of materials and ongoing on-line support) for writers, educators, health professionals, librarians, and others in each community who are interested in leading (or co-leading) Poetry Circles.

  • Reading: Along with the writing workshop and poetry circle training and support, Dr. Mirriam-Goldberg will also present readings of her work, which can also be a joint reading with workshop participants and/or local poets.

  • Presentation-Workshops: Presentations, which combine a talk and short writing workshop, are available on a wide variety of topics.
Kansas Poet Laureates