by Angelo Mari (Author), Edward Keneski (Author), Lindsay Maroney (Author)
Speak Out: Poetry as Healing is a writing course facilitated by Ashley Cornelius, community organizer and spoken word performer, Kevin Mitchell community activist, poet, emcee, and executive director of Empowerment Solidarity Network (ESN), and Flannery Burdick, published writer and activist, with a masters in Rhetoric. Ashley Cornelius, a Licensed Professional Counselor Candidate with a masters in International Disaster Psychology, and co-creator of award-winning Poetry 719 created the 4-week curriculum focused on using poetry as a healing journey and creative expression. Speak Out aims to empower participants to use their personal experiences to not only rebuild and heal, but to promote social change. The participants created incredible and powerful works that gave voice to their struggles, joys, trauma, pain, successes, and happiness. In each class, the participants wrote 4 poems on average in less than an hour This chapbook is a labour of love and showcases the talent and power of our participants.